Has there ever a funnier TV sitcom than The Big Bang?

[truedelphi]

"The IT Team" was pretty hilarious, but I'm not sure it counts as you had to have cable to get it.

And the IT Team only lasted two seasons or so.

And if there has been a funnier TV show that TBB, it certainly cannot claim to have gotten around to teaching a person as much about deep levels of physics.

[applegrove]

1. I can't stand the big bang theory. Then I've always hated snotty kids - be they rich snotty or smart

snotty - I just can't stand them.

[Chan790]

13. So what you're saying is we wouldn't get along?

I mean I'm inescapably-snotty.

[applegrove]

23. LOL!

[SCantiGOP]

79. Modern Family

Only show that can make me actually laugh out loud.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

2. Two and a Half Men before Ashton Kutcher

Made by the same guy too. The "Big Bang Theory" is OK but it never has had me in fits of uncontrollable hysterical laughter like "Two and A Half Men" did

[RFKHumphreyObama]

50. Added to that the Cosby Show, Perfect Strangers, The Golden Girls

Happy Days, Frasier, Seinfeld ...the list goes on.

[white_wolf]

3. While I love Big Bang Theory there have been better shows.

Home Improvement is my all time favorite sitcom. I, also loved Boy Meets World growing up.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

4. To many to list. Seinfeld to start.. nt

[Curmudgeoness]

5. I just cannot get into The Big Bang.

It is surprising that I can't stand this comedy, since I am a huge science geek. I have tried, I really have. I have not laughed once when I watched it. I think that I really hate all the characters. I don't even bother anymore.

Has there ever been a funnier TV sitcom???? You bet there has.....Seinfeld if one. And if you were around in the 60's-70's era, All In The Family was groundbreaking, and hilarious.

[Art_from_Ark]

30. I never liked All In The Family all that much

The liberal character ("Meathead&quot was the brunt of the most of the jokes and was depicted as a leech and a slacker. Eventually even Gloria got tired of him and divorced him. And even though Archie was a bigot and a blowhard, lots and lots of people could identify with him. As far as I'm concerned, that show probably helped in some way to steer the country away from liberalism toward Reagan conservatism. I really couldn't see the humor in that.

[Curmudgeoness]

36. What came first, the chicken or the egg?

I don't know if the time was right for that thinking, or if All In The Family contributed to it. I usually see that popular shows reflect the times more than drive them. After Carter and all the upheaval of those times, I think that the Dems had little chance. But if you remember, Carter got elected at a time when AITF had been around for years, and what got him elected was the problems in the Nixon administration, followed by lackluster Ford presidency. It was all about the economy that Reagan won.

I agree with you that Meathead was not the best role model for liberalism, but Archie was also vilified by most people. Yes, there were people who agreed with him, but most thought he was a blowhard idiot. It was a shame that the liberal side was portrayed so poorly, but really, all sides were the brunt of the joke.

[Art_from_Ark]

43. Maybe I'm a little sensitive to this, but...

All in the Family came out in early 1971, and I'll admit that in those very early days I did get a laugh out of Archie's antics and thought that "Meathead" was a funny nickname. But shortly after that, I began to come into contact will a lot of non-teacher adults, not only in Arkansas, but also in Missouri and Oklahoma, and a lot of those people displayed the same mannerisms as Archie, which kind of creeped me out. And in 1972, Nixon employed the "Southern strategy" of appealing to Archie Bunker types in the South, which he ended up winning in a landslide. So Archie became, to me, less of a comic figure and more of a representation of the type of people I was often encountering in my local area.

[Tsiyu]

51. Didn't Maude and The Jeffersons spin off from All in the Family?

They broke a few barriers. They opened up conversation.

I think the actor who played Archie Bunker, Carroll O'Connor, exquisitely portrayed the resistance to change at the time. It was groundbreaking then because it made fun of a character who was "straight and narrow", rather than holding him up as a role model.

[Art_from_Ark]

52. The problem was, "Meathead" was even less of a role model

Archie was the "backbone of the economy", even if he was a bigot and a blowhard, while "Meathead" (and I can't even remember his real character name) didn't have a job and was basically leeching off of his wife and in-laws. In mid-America where I was, Archie was the role model, Meathead was the target of derision.

And yes, The Jeffersons, at least, was a spin-off of All In The Family. I don't know of any characters who were common to both All In The Family and Maude, however.

