Adrian's Top Five
My favorite sitcom moments
I watched a lot of television as a kid. Growing up in the 80s, I remember sitcoms being a central part of our family unit. After dinner, we would all go into the family room and watch something on TV. I remember watching Growing Pains, The Cosby Show, Who’s the Boss, ALF, Family Ties, The Golden Girls, Saved by the Bell, Perfect Strangers, Charles in Charge, and even sneaking a few episodes of Cheers late at night. On the weekends, there always seemed to be reruns of I Love Lucy, Dennis the Menace, Green Acres, Batman, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Mister Ed for me to watch to avoid chores.
Being a 90s teenager and watching shows like Everybody Loves Raymond, The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Friends, Full House, Home Improvement, Roseanne, Married… with Children, Family Matters, The Wonder Years, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Mad About You shaped my sense of humor and what I found funny. The rhythm, pacing, and comedic timing of sitcom jokes is embedded in how I tell still stories and make others laugh.
Once I became an adult, and started a family, I had little time for television. When the babies slept, I slept. I was going back to school while simultaneously trying to create a reading and writing habit, so for much of my 20s and 30s, I was reading or studying. However, when I was awake for middle-of-the-night feedings, and needed something to keep me from falling back asleep, television sitcoms once again kept me company. This time, it was Little House on the Prairie. Episodes were always playing at some time during the night, and it was a great comfort to watch Ma and Pa Ingalls trying to survive while I was trying to raise a new family. When I ran out of episodes, I turned to the BBC’s All Creatures Great and Small, watching James Herriot travel from farm to farm, dealing with the people living in the Yorkshire Dales. It is still a beloved show!
While I don’t watch much television these days, I have still fond memories of certain, great episodes in sitcom history. Here are my top five sitcom moments.
5. S4E10: The Contest - Seinfeld (1992)
And then there were three!
This award-winning episode is one of my favorites from the series. In high school, Seinfeld was the show I watched with friends. NBC’s Must See TV on Thursday evenings was a staple in my week. I had to watch every episode so that I could talk about it with my friends at lunch the next day. In The Contest, George gets caught masturbating by his parents. When he tells Jerry, Elaine, and Kramer, they decide to see who can hold out the longest and abstain from masturbating. As you can imagine, being a teenage boy when this episode aired, made for some hilarious conversations in the school cafeteria. In fact, we even created our own contest among the four of us to see who could go the longest without caving. I can’t remember who won, but being “masters of our domain” was all we could talk about for a very long time.
If you have a few minutes, listen to the brilliant Julia Louis-Dreyfus discuss the importance of this episode. I have so much more respect for the series listening to her discuss the groundbreaking nature of creating such a risky episode like The Contest.
You can watch the entire series on Netflix or Amazon Prime.
4. S4E9: Schitt’s Creek (2018)
I’m currently watching Schitt’s Creek with my teenage kids. This will be my fourth time through the series. Watching my children react to some of my favorite scenes is a wonderful thing as a parent. When Schitt’s Creek first aired in 2015, my kids were four, six, and eight years old. I was in the throws of parenthood. After dinner, homework, bath time, and bedtime, I would watch a few episodes before bed. Everything about this series is brilliant: the writing, casting, and the performances. I haven’t rooted for a couple this much since Ross and Rachel. David and Patrick’s love story is one of my all-time favorites. Their relationship is based on being vulnerable and this scene epitomizes that vulnerability. For context, in Episode 406, Patrick serenades David with an acoustic version of Tina Turner’s Simply the Best. After a fight, the above scene is David’s apology response. It’s simply the best! I’ve rewatched this scene 37 times!
3. S3E10: Assess to Ashes The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1992)
Whereas The Cosby Show was for many, a glimpse into the life of an affluent Black family, for me, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, was my window into Black family life. Uncle Philip and Aunt Vivian challenged racial stereotypes and broadened my views. I resonated with the importance of family, community, and embracing one's identity.
