Where everybody knows your name

I remember hearing once, when Everybody Loves Raymond went off the air, that it was the last great sitcom on television. While that might not be completely true, as My Name is Earl and 2 1/2 Men are both quite good and clever, there does seem to be a dearth of quality sitcoms anymore. I don't think this is due so much to a desire to watch real crime shows (seriously, I can't handle another Bruckheimer cop show that's slick in appearance, but completely hollow on story). Instead, I think it comes from laziness in the writers. Too often, sitcom writers resort to stereotypes and/or sex/gas jokes as opposed to working to create humor. If you look at the really great sitcoms of the last 30 years (Friends doesn't count, it's pop culture gone berserk), they almost all have something in common: characters who have personalities, be they intelligent, dim, or somewhere in between. They are more than one-dimensional. You can relate to the people, and you get to think while you watch them. This is lost too often by writers who think they have are writing to the audience.

So, I hereby list the following truly classic sitcoms of my generation:

All in the Family - Archie was so bigoted and so unaware of it, that you watched him just to see how stupid he could be. This started it all, and included clever writing, which has been lost over the years.

The Bob Newhart Show - Bob Newhart is one of the best comics of this age. He can do more with a look than most young comics can do with anything. The cast all worked together so well, and knew when to throw in the towel.

MASH - I think this might be the second-best sitcom ever. It took a difficult subject in a difficult time, and gave us characters we love, messages we can apply in many situations, and a comaraderie that overpowered everything. Few shows can work in new characters with the skill these surgeons did. Excellence all around.

Newhart - Another Bob Newhart show. Bob is the only intelligent person in Vermont, and he gets to deal with molehill after molehill that everyone else turns into mountains. You love him, because you feel like you're living his life every day. Best final episode ever.

Cheers - This is the greatest sitcom ever.

Night Court - Zany, crazy characters doing the zany crazy things that other ensembles could never get away with (putting Groucho glasses on the Statue of Liberty?!). Crazy.

Seinfeld - Notices the little things and points out how crazy people get letting them take over their lives. He did it in a not-quite-subtle way that worked, but I doubt could ever be duplicated.

Frazier - Takes a psychiatrist who's looming on the edge of sanity, combines him with his equally precariously balanced brother, their dad, who acts like a dad should, his quirky assistant and Niles's would-be love interest, and Frazier's assistant, a loud-mouthed crazy woman in her own right. Christopher Lloyd produced the first few seasons, which were magical, and, after he left, the show took a turn downward, until thelast season, when he came back again. Terrific, and classy. Second-best final episode ever.

Everyone Loves Raymond - The family from hell. Ray is such a doofus, and everyone in his family has its own personality (except the kids, who were necessary, but mostly as window dressing). Few family comedies can work together this well.

That's it. Nine shows, out of the hundreds that have come out over the years. These are the classics. There have been other good shows, but most have been tripe. Again, you'll notice something special in these shows, something that other shows don't quite have. Would that it happened a little more often.