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?
What ever happened to full house?
Are you planning to do a tournament of the Best Drama Series in history??? I really hope you do! there are so many great Drama Series we have had.
If you do please dont forget The Closer, L+O :SVU, and Saving Grace
It seems like most of the voters are young and probably never even watched anything before 1990. Friends is a great show but not the number one show of all time. I Love Lucy, All in the Family, MASH, Seinfeld, Cheers, Frasier, The Honeymooners, Soap, and Everybody Loves Raymond are all better choices. The next group would include Friends, Roseanne, Taxi, The Simpsons, WKRP in Cincinnati, Batman, Happy Days, The Brady Bunch, and I Dream of Jeannie.
Some people just can’t take a fun website poll with the grain of salt it needs. Ranting just because the people on the website did not vote the way you wanted is a sure sign you need some help. I didn’t happen to think Friends was the best sitcom, but I can understand how others could vote for it. Its success in syndication just shows us that people still really like it.
Friends as best ever sitcom? never in a million years, for me it will always be Fawlty Towers, 12 perfect crafted works of genius.
Even if you had to limit it to USA comedies for me it would probably be Cheers, just because you has such a range of real quality characters – when an at best peripheral character like Frazier Crane can be spun off to a massively successful show then you know the characters are really well drawn, compare that Friends` spin off show “Joey”…
I dont agree as number 1, but definitely in my top 5. John Cleese is a comedic genius. The British sitcoms are hilarious. My other favorite is Yes, Minister. The writing was fantastic.
Fawlty Towers YES is an incredibly tight show. Thats why only 12 shows . Its not about making money like usa syndiations. John Cleese almost had a breakdown in perfecting it . I am not sure if shown in USA ? Grab it if you havent seen it ! The manic meltdown of Basil Fawlty may not appeal to Amerians but that IS the point – he cant run a hotel. Seinfeld is where genius resides . We can all say at times I am George ( the big salad) or hang on Jerry ( looking in the medicine cabnet)… Read more »
Steve,
You nailed it buddy!
I have to agree with Steve somewhat. How can you simply judge what the best sitcom ever is if you don’t target certain age groups. You talk to my great uncle and he’ll point out I Love Lucy and M*A*S*H and others as the best. Maybe the same with my mother adding in All in the Family and classics like the Bob Newhart show. And myself watching those as well as Seinfeld and Friends. Do I think Friends was a great sitcom? Yes. But it never transcended it’s boundaries. That and Seinfeld were great at the comedy. But who can… Read more »
The best show was either I Love Lucy or Seinfeld. Shows have to be judged by the time in which they aired, not by 30 somethings, 20 – 50 years later. It is simply impossible for someone who did not live during that era, to appreciate what I Love Lucy achieved in its time. it changed television, when television was collassal. People today cannot imagine what it was like to have a Black and White TV with Fuzzy Reception, that picked up maybe 6 -7 stations, and of which good shows aired on only three – NBC, CBS and ABC.… Read more »
I agree whole heartedly with what you said. Just 2 things though, it was “Mulva” not “Volva” and you mentioned “No soup for you” twice. Otherwise, I couldn’t have said it better myself. I still hope that Jerry will return with the gang one day……one can only dream….
Tis a shame that only includes American comedies.
Would have been good to see things such as Bottom, Blackadder and Red Dwarf on there. All amazing sitcoms but with a twist.
Or just keep things standard and have shows like One Foot in the Grave or Keeping up Appearances, Porridge or of course the amazing Only Fools and Horses.
The best comedy is a show that no matter what, can make you laugh just as hard the first time as it does the thousandth time you see it. It’s timeless, reaches all people, regardless of age, gender, or background. I Love Lucy, Mash, and Friends all fit into that category. Funny should be funny, and no matter which episode of these shows you watch, you will laugh, and for 22 minutes, shut the world out and be entertained. Too bad there aren’t quality shows like these anymore.
I can’t disagree more. While Friends was good, MASH and I Love Lucy were better and ground-breaking. I’m still in shock that All in the Family didn’t make the cut. I’m guessing the voting population has a younger demographic–however, I have a 14 year old niece that LOVES I Love Lucy and watches it a lot. Her grandma would be proud–my mom got ME hooked on I Love Lucy.
I’m your vita-vita-vegimin girl…
Friends? You’ve GOT to be kidding! Great comedy is something you can watch in the presence of your mother or your kids, without feeling uncomfortable because of an endless procession of sex jokes or getting the kind of message you don’t want your kids to have.
this is pretty much a travisty, friends can never hope to have the impact social/emotional that MASH had, it was like seinfield… it was basically about nothing!
MASH dealt with hard subjects and issues while Friends dealt with indolent 20 something losers not getting on with their lives.
There is nothing redemptive in Friends ,while there is a world of redemption in MASH.
maybe if the survey had been about world redemption then MASH would have won… It was a simple internet survey on popular sitcoms.
who was your respondents,30-something clowns that have no clue on life.how you can say the honeymooners or cheers could be even compared to that drivel called friends.6 people who have no other friends or regular pay checks.wkrp in cincinnati,barney miller,sanford and son and odd couple are far more funny and relevant.and that’s just off the top of my head.typical of any greatest of all time,no one can think 2 years ago
you’ve never watched the show clearly since your argument was false. “no other friends or regular pay checks”….
but you must be right, 30-something clowns do run the internet now
i find it funny that you are anti friends and yet your icon is from it….
you actually need to watch friends in order to be so anti friends because other wise you are just making a fool of yourself for not knowing what its about
I agree that FRIENDS would be the best comedy ever, with the 6 main characters making many different story lines possible. I still watch all reruns and still get hysterical to the point of laughing ’til the tears started flowing. I also loved watching REBA and STILL STANDING with 2 fantastic acting families that also made me always laugh ’til I cried. I actually cried when their reruns stopped several months ago. Another one, though still running, would be TWO AND A HALF MEN. Love this show!! At some point and time, I want to own the DVD sets of… Read more »