I had no idea that Alfonso Ribeiro’s opening dance move to this episode would become a cultural phenomenon. I just loved the fact that Carlton was home alone and sneaking in a quick solo dance party when no one was around. I danced a lot as a teenager, mostly in my bedroom, but whenever I was home alone, I couldn’t help turning up my parents’ stereo, blasting one of my favorite 90s hits, and dancing away!
2. S2 E7: The One Where Ross Finds Out - Friends (1994)
Being a teenager in the 90s, I always dedicated Thursday evenings to watching Friends. After dinner, I would go over to a friend’s house (usually, the one with the largest TV), to watch the newest episode. Even though I found Joey and Chandler hilarious, I couldn’t help getting swept up in Ross and Rachel’s love story. When Ross finally discovers that Rachel likes him, confronting her at the coffee shop, I was glued to the screen. No one in the room breathed during their passionate kiss. We all cheered!
1. S2 E1: Job Switching - I Love Lucy (1952)
I can only imagine what it would have been like to turn on the television after dinner, and watch I Love Lucy. Lucy and Ethel working in the chocolate factory opens the second season of the show. While I wasn’t alive to watch the original, I have a distinct memory of watching this episode on Nick at Night with my grandfather. He sat behind me in his recliner while I sat, cross-legged, in front of the television. He laughed so hard when the conveyor belt sped up and Lucy started stuffing chocolates in her mouth! This is such a classically funny moment in sitcom history. I still laugh whenever I watch this scene. You can watch the entire episode on Paramount+.
I still have a few sitcoms I regularly keep up with, including Abbott Elementary and Ted Lasso. Before bed, my wife and I regularly wind down watching Gardeners’ World.
What sitcoms were your favorites growing up? What are you currently watching?
Let me know!
Have a great week!
— Adrian
Honorable Mention
The Big Bang Theory is such a great sitcom, one I really wanted to include in my list. I absolutely love Sheldon Cooper. This episode, The Einstein Approximation (S3E14), is hilarious, especially if you’ve ever tried to wrangle a child from a birthday ball pit!
My wife loves the office. We’ve watched the original UK series. It took me some time to get used to the awkward, mockumentary-style humor, but once I did, I binged the entire series, and became invested in each of the characters’ lives. The start of this episode, Stress Relief: Part I (S5E14) is pure, hilarious chaos. What a way to open!
While not technically a sitcom, this sketch (S1E8) from Monty Python's Flying Circus is one of my all-time favorite sketches. Watching Monty Python is a masterclass is comedy. I dare you not to crack up watching this guy register a complaint!
Resources
A few years ago, CNN showcased a History of the Sitcom. Currently, it is only available to watch on Max, but if you have this subscription service, I recommend watching the documentary. You may be able to watch the series for free on CNN. It’s a great trip down memory lane and I learned a lot about creating sitcoms.
If you love sitcoms (and can’t watch the CNN documentary), this is a great compilation of some of the best sitcoms in history. All Things Pop does an excellent job analyzing the progression of sitcoms, from I Love Lucy to The Office.
A history of the American family, as told through television’s biggest sitcoms
This is a fascinating article about the concept of a “quintessential” American family. Since the types of families on television were mainly white and heteronormative, BigThink offers an insightful look at the history of the American family as seen through sitcoms.
Leave it to Rolling Stone to create a behemoth list. As with all lists, there are placements I agree with and ones leave me scratching my head. Why is Schitt’s Creek not in the top 15?
The Way We Never Were American Families and the Nostalgia Trap by Stephanie Coontz is an excellent read about how nostalgic television shows have created misconceptions about the past, and continue to cloud our judgement about family life, marriage, and male-female relationships in our modern era.
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Want some more of Adrian’s Top 5? Check out a few of my archived posts.
This Top 5 is stellar. If I had to choose, my shows (because it's too hard for me to pick moments!) would be Family Ties, Sanford and Son, Schitt's Creek, Arrested Development, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.