SURVEY SAYS: What’s your favorite sitcom and why?

“Big Bang Theory,” which I have seen and love, was the clear winner, while “Modern Family,” which I’ve never seen, came in a very close second. Responding readers said they loved these mostly because they are very funny.  

Others mentioned, in order of popularity, included: 

• “New Girl” 
• “Two Broke Girls” 
• “Community” 
• “Last Man Standing” 
• “Parks and Recreation” 
• “The Office”  
• “NCIS” 
• “Two and a Half Men” 
• “The Middle” 
• “How I Met Your Mother” 
• “Happily Divorced” 
• “Cougartown” 
• “Happy Endings” 
• “The Closer” 
• “Suburbatory” 
• “Bones” 
• “The Finder” 
• “Hot in Cleveland” 
• “White Collar” 
• “The Good Wife” 
• “Family Guy” 
• “Justified” 
• “Whitney” 
• “Raising Hope” 
• “Desperate Housewives” 
• “30 Rock” 
• “Eureka” 

Verbatim  

Too many are just to raunchy. I don't want to have to feel embarrassed for the actors when watching something they do. 

The old progams were the funniest....Married With Children, Carol Burnett Show, Alf, Benny Hill, etc.! 

It offers pure comedy, satire, and fantastic actors. 

I miss well written comedy sitcoms. They have been replaced with cheap reality shows. 

I don't care for the canned laughter and the contrived plots. I can take just so much goofy misunderstanding story lines; then my short attention span kicks in. 

They have gotten so bad that I never watch them. 

I am a geek and proud of it. I love Sci-Fi and used to be a science geed in school. Being smart and into Sci-Fi was not cool for women when I was growing up. The show validates it is okay to be smart, different, and yes even a little geeky. – talking about “The Big Bang Theory” 

They are not very good for the most part. 

Most of them are terrible and I tend to watch PBS instead (still have rabbit ears on the TV). 

The networks should all leave off the automated Laugh Track. (Some sitcoms have wisely done this already.) Don't tell us when to laugh, let us laugh when we think something is funny. 

Most of them have laugh tracks, which I hate, so I don't watch very many sitcoms. 

most of the network shows feature dumb, ineffective men; sharp tongued women who are incapable in many areas and smart alecky kids. We don't need to reinforce these stereotypes in the minds of another generation. look around, how many of you have ditzy moms or inept dads? Not many, I'm betting. 

So many channels, so much drivel. I fear for this country if current TV is reflective of our society. 

Anymore, sitcoms are very poor humor with canned laughter on top. 

enough said 

Unfortunately I am like the editor in that I too don't have a life so rarely am able to catch any show on tv, much less a sitcom. 

My family just doesn't watch much of them. We prefer many of the basic cable shows. Particularly Pawn Stars, American Pickers, Swamp People, Deadliest Catch, and my personal obsession, The Walking Dead. (Is that because we benefits professionals often feel like we are the walking dead?) 

There really are not that many sitcoms on any longer. When I do manage to watch TV, it is usually an hour long drama or sports. 

In general, they are not funny 

Never watch TV at all! 

Verbatim (cont.)  

Most of them are awful. 

Years ago it was said that TV was a wasteland. I use to disagree but with the crap that's on now I've changed my mind. It's entertainment for morons. 

I don't watch sitcoms because these "funny" shows are not funny. If Cheers came back with new episodes, I would watch that. 

I don't watch a lot of television, but I sometimes get "in the mood" for mindless diversion, just like anyone. What I find, however, is that most comedies aren't funny. Sigh. My two favorite shows are NCIS and Eureka...both of which mix drama and humor. Maybe I'm just getting old and set in my ways..... 

There are quite a few very good sitcoms right now, including New Girl, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and 2 Broke Girls. There are others too, but I can't watch them all, I have a hard enough time keeping up with the few that I do watch! 

Too many sitcoms rely on x rated jokes to be funny. It is much harder and I think more entertaining to be different. However I sound old... 

Any sitcom is better than the reality shows. 

ROTFLOL 

Most sitcoms are pretty lame and many of the HR people I know who constantly deal with employees don't watch sitcoms. The reality of our work is enough. 

A way to escape and lighten the day. 

I love Betty White and it is about fabulous Cleveland! – talking about “Hot in Cleveland” 

The characters are a bunch of science geeks, what's not to like about that? – talking about “The Big Bang Theory” 

They are all just too stupid and we don't think they are funny or entertaining. 

Reality shows have taken over! I miss the good sitcoms of the 80s and early 90s. There are no good sitcoms of families any more. I think "Friends" changed that. Not sure if it is good or bad yet, just different. 

Between all of the "reality" shows, fashion design shows, musical talent shows, and the CSI type shows I was not aware that there are still any sitcoms 

Some dialogue on sitcoms is so "one-liner" humor--and negatively focused that I just can't watch. 2 Broke Girls is an example of that. Negative sterotypes, bad premise. Ugh. 

I'm a "M*A*S*H" "Frazier" "Cheers" "All in the Family" fan. I'm a snob that prefers intellectual comedy, hence my appreciation of "Doc Martin". 

There are only two sitcoms that I watch, mostly I watch political commentary and Jeopardy. 

Just raunchy crap. Subtlety is funnier but apparently dumb is what people want to watch. 

Love the dry humor! 

Two and a Half Men was the best sitcom out there for years and years until Charlie Sheen lost his mind. Such a shame...it was genuinely funny. 

Verbatim (cont.)  

I would say the vast majority of the current selection is moronic. 

