Television became popular within American culture back in the 1950s. It soon became a staple for American families to sit around to watch their favorite shows and for quality family time. As the years have gone by, family time around the TV has become less and less of a primary component to family life. As technology has evolved (i.e. YouTube, Netflix, video games, etc.) so has our time spent with our families. However, even though most of the shows I used to watch as a kid with my family only have reruns on TV anymore, they still fall under my radar while trying to find something on TV to get a good laugh and to spend quality time with family and friends:
Everybody Love Raymond
The antics of this dysfunctional family never cease to make me laugh. Ray Barone, a successful sports columnist, and his family live in Long Island, NY. However, with Ray’s mother, father, and brother living across the street, this recipe of dysfunction and hilarity was bound for success and was from 1996-2005. As each season progresses, you start to fall in love with this dysfunctional family and can’t help but laugh at the messes they create.
The King Of Queens
Another show set in New York, Doug (Kevin James) and Carrie Heffernan (Leah Remini) are a working class couple living in Queens, New York. Carrie’s father, Arthur (Jerry Stiller), lives with the couple and provides a fair share of hilarious problems and situations for the couple. Moreover, Carrie’s sassy attitude and Doug’s intense demeanor give a comical juxtaposition to a successful show that was the last live action sitcom to premiere in the 1990s.
Seinfeld
New York seems to be a running theme on this list. Regarded as one of the best written sitcoms of all time, Seinfeld features four friends, Jerry Seinfeld (played by himself) Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) George Costanza (Jason Alexander) and Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) who live in Manhattan’s Upper West Side in New York City. Famously known as the “show about nothing”, the show ran for nine seasons from 1989-1998 and broke conventional mainstream television with it’s unique humor and characters. Not to mention, it still cracks me up to this day.
That’s 70’s Show
A group of high school teenagers in Point Place, Wisconsin during the 1970s. What could be better than that? Eric and the gang aired for eight seasons between 1998-2006. Even though the show never had great ratings, it’s still one of FOX’s longest running sitcoms at 200 episodes. Between the shenanigans of Fez and Kelso to the classic Red Forman catchphrases, this show is a classic in my book.
The Three Stooges
Although The Three Stooges were never considered a “sitcom” I can still remember the Sunday mornings watching these three goofballs and laughing my butt off. The Three Stooges were active from 1925-1970 and featured up six actors during that span (Moe Howard, Shemp Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Joe Besser, Joe “Curly Joe” DeRita). Most known for their physical farce and slapstick humor, The Three Stooges were one of the most popular comedy acts of the early 1960s and still remain one of my favorite acts of all time.