by MC Allen

Created on: June 24, 2010

Laughter has become a necessity these days.  We all want to forget our troubles and lose ourselves in a fictional world of one-liners, laugh-tracks and pitfalls.  This is why sitcoms are (and have been for years) so popular.  Some of my favorites are classics and others are the new sensations that just keep getting better. 

No one can deny that Friends became so beloved that to not watch meant that you were missing an important part of many conversations.  The group dynamic was always on and the actors played so well off of each other that we forgot that Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Joey, Monica and Phoebe were not our real Friends with whom we conversed. 

Some would say that Frasier was “too smart” to be a real sitcom but I would have to disagree.  Frasier was a smart show but with a goofy twist that never failed to make me laugh.  No other show could have one actor on stage (Niles played by David Hyde Pierce) for over 5 minutes without speaking and make me fall off of the chair laughing. 

As a woman, Sex and the City would have to be on my list of favorite sitcoms.  This show like no other became a woman’s guide to so many things (sex, men, and friendship) and really allowed sex to become a topic of conversation in any venue.  The four women who anchored the show (and the subsequent movies) became not just characters but heroes to us all.

I will admit that many sitcoms hit a bit of a slump as How I Met Your Mother did this past year.  However, this show (shoot Barney alone) has some of the best single episodes that I have ever watched.  The “naked man”, the “whoo girls”, “Barney’s perfect week” and “the bro code” just to name a few can be watched over and over and never get old. 

Finally, the new sitcoms that have begun to really make their mark are Modern Family and Cougartown.  Modern Family has an amazing cast of characters and is so subtle and real the laughter continues well after the show is over.  As for Cougartown, this show has hit its stride.  The goofy characters have become “normal” and the story just continues to get better and better. 

Thirty minutes is not a long time to try to make someone laugh.  If it happens while watching a show on a weekly basis than this show is to be remembered and revered. 

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