[Tsiyu]

55. Maude was Edith's cousin

I'm old.


From wiki:


"Maude is an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 12, 1972 until April 22, 1978.

Maude stars Beatrice Arthur as Maude Findlay, an outspoken, middle-aged, politically liberal woman living in suburban Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York with her fourth husband, household appliance store owner Walter Findlay (Bill Macy). Maude embraced the tenets of women's liberation, always voted for Democratic Party candidates, strongly supported legal abortion, and advocated for civil rights and racial and gender equality. However, her overbearing and sometimes domineering personality often got her into trouble when speaking out on these issues.

The program was a spin-off of All in the Family, on which Beatrice Arthur had first played the character of Maude, Edith Bunker's cousin; like All in the Family, Maude was a sitcom with topical storylines created by producer Norman Lear.

Unusual for a U.S. sitcom, several episodes (such as "Maude's Night Out" and "The Convention&quot featured only the characters of Maude and Walter, in what amounted to half-hour "two-hander" teleplays. Season 4's "The Analyst" was a solo episode for Bea Arthur, who delivered a soul-searching, episode-length monologue to an unseen psychiatrist."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maude_(TV_series)

[Art_from_Ark]

65. So that would make at least 3 spin-offs from All In The Family

Maude
The Jeffersons,
and Gloria (single, after divorcing Meathead)

[Recovered Repug]

66. A fourth - Archie Bunkers Place.

Archie and his partner ran a bar after Edith died.

[OriginalGeek]

75. and Good Times was a spin-off from Maude

Florida, JJ's mom, was Maude's maid.

[ohiosmith]

6. Riiiiight! All in the family, Cheers, Wings, Mash, Coach, Honeymooners, Adams Family, Dobie Gillis.

[rurallib]

16. Mary Tyler Moore

I have tried to watch Big Bang and to me it is not even remotely funny.
Nor did I ever think Seinfeld was funny. I tried to watch it, but no real laughs.
MASH Either.
Boy I just swim in a different stream

[ohiosmith]

17. Not a big MTM fan but The Dick Van Dyke Show was great.

[LibDemAlways]

68. I'm with you. Mary Tyler Moore was classic and classy comedy.

My family watches Big Bang and I'm the only one not laughing. The constant use of the word "coitis" to get a laugh is grating. Give me Sue Ann Nivens and Ted Baxter any day.

[elana i am]

7. i can think of 3 off the top of my head

mash, night court and golden girls.

[Codeine]

8. When Big Bang is on form it's amazing,

but some episodes are really weak.

[WiffenPoof]

9. It's Okay But...

...I prefer Arrested Development.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. It's not always consistent, but when it's good it's really funny.

There's some very good, clever writing.

[Digit]

11. I have tried to watch it based on posts on DU but never found it funny in the least

The same with Two and A Half Men even after Sheen left.

Are they supposed to be funnier to guys?

I don't begrudge people watching what they like, makes no difference to me.

[WhoIsNumberNone]

12. Big fan of Big Bang

Although since I had to shut my cable off I haven't been keeping up.

Arrested Development is another favorite. And Greg the Bunny.

[HughBeaumont]

14. The Young Ones.

[Tikki]

27. "Marrow, meringue, boomerang...long blue boomerang"....Rick..the People's Poet

Tikki

[mucifer]

15. My favorite is "The Odd Couple" just cracks me up

[truedelphi]

73. Our cable copany put the channel that has the Golden Oldies

On for about ten weeks. Then they changed the format to exclude that channel. I was <sigh> looking forward to catching the Odd Couple, as it was very very good.

[mucifer]

81. It really holds up for something 40 years old.

[Patiod]

18. No. There hasn't

Even the " bad" episodes are hysterical.

But then, I've always been a sucker for character-driven comedy, and I've worked with the kind of people who debate things like "who would win if Spiderman and Superman had a fist-fight" (most of these folks, however, wouldn't find Big Bang even remotely funny).

Which leads to the issue: you have to know, love, and find Geeks funny, but not actually be a full-fledged Geek yourself.

[secondvariety]

19. There may have been funnier ones,

WKRP in Cincinnati comes to mind, but Big Bang is the best in years.

