What's on TV, ILX? It's the American Sitcom Tournament Round 1/Group 1

Curb Your Enthusiasm vs. Coach

know about 3 shows in total across the board first round. hope seinfeld loses AMIRIIIITE

No Frasier? Also, predict some quibbling over definition of sitcom :-)

(was there a nominations thread?)

Frasier's in Group 8. Not polling it yet.

(nope, no noms thread.)

Am I the first one to call The Simpsons = pizza in this match-up?

hope seinfeld loses AMIRIIIITE

― "It's far from 'loi' you were reared, boy" (darraghmac), Tuesday, 10 August 2010 11:52 (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

predict something everything that hasn't been shown outside of america (WKRP in Cincinnati wtf?) to lose and ppl to get butthurt.

xposts, OK, was looking on tiny screen so couldn't see the picture, didn't realise there were more groups to come.

oof newsradio handed a hard tie to start. not that i would EVER vote for south park but you know, people like that junk.

seriously it's just a show i never want to participate in.

NewsRadio = don't know this one

never seen newsradio, and have wanted to for a while. south park can be vile and tiresome, but generally delivers the lols in small doses.

WKRP v. the Muppets is killing me.

JF, for the next rounds I suggest including a (pass), cause I imagine very few people w/ be familiar with all 64

hasn't been shown outside of america (WKRP in Cincinnati wtf?)

WKRP in Cincinnati was on itv, maybe Sunday nights, very early 80s. As an 8/9 year old I loved it for some reason (excuse to stay up late?), haven't seen since.

yeah i'm not going to vote where i haven't seen both options, so i can only really vote in one of these so far.

also wtf @ no Nutt House

WKRP in Cincinnati was on itv, maybe Sunday nights, very early 80s.

Yes, WKRP in Cincinnati was definitely on British TV, hidden away in the schedules somewhere

Wouldn't call the Muppets a sitcom (more a music/comedy variety show, like Carol Burnett et al), but I'll vote for it anyway.

The Muppet Show was one of the last additions to the pool, because I couldn't think of anything else that I thought would have a broad ILX fanbase (should've gone Sgt. Bilko, apparently!).

Have never seen Curb Your Enthusiasm. NewsRadio, Drew Carey, Coach, and Muppets. Don't know what it's doing up against WKRP, let alone being labeled a sitcom, but there it is.

Wish you'd had a noms thread...I don't see the Addams Family (or the Munsters), I Dream of Jeannie or Bewitched on that bracket. Fuckin' kids these days.

more '50s no-one-woulda-voted-for: THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM

are shows like bilko and jack benny still rerun on US tv?

usta show up on Nick and then TV Land, no idea now

No.

I don't think so...they never really stuck on oldies-tv like TV Land. DVDs available for the hardcore coots.

I remember when Nick at Nite first started and it ran things like The Donna Reed Show and Hazel, but I haven't seen much of that era's shows on tv in 15 or 20 years.

DVDs available for the hardcore coots

or lovers of comedy

ok pls never 'hardcore coots' in sequence again thx folks

i see an amazing future matchup between arrested development and all in the family

I don't think it's a given at all that AD even gets past The Jeffersons.

I know you can't please everyone...The one omission that jumps out at me (not literally; I'm straining to read the chart) is The Larry Sanders Show. Like a lot of people, I'll have to absent myself from voting; I know that in every bracket, I won't have seen at least half the shows. (Had the same problem with a similar tournament over on ILM, although there it was that I just didn't care about more than half the names listed.) I'll be following and rooting for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family, Seinfeld, and The Simpsons. But would take The Larry Sanders Show over any of them.

d'oh! I've never had HBO for longer than a few months at a time, so I completely forgot about Larry Sanders. I was doing well to remember Curb Your Enthusiasm.

That's a big omission!

Much less noteworthy, but for anyone who remembers, Green Acres pretty much defined television surrealism circa 1965.

how is "Green Acres" less noteworthy...?

Less noteworthy than The Larry Sanders Show, I meant. Don't get me wrong--I loved Green Acres.

No Paul Henning, no cred.

I remember Green Acres coming on cable (TBS?) in the mornings, but it's another one I haven't seen in well over a decade.

okay maybe I am underestimating the impact of "The Larry Sanders Show" but I can't fathom how it could be considered more noteworthy than "Green Acres"

I'm not running this (thank Cthulhu), but if I were, I'd scrap it and start over after a nomination thread.

Britishes alert. What is "Green Acres"?

I think The Larry Sanders Show was probably very influential on other shows--no evidence, just a general feeling. Green Acres was kind of sui generis. We need Hank Kimball to clearly explain this!

Green Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm. Produced by Filmways, Inc., as a sister show to Petticoat Junction, the series was broadcast on CBS from September 15, 1965, to April 27, 1971.

Part of the hillbilly trilogy with the Beverly Hillbillies.

okay maybe I am underestimating the impact of "The Larry Sanders Show" but I can't fathom how it could be considered more noteworthy than "Green Acres"

i think its a pretty clear influence upon the office (UK), which is in turn a pretty clear influence upon parks & rec, modern family and, of course, the office (US)

Nobody except Morbs understands me when I say that Chip Caray sounds like Mister Haney. ;_;

also, hank kingsley = best tv character ever

I remember what Mister Haney sounds like. :D

I'm all about "It's Garry Shandling's Show" personally

Green Acres...It's the place to be. After that, no explanation is possible.

Britishes alert. What is "Green Acres"?