Most are a bit boring but some stand out - the Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, and The Middle. Those are the ones I try not to miss if I can. 

Too many season breaks and repeats. 

Somewhere along the way we lost interest in what the networks were saying was comedy. 

Most are utterly useless and children should not be permitted to watch them or most of the cartoons made these days. Or the commercials. 

Most are stupid and not worth watching. i do lie the new "Mockumentary" style. 

Some Good, Some Bad and Many Ugly. 

Very rarely watch network TV. Cable channels offer a much better selection of dramas 

Gone are the days of the really worthwhile sitcoms like Seinfeld, Family Ties, Cosby, Cheers and others. Like you, I rarely watch network television anymore. 

This show is interesting, exciting and the people chosen to play the various characters in the show really suit their parts. I especially like Boyd Crowder. He is smart, I like how he remains calm in any situation, he is a bad guy but also a good guy. I like how Raylan chooses his battles wisely. He is out to win the war. 

Nothing on network TV worth watching - not much on cable either except sports and METV for old reruns that actually are funny, even now. Sitcoms today are not funny - they are pathetic and vulgar. Crude does not equate to funny. 

Great characters. 

I'll watch an average sitcom over the latest reality show any day. At least the sitcoms require writing and acting, or basically some form of TALENT to get on TV unlike the reality clowns. 

Maybe I'm just getting old, but I find most of the sitcoms on these days are not funny. They are just dumb. 

Very well written with good actors. 

sitcoms aren't necessarily the problem - it's all the contest shows that are ridiculous 

Lame 

Modern Family is the only network show I watch. Otherwise, it's Discovery Channel and NatGeo all the way! 

Just record the few I like. 

Verbatim (cont.)  

Hate the laugh tracks and the formulas and the sameness. We need a MASH calibre show again! 

I'm thinking about cutting another one out of my rotation. There just aren't many that are funny these days. 

Several go way past acceptable when it comes to se.xual inuendos. I do hate it when you see something nasty on primetime television. 

Seems to be very little originality in anything, although people tell me that some of them are funny if not original. 

They are not as good as they use to be...I long for the days of Seinfeld and Cheers. 

The characters interactions are great. 

Sitcoms are so rare these days. If it is not 'reality' TV, it is not on. Personally, I would like to see the sitcoms come back. Reality TV is to scripted. 

There are not many I enjoy these days! 

Reality TV has pretty much taken over, which is why I don't watch that much TV. I can't think of a better waste of time than to watch people misbehaving to such an extreme. 

Generally not that funny. The plots are often only a few steps away from a bad porn show. 

Although I like 2 Broke Girls, it, like so many others continue to shock me in regards to what can be said these days before 9:00PM---I remember when that was just not the rule! 

Eventually they are all the same, recycling the same plots, just different twists on "sit" but the "com" is redundant. 

Most TV programming in 2012 seems geared to individuals whose IQ approximates their shoe size, therefore I have opted out of watching TV. I don't miss it at all, and I bet I have less chance of developing Alzheimers or other degenerative brain disease as a consequence of avoiding it. 

I, too, and not ashamed to admit, haven't watched network tv is quite some time except for a sporting event and even these are getting slanted commentary. Cable's silly un-reality shows dominate, no, dumb-down that medium and I've already memorized movie-channel ad nauseam re-repeats. Now that my U-Verse bill just shockingly jumped 50% higher maybe it's time to let my wallet's voice be heard. Got any good books you'd recommend...and someone tell me who's that other person in the room! 

Hilarious and no melodrama, if you miss one you can pick up following week with no confusion. 

There are so few among the trash they call reality TV that who bothers anymore 

Never watch the current shows on network television. Prefer cable news and old reruns or movies. 

They are generally bilious 

Verbatim (cont.)   

Most are not worth watching and who has the time. 

LOVE THIS SHOW - IT JUST WINS OVER THE BIG BANG THEORY – talking about “Two Broke Girls” 

Why do you want to lie to the Nielson survey? They want to know what you and your family actually watch; that's why they chose you to participate. Please, be HONEST. If you usually don't watch mind-numbing laugh-tracked fluff, why start now, just because someone is looking over your shoulder? 

The humor at this point is predictable, either because of the FCC making everything so watered down or because the scenarios/jokes are recycled due to lack of creativity. 

I hardly watch any. Networks hardly give new shows time to develop before they get the hook. Networks should also take a page from some of the cable networks and air 12 or 15 weeks of new episodes. When I do watch The Middle so often it's an episode I have seen before and the show has not been on that long. I'm mean really why is there a repeat in November when the season just got started at the end of Septemeber? 

They are not funny. 

Too many commercials. And if I watch a non network show, I DVR it so I can FF thru them. 

Intelligent and witty writing and everything does not have to be about s.ex. 

NCIS is the only program I watch. 

Other than occasionally watching this sitcom and news, don't watch much TV (one TV in the house and no cable). 

I thoroughly enjoy good sitcoms as they provide a good escape from reality and a few good laughs. I wish there were more sitcoms and less reality on TV. 

I haven't watched network sitcoms in years. I find them to be crude and not funny. 

Network TV is committing hari-kari, and it's painful. New seasons start at random times, shows go on hiatus for weeks (sometimes months), then they show reruns for 3 weeks, then with a big flourish announce the "return" of "all new" episodes (like there's a version that is only part new)...for 4 weeks. And then, as often as not, on a DIFFERENT night. Thank god for DVRs! 

It is still good! – talking about “Two and a Half Men”