[abbeyco]

20. WKRP in Cincinnati

Being somewhat of a geek, I appreciate and laugh heartily at TBBT - what they get away with on the show just cracks me up. But for a well-written and thoroughly funny show, nothing beats WKRP. I watch the reruns whenever I have the chance and I honestly think that show is where I learned about humor, irony and comedic timing.

[Va Lefty]

24. Monster lizard paralyzes Eastcoast

[Ikonoklast]

26. "As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!""

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="

" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Possibly the funniest moment in television history.

[abbeyco]

28. +1

One of the best moments ever in television.

Up thread someone mentioned Night Court and that was a fantastic show, too - loved me some Judge Harry Stone and other than the movie Stripes, that was my favorite exposure to John Larroquette.

But Les Nessman and Herb Tarlek will stay in my heart forever!

[pinboy3niner]

32. "Oh, the humanity!"

[cherokeeprogressive]

47. Bailey Quarters

Swoon!

[OriginalGeek]

77. Withya on that.

I was in Jr High at the time. ALL my friends wouldn't shut up about Loni Anderson. I only had eyes for Bailey.





And re: "As God is my Witness I thought turkeys could fly..." Ever since seeing that episode I have used that phrase almost every time shit didn't work out for me.

[cherokeeprogressive]

80. Also... Mary Ann over Ginger any day of the week.

Ever see the episode of Taxi where Jim takes the written test for his license? When my Daughter was learning to drive, she asked me what a yellow light meant. I said slow down and started laughing so hard I had to pull the car to the side of the road.

She thought I was crazy.

[Divameow77]

21. Modern Family

But Big Bang is a close second

[MiddleFingerMom]

22. Pot, of course, was involved.

.
.
.

.
.
.

[Bake]

25. Yes.

There has.



Bake

[Initech]

29. I can't watch shows with live audiences anymore.

And I don't like Big Bang Theory either. For me, 30 Rock, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Beavis & Butthead, and Curb Your Enthusiasm are far, far funnier than the Big Bang Theory.

[Syrinx]

31. "Arrested Development," for one, if that can be considered a sitcom

Also "Action" (with Jay Mohr). "Sports Night." "Mary Tyler Moore Show." Etc.

[WCGreen]

33. Two that come to mind...

The Bob Newhart Show(s) and the Honeymooners...

[HappyMe]

34. Yes, of course there has.

Seinfeld, Sanford & Son, WKRP, Two & a Half Men, Fawlty Towers, Mash.

[truedelphi]

44. Oh yeah! WKRP.

I haven't seen anything about them in a long time, and had forgotten. It makes you wonder why the re-runs are not out there. (Of course, maybe they are - my cable TV provider dropped a TV channel that was getting set up to show old re-runs. It is more profitable in California to cater to the Spanish speaking, I guess.)

[HappyMe]

53. Absolutely Fabulous and

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia are also way funnier than bbt.

I haven't seen any reruns of WKRP on TvLand either.

[Iggo]

35. Yes.

[geardaddy]

37. Yes

[WildEyedLiberal]

38. Community is the actually funny and actually nerdy in-joke version of BBT

It's so vastly superior I don't even have words. Big Bang Theory is funny if you think geeks are funny; Community is funny if you actually are a geek.

[RebelOne]

39. All In The Family, Married With Children and Absolutely Fabulous

are the sitcoms I consider the funniest.

[GoCubsGo]

40. I wish to add Boston Legal to that list.

I love The Big Bang Theory, and it's my favorite show on TV currently. But, those shows are all funnier.

[a kennedy]

41. and Barney Miller.....just the best....

and sorry, don't think The Big Bang is funny at all, tried and couldn't watch. Dick Van Dyke, and I hate to say it, but I watch re-runs of Frasier. Absolutely loved that cast, not Kelsey so much, but the surrounding cast members were just fantastic.

[truedelphi]

45. Dick Van Dyke show really is hilarious. Even watching it now.

I saw an interview with Van Dyke recently and he was saying that he had such a crush on Mary Tyler Moore, and they both had to really behave when re-hearsing the show, as both were married at the time to other people. But the two of them had such amazing chemistry and it comes across.

Also, I had watched an interview of her recently, and she was saying that she had pretty much given up on having an acting career, and was really nixing (internally) the idea of going in for the audition on the Dick Van Dyke show. But friends convinced her to do it. The rest is history.

