Top 5 Sitcoms Cherished By Everyone....Except Me!

Why is it a show can be loved by millions of people, but there's always a group who hates it?

I'll always remember one day seeing a message board somewhere, and someone wondering why Seinfeld was so highly regarded. This person had only seen a few episodes and didn't get it, calling it overrated. I commented back saying that you had to see the show when it was on to appreciate its significance. That show literally changed sitcoms; there was nothing else like it. Of course people have every right to not like it if they want, and I can understand how someone looking at the show now could be confused, and wonder what the big deal is.

The point to this ramble is that sometimes you have to experience a show first hand to truly appreciate it. The same goes for me, there are a few shows which are considered classics because they are so cherished. However, I was never really a fan mostly because the show was either gone or almost gone by the time I finally got around to it. They're brilliant shows and I appreciate them and their place in TV history, but I don't have that love for them.

Today I am going to look at five examples of this. As always, this just opinion. Millions of people love these programs, but that doesn't mean I have to be one of them. Before someone rants about why I should love one of them, remember that everyone is entitled to their opinion. I have heard people hate Friends which is a show I love, and totally respect that. Here we go:

#5. Cheers.

I believe I stated before that I was never a fan of this show for many years. Mostly because it came on after my bedtime, so I never watched it. I knew about it of course, even before I ever saw an episode I knew who the characters were and the stars. Strange as it sounds, when Ted Danson did Three Men and a Baby I knew little of his famous TV role. I didn't watch the show regularly until its last season, and there are many episodes I have never seen especially from the early Shelly Long days. I learned to appreciate the show, especially the Kirstie Alley years, but still would not really consider myself a true blue fan.

#4.MASH.

This show was off the air before I could start to watch it. There is a funny story about the famous final episode. The hype was incredible, so much so that I wanted to watch it like the rest of the world. Problem was my father made us go to bed, and I had to miss one of the most watched TV shows in history! Still pissed about that. Anyway, the show is great but I was just never a real fan of it. I have seen re-runs of course, but something about the dramatic overtones in the show never appealed to me. Same reason The Wonder Years was never a favorite, of course that didn't get nearly as depressing as this show. The show was of course based on a movie, which I hated even more. I think the only reason I ever watch it is because I enjoy the actors in it. Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, and the great Harry Morgan (who recently passed away). Like with Cheers, I have hardly seen the older shows with McLean Stevenson and the original cast. Great show, sure, but not on my list. 

#3.I Love Lucy.

I want to make this perfectly clear, I loved Lucille Ball. She was an amazing woman and brilliant talent. However, I just don't get what the big deal is with this show. It was funny, yes, but I have never been one to like it. Maybe it’s because so many of the scenes have been shown so many times, I never really got to experience them firsthand. I mean, how many times have we seen Lucy stomp grapes or panic when the chocolate candy starts to come out of the conveyer belt to fast? These images are iconic, which unfortunately takes away from the experience of watching the show. I did see the Christmas special they did, which was really just a clip show, and I admit it was cute and clever but while the whole world loves Lucy, I just respect her.

#2.All in the Family

Norman Lear created this brilliant show which broke all the rules. Well, most of them anyway. Carroll O'Connor was perfect as Archie Bunker, the angry bigot who always had to be right. Rob Reiner was the “meathead” brother in law who was always arguing with Archie. All the while, Maureen Stapleton played Edith, a much more loving wife than Archie deserved. This was a great show. Only problem is, I don't think I've ever sat through an entire episode. This show is kind of dated now, since the things they talked about aren't quite as relevant today. Also, the things they did may have been groundbreaking then, but they aren't going to seem that way today. For example, this show was the first to show someone literally changing a baby diaper. I'm sure that was hilarious then, but now we've seen it a dozen times. I am not trying to diminish this shows place in the History of TV, because it has a large one, but I have never been a fan.

#1. Happy Days.

I have picked on this show a lot, but the truth is I just don't get it. The show is so corny, the jokes are so silly, and the way the audience applauds every time a character walks into a scene infuriates me (fyi, I hated that in Family Matters too). This show was off the air by the time I started watching it, and of course those last couple years were incredibly bad once almost half the cast had left. But even when the show was good, I just don't get it. Sure, there are one or two episode I enjoyed. I liked the one where Arnold's burned down. The shows that introduced Laverne and Shirley, and Mork are great episodes (actually the one with Mork would have been idiotic but Robin Williams makes it work), and the episode where Fonzie is blinded was very well acted. Overall though, the corniness is just too much. The cast was great, I will concede that. Ron Howard, Tom Bosley, Marion Ross, Henry Winkler. That’s a great cast, especially ”The Fonz”.  I did love what Henry Winkler did with Fonzie. That character was amazing. It's probably fair to say he is what kept people coming back for 11 years. Some other time I will talk more about him. Not all the cast was great, Joanie and Chachi were annoying, and I never cared for Al or Arnold. Ok, the final episode was real sweet but all in all this show was just so corny. So much in fact that it even ended up originating the phrase “Jump the Shark” which came from an episode which had a water skiing Fonzie doing a jump over a, well, shark! In his leather jacket and a pair of swim trunks no less. Yeah, you could feel the suspense in this one.  Yaawwn! 

I guess it's just different when you learn about a show second hand rather than experiencing it when it's fresh and new. It amuses to think what kids must think of The Cosby Show today. Of course Sometimes it can be a new show that you are on board from the instant it premiers, and yet for some reason it just doesn't resonate the same way as it seems to with others. Everybody Loves Raymond is a good example, but I love that show. I wanted to include an example of one such show which I seem to be the only one to hate.

Honorable Mention:

Am I the only person who finds the show infuriating? I stopped watching it because I couldn't take the Michael character anymore. Now, before everyone yells at me I know Michael was supposed to be a clueless ass. I also give Steve Carrel credit for doing a great job with the character. But my god, I can't stand this guy! I watched it for the Jim and Pam relationship, but that's been run dry (oooh, I smell a subject of a future article on clichés!) and Dwight is goofy but in a totally charming way. Michael was such a jerk, not only was he not nearly as funny as he thought he was but he was selfish, arrogant, and totally ignored the feelings of others. He was just interested in being the popular boss, at all costs! And was so clueless he could never see the real affects his actions had. This show was never a favorite, and the fact that it's still on is amazing to me. In case you're wondering, I have no idea what the show is like now that Steve Carrel is gone. I know I am going to get ten comments from people saying I missed the point, but I can't watch this show without getting infuriated at that jerk. Sometimes I watch the Christmas one where Michael turns the Secret Santa into a Yankee Swap because he hated the present he got, and by the end I hate this guy all over again.

So you don't think I have no interest in older things, there are shows I learned to love after they had been off the air. The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched, Batman, Star Trek, Taxi, The Brady Bunch, and Benson are shows I have seen and loved and all of them were off the air (or in the case of Benson, almost off the air) when I discovered them. I am also not prejudiced on new things, when I discovered The Big Bang Theory I quickly learned to love that show. In fact it shot right up to the top of my favorite shows ever.

Finally, I am not saying the shows I listed are bad. I just never got into them.