Must-Watch shows that changed sitcom television

• Community

Why this show is one of the best TV comedies ever made is pretty simple; it dares to be different. From changing genres in special episodes to having meta-commentary and continuously breaking the fourth wall in an innovatively scripted manner, the show is heralded as a timeless comedic prodigy from the brains of none other than Dan Harmon, also the creator of Rick and Morty. The show is one of the best examples of a “meta-comedy”, a relatively small subgenre of situational comedy. Community not only goes against and breaks tradition that many sitcoms are founded on, but it effortlessly makes fun of those tropes, often delving into various genre parody and transfiguring realities and timelines, whilst identifying itself in a completely different genre of sitcoms. The series revolves around a lawyer, who after being caught with a fake law degree, has to enrol in the Greendale Community College, leading to six other students of diverse temperaments that join his study group, and thus begins a ridiculous journey as they navigate college as adults, often running into over-the-top setups and conflicting personalities. The show never really relied on one selling point, but generally drifted onto various experimental techniques, combining that yearning for the deconstruction of tv tropes with the urge to celebrate the best of pop culture. As a result, over the course of 110 episodes Community pulls off incredible narratives that draw upon established genres, conventions and visual aesthetics. Above all that, the show also manages to go hard on emotions, so much so that every single viewing of the finale will bring on the waterworks.

• Arrested Development

Quite ahead of its time in regard to the show’s subtle yet consistent comedy and its carefully crafted character portrayals. What made the show’s unique selling point was its contextual comedy, which would set up jokes but deliver the punch line a few episodes later, making it a hilariously fulfilling experience. While it originally aired in 2003 only to find itself cancelled after three seasons, a lot has to do with the time it was aired in. The world was used to conventional sitcoms and this particular technique of comedy was practically non-existent,

Centred around Michael Bluth, played by Jason Bateman, who’s burdened with being the head of the household after his father is convicted of a white-collar crime. What’s worse is that almost the rest of the family who has lost much of their financial wealth, are greedy, self-serving and downright manipulative. Left to take care of the company and manage his family running around wreaking havoc at the same time, the Bluth’s struggle to deal with his dysfunctional family serves for the most comedic scenarios to ever exist in Sitcom history where much of the humour relies on stuff that you need to know and on the context that it’s told in. Now, sitcoms are experimenting more with narrative and joke formats, and Arrested Development fits right into the style of modern sitcoms. Fast forward to the modern-day where Netflix revived the show, deeming it perfect for a streaming service viewability, and giving fans some much-needed closure.

• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Anything goes in this particular television show. What started from a 200 dollar pilot production and pitch to FX Network has now risen to a 15 season empire, showcasing consistent dark and satirical humour throughout the years. Created by Rob McElhenney, the show never surprises audiences as it pushes boundaries on what can be turned into a comical moment, and it always does so with a digestible punch line. Currently reigning as the only American live-action comedy series to run this long, the series revolves around 5 misfit friends and their daily adventures whilst they run a fictional Paddy’s Pub, an unsuccessful Irish bar in South Philadelphia. These five people are selfish, manipulative, and driven by their need to always be right, witnessed concocting schemes and settling scores with the local population throughout the run of the show. While a show like Friends may rely on romance, friendship and the power of love, IASIP on the other hand delves into crystal meth, funerals and kidnappings. What sets the show apart is not only its irreverent nature but also its brilliant commentary on every social issue imaginable, from race to Time’s up, and from the abortion debate to the right to bear arms – IASIP has done it all, and in hilarity. And while in conventional sitcoms you’d expect the characters to grow over time, in this particular series they tend to get even more unpleasant with a stead depletion of morality. That nihilism is matched by a refreshingly cynical approach to characterisation, leading to one of the best sitcoms ever made.

• Parks and Recreation

PARKS AND RECREATION — Season: 3 — Pictured: (l-r) Chris Pratt as Andy Dwyer, Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson, Retta as Donna, Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate, Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope, Rashida Jones as Ann Perkins, Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt, Jim O’Heir as Jerry, Aziz Ansari as Tom Haverford — (Photo by: Mitchell Haaseth/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)

What originally started off as a spin-off of The Office, it eventually found its ground in its own unique identity, becoming the best comfort show chock full of hilarious scripts. When the world feels too big to handle, Parks and Recreation steps right in with its relentlessly optimistic characters. The show, set in the small town of Pawnee, revolves around the city’s parks department and the people it employs. The parks department is under-budgeted and the town is stocked full of seemingly small problems. Lighthearted and full of life, this show is composed of characters with different personalities that work together seamlessly as they aim to improve their little town. The show also doesn’t plateau like the Office did as seasons went on but instead does a much better job of introducing new characters and replacing old ones, highlighting individual friendships and steering clear of repetitive plot lines. Feel-good in its entirety, the show is something one should not miss out on.

• You’re the Worst

Designed as the Anti-Friends show, this ludicrous little TV gem does everything to go against all that a show like Friends would have stood for. You’re the Worst revolves around two self-centred individuals, Jimmy and Gretchen, who meet at a wedding and decide to have a relationship. But, consistently on-brand with their personas, they soon begin to experience problems when their respective egos clash. While one may be quick to dismiss this show as an irreverent knockoff, don’t judge it too quickly. The series leaps into several incredible depths of humanistic problems, the major one being a real representation of what a relationship can be like. It turns a lot of typical sitcom tropes on its head and has extremely accurate depictions of ups and downs in relationships, as opposed to an idealised version often seen in rom-com sitcoms.

• Archer

Something about dysfunctional groups of people makes up for the best of comedy, and Archer is definitely under that category. Archer is the brainchild of Adam Reed, set in a struggling spy agency following the adventures of Sterling Archer, a man with issues, mainly of the mother variety, and his co-workers, as they not only fail every mission but make it all the more chaotic. We’ve got a functional alcoholic, a freak scientist who loves crazy experiments, a wild card receptionist who loves setting fires to things, an HR representative who has committed the most workplace violations, and many more iconic characters that work at the agency, ruining every mission to an unsuccessful ruin as their personalities clash and their complete ineptitude to do their jobs manifests as hilariously unbridled circumstances. Don’t dismiss Archer for its animated genre, the show is as adult as it gets, making you laugh out loud with its over the top situations and its evidently crude humour.

Community, Rick and Morty, Arrested development, IASIP, Parks and Recreation, The Office, You’re the worst, Friends, Archer