[bigwillq]

42. There's been better, but I love Big Bang!

Great show!

[truedelphi]

46. I am totally confused, as to how it is that so many people are claiming the

Show's characters are mean.

Sheldon is simply a case of arrested development, as you'd expect of someone who got through grammar and HS and college in nine years. But he wants to understand more than he does, even though he'd be the last to admit it.

And Penny is always trying to understand the world the four nerds live in, and eventually comes to understand certain aspects of that world. Leonard is sort of the bridge between the two worlds. And Raj is like a Harpo Marx - really exquisite in the way he plays being mute around women.

Howard is callous at times, but then which among us is without flaws. These are all people with defects, but it's hard for me to hear from people that Big Bang has mean characters, when Seinfeld seemed meaner top me than so many shows on TV.

[cherokeeprogressive]

48. "What does a yellow light mean?" "Slow down." "W-h-a-t... d-o-e-s... a... y-e-l-l-o-w...

l-i-g-h-t... m-e-a-n?"

"Slow down!"

Sigh... "W---H---A---T... D---O---E---S... A..."

I guess you never saw Taxi?

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

49. I love the Big Bang Theory

But I would have tried to take the show in slightly a slightly different direction, especially with Sheldon's character. Sheldon changed quite a bit since the beginning (hell, in the pilot it was implied that he masturbated... a lot); he's gone from somebody who has trouble relating to and understanding people to somebody who just seems to loathe everybody. Instead of somebody who would like to be able to understand people but fails, he is someone who doesn't even want to try. Even his relationship to his friends sometimes seems adversarial, not for a reason but as a matter of fact.

A while ago there was an episode where Penny had a new chair in her apartment that Sheldon enjoyed and Penny said something along the lines of "Look at us sitting here like an old married couple". And I thought, yes, that's how their interactions should have been all along. Two people who couldn't be any more different, but who are in complete sync, who have a synergistic relationship. On top of that, imagine Leonard first wanting to date and then eventually dating the only person who is completely comfortable with Sheldon and actually enjoys his company.

Also I always thought that if they were ever going to create a romantic relationship for Sheldon it should have been with a normal girl, not a genius like he is (i.e. Amy). I would have liked to see Sheldon be attracted to some "normal" girl; he doesn't understand why, but he really wants this girl to like him. And so he has to learn how to relate to this "normal" girl and how to live in the world outside of his cocoon of physics, where everything has strict rules and can be described mathematically. (This isn't applicable to Leonard, because apart from being very smart he is socially fairly well adjusted)

But then, whenever I think that I'd like to see a show go in a certain direction, it goes in the exact opposite one, so I'm probably way off on everything.

All that being said The Big Bang Theory is one of my favorite shows on TV. Sorry for the longish post.

(Edit for clarity)

[truedelphi]

74. You bring up some interesting points and

I enjoyed your take on the series.

Yes, over the years, they have made Sheldon more of a people-hater. It's distracting, and I think part of it is that the show's earlier writers have probably moved on. It is not who he was originally. And making him loathe everyone takes the fun out of the show.

Anyway, don't apologize to me about long posts - mine often are longish. And yours was long for a reason, not just to blather on the way I do sometimes..

[AngryAmish]

54. Police Squad

&feature=player_embedded

[zipplewrath]

56. Can't get around

The writing is wicked funny for sure, and they do a damn fine job of projecting the stereotypes.

I just can't get around the fact that the "smarter" one is on TBBT, the less socially acceptable one is portrayed. The best looking and most socially acceptable is Penny, who is generally represented as a significantly slower than the rest. The "smartest" is obviously Sheldon, who can't drive a car and has phobias out the whazoo. In between you have "very smart people" who can't talk to women, or have stilted social lives in once sense or another.

In a society that is desperately trying to get people to study math and science, we can't seem to help but portray people who study math and science as unattractive and socially "unacceptable".

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

57. That's a good point.

I think the exception to your rule is Leonard, who all in all is portrayed as having at least working social skills (which already puts him miles ahead of the others); probably a concession made in order to have him be deemed acceptable enough for Penny to date.

The other fairly normal one is Bernadette, though her intelligence is downplayed and rarely referenced, except when it used to make a joke at Howard's expense.

