We’ve now completed our sitcom tournament and you, our readers, have come up with a winner.
The voting started with a selection of more than 200 beloved comedies. From there, we paired the candidates down to 58 choices. Even then, things were starting to get difficult.
In round three, things got really tough though as we pitted legendary shows against one another — I Love Lucy vs. The Honeymooners; The Dick Van Dyke Show vs The Andy Griffith Show; M*A*S*H vs All in the Family; The Cosby Show vs Cheers; Seinfeld vs Friends; and Everybody Loves Raymond vs The Big Bang Theory. Any of them could easily have come out as the big winner.
In round four, the victors of round three were paired off. In the end, I Love Lucy won over The Andy Griffith Show and Seinfeld beat Everybody Loves Raymond. Cheers and M*A*S*H were so close that we moved them both to the final round. We also introduced a wildcard category in which shows that had been eliminated in round three were given a second chance. Friends was the easy victor.
And then, in the final round, it came down to just five challengers — Cheers, Friends, I Love Lucy, M*A*S*H, and Seinfeld. After more than 27,000 tournament votes, we now have our winners.
Despite being beaten by Seinfeld in round three, Friends has won the title. You, our readers, believe that the gang at Central Perk have the best sitcom in history. Not too far behind them is all-time classic I Love Lucy, a show that many would have thought would have won. And then, right behind Lucy, is the little show from the 1990s, Seinfeld.
Thanks to everyone who voted and left their feedback! We’re planning on doing another tournament soon!
What do you think of the winners? Are you surprised? Any suggestions for future tournaments?
This writer, Jack Pendarvis, said something extremely interesting on his blog: “I don’t know why I keep watching FRIENDS reruns late at night. I can’t say they hold up too well. I was astonished at a joke last night, when the FRIENDS are watching THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW on a big TV. Rose Marie appears on the screen and they all recoil in horror. That was the joke. Here are these pretty people scared of Rose Marie because she is not, in their opinion, as pretty as them, but here, also, portraying these pretty people, are a bunch of… Read more »
Friends? Really? Don’t bother me the ‘hater’ label, hating something requires interest. I totally agree that the title ‘all time’ requires the test of time. I saw a mention of ‘My Mother the Car’. I think it ran one season, but great concept. Would you want a car haunted by you mother? Gives me the chills. Horrible. Or how about ‘The Flying Nun’? How can you not love a show about a nun that takes off in a stiff breeze, with Sally Fields as the nun? Awesome. How can ‘Friends’ possibly outgun MASH? Not in the world I live in.… Read more »