As I mentioned in my post above one thing that I noticed is that Sheldon has gone beyond being socially inept to being outright belligerent, even to his friends. Add to that Howard's complete dependence on his mom, even in the face of a successful relationship and engagement to Bernadette. It seems like the things that started out as quirks for the characters have become their defining characteristics, to the point where they seem unable (Raj) or even unwilling (Sheldon and Howard) to overcome them.

[zipplewrath]

59. Change the affliction

Sheldon almost assuredly started out being based upon someone suffering from Aspergers. As you suggest, in many ways they've gone beyond where they started. But if it was say MS, and they made as much fun at his expense of his condition, folks would be up in arms.

The writing is wickedly good, and apparently there are alot of people in the Aspergers community who see his character as a net plus. So I won't make a big stink. And they've actually done a few episodes where some of the more "socially acceptable" characters learn about the pain and hurt that the core characters experienced in their youth. The also seem to get some fun by having the "nerds" study the "cool folks" and notice predominately just how stupid they are. So there is no small amount of the kind of South Park/ Simpsons "We insult everyone equally" to the overall shows style.

I just wish they'd throw in a character that is "as smart" as Sheldon, but otherwise fairly socially adept. He could be a foil for Sheldon, and a counterpoint to Penny in the "you're not as dumb as you're told" kinda way.

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

62. I agree...

I love the show, I just wished they took a more even approach to some of the characters. I have no direct experience with Aspergers, so I don't know how realistic the portrayal is; I just thought it would have been better to make Sheldon's reaction to people be more confusion and befuddlement, because he can't relate and doesn't understand. Instead sometimes it seems like Sheldon is the villain in the show. It's probably in good part due to Jim Parsons' brilliant portrayal that people haven't gotten fed up with the character.

[zipplewrath]

63. I agree about Parsons

Between his comic timing, and physical skills, it's hard not to enjoy his work. And the show almost assuredly has to move beyond the stock stereotypes if it is to survive. It will be interesting to see what direction it goes. Watch the first half season of Mash. It isn't the show everyone remembers. It got much better with time. Potter really turn it into what we all remember.

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

70. It will be interesting indeed

to see the direction they will take the show. I don't know if they'll ever get past the stereotypes, since so far they went in the opposite direction by exacerbating the various characters' quirks and hang-ups.

In a previous post I described what I would have liked to see, but they'll probably do something completely different.

[truedelphi]

76. Yes, as the show has gone on,

The writing has become clumsier. I was so happy when Howard met Bernadette, but I am amazed that the writers have clung to the clunky stereotype of having him be the momma's boy. The earlier writers would have had him change. Painfully and in a funny way until he got the hang of it, but he would have changed.

[zanana1]

58. The thing I love about Big Bang....

Knock knock, "Leonard", Knock, knock, "Leonard", knock, knock, Leonard..........

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

60. Even better; the variations

Sheldon: *knock, knock, knock*
Penny: Who do we love?
Sheldon: Penny?
x 3

Sheldon: *knock, knock, knock* Penny?
Penny: *knock knock knock* Sheldon?
Sheldon freezes confused.

Sheldon: *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny *knock* Penny
Penny: What the hell is wrong with you?
Sheldon: I'm the Flash, I just knocked thirty thousand times.

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

61. The very best part? "Soft Kitty" in a round.

Oh, and don't forget:
http://instantbazinga.com/

[MrSlayer]

64. Yes but BBT is great.

I never even heard of this show before a week ago and we've been DVRing the hell out of it. Hilarious. Who says smart can't be funny? Great characters.

[truedelphi]

72. We found it about five months ago.

The earlier shows are funny - always. The shows written in 2010 and 2011 sometimes are stinkers. (maybe a third of the time?)

But overall, it has provided us with evenings filled with non-stop laughs. (TBS on Tuesdays has two full hours or more of the show.) The acting is superb. We also caught the pilot show about a week ago, and it was amazing that in the very first show, the characters were exactly who they would be for the next three years. Fully fleshed out.

Sadly, I think we have now seen every single show except for one Christmas show.

[Bryn]

67. I've gotten hooked on Last Summer of Wine ...

Longtime running British Sitcom. It's hilarious!

I can't get into the big bang. Just not crazy about their characters.

[JonLP24]

69. I don't know what show is the funniest ever

but I think It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is the funniest current show.

[Capt. America]

71. Family Guy.

[ceile]

78. Father Ted comes to mind...

&feature=related