― tom d: he did what he had to do now he is dead (Tom D.), Tuesday, August 10, 2010 2:58 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

think it's an american sitcom, but beyond that i got nothing

remember i was in a cinema seeing 'pulp fiction' once, and SLJ makes a reference to 'green acres', and some dude roared with laughter and no-one else did and it was like congratulations you have read about 'green acres'

was that person morbs?

has he seen pulp fiction?

[j/k morbs]

pretty sure i said it was some dude

No Arnold or Hank, but this does pretty well as an intro:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnfCyprEzt4&NR=1

whenever i've been in the states recently, mama's family seems to be the only old-ish show still getting shown tonnes on tbs.

beverly hillbillies?

No "Car 54, Where Are You?" no credibility

Up through the ground came a bubblin' crude. xp

No "Car 54, Where Are You?" no credibility

Even when I 10 and didn't know any better, I knew that show was dumb.

Fred Gwynne was a pretty awesome guy, tho.

"Taxi"?

if we alow taxi then 'who's the boss' gets a look in and i dunno is it worth it tbh

Allow "Taxi"?!??!?!

Taxi was good tv.

It was great tv

don't get me wrong i'm all for taxi (marilu henner was a stone fox) but i'm just sayin danza ppl danza. it's german for 'hazelnut demon' you know.

Who's the Boss? is in btw. It's in Group 6, but I don't see it advancing past the first round.

"Car 54, Where Are You?" was created by Nat Hiken of Bilko; not as great, but a fun show and better than a lotta the shit listed above.

really needed the nominations for the inevitable omissions, JF. (Green Acres is easily top 3 of the '60s)

It was kind of a conscious effort to glaze over the 60s. I actually DID think of Bewitched, Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies, Jeannie, etc...and probably should have gone that way in hindsight. I may have been off and undershot my ilxor demographic re: sentimentality, etc.

I was using a 25-35 aged target.

I hated Green Acres as a kid because I couldn't take the insanity, but it def was the best of Henning's trio.

xp yeah this board's older than it looks

should've had enforced viewing of at least one episode of each show for every ILXor before we started. But this is fun! As impossible as it is to look beyond a Simpsons - Seinfeld final.

Now it's bugging me...should we scrap and restart, taking the '60s into account? Still no need for a full-blown noms thread. I have a pretty good idea what should be yanked and what should be substituted (including Bilko for Morbs).

should we scrap and restart

y

Totally on board with subbing Bilko for Morbz.

lol

if yer gonna restart it would be good to allow for a pass option for each matchup (if ILX can take the vast number of poll options that would result).

pass option noted

Also--and this is much trickier, nostalgia being what it is (speaking as someone who's very susceptible)--would it be worth eliminating things like Growing Pains and [i]Good Times[i]? Won't such shows get trounced versus pretty much anything?

I think the quality of Good Times rises above mere nostalgia. Growing Pains, otoh...

HI DERE can be my Paul Ford

restart, yes

At least one Henning show, plus ADDAMS FAMILY, plus Taxi, minus Muppets

Four Norman Lears seems too many. Keep AITF, Maude, Good Times; drop Jeffersons. (personal pref)

Would incl psychiatrist Newhart and innkeeper Newhart

Plus Larry Sanders Show

I guess Buffalo Bill's far too obscure...Anyone else remember it?

Two Newharts?

The thing about the Norman Lear overload is that all four of those shows are distinct, and all four are great.

honestly, I thought about both Newhart shows before, but decided the Vermont one was superior in just about every way.

i like all these shows. i have no idea how these polls work though.

I loved Buffalo Bill but let's face it, it's mostly unknown

Don't bother voting scott. We're about to scrap and restart. This is essentially a working thread now...

HERE are 54 shows. Decide on 10 others, ilxors!

30 Rock
All in the Family
Arrested Development
Bewitched
Cheers
Coach
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Family Guy
Family Matters
Frasier
Friends
Futurama
Good Times
Green Acres
Happy Days
I Dream of Jeannie
I Love Lucy
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Laverne & Shirley
M*A*S*H
Married… With Children
Maude
Murphy Brown
Newhart
NewsRadio
Night Court
Roseanne
Sanford & Son
Scrubs
Seinfeld
Sgt. Bilko
Soap
South Park
Sports Night
Taxi
That '70s Show
The Addams Family
The Andy Griffith Show
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Big Bang Theory
The Brady Bunch
The Cosby Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Golden Girls
The Honeymooners
The Jeffersons
The Larry Sanders Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Office
The Simpsons
Three's Company
Will & Grace
WKRP in Cincinnati

________________________________________________________________________________

Buffalo Bill was that Dabney Coleman show, right? I have the faintest memories of it.

No "Family Ties"? No "Beverly Hillbillies"? No "F Troop"?

i like most of those shows. the worst on that list would be night court. the ones i never watch/watched were futurama, philadelphia, sports night. as cult shows go, sports night is pretty feeble.

Beverly Hillbillies is in there (under "The")

Family Ties, can do. F Troop, does it has the support?

Addams Family please

The thing about the Norman Lear overload is that all four of those shows are distinct, and all four are great.

no argument there, actually

F-Troop was horrible

Buffalo Bill: no argument, too obscure...Good show, although I re-watched the first episode from the box set and it didn't hold up as well as I remembered. I guess it's biggest selling point is that it was so clearly an influence on Larry Sanders. (Yeah, Dabney Coleman.)

No "Everybody Loves Raymond"? (hooray btw, leave it off) No""The Partridge Family"? No "The Monkees"?

ok, I missed Addams Fam filed under T

Monkees would be an excellent inclusion

first season of bewitched is amazing and majik. you can hardly believe it became what it became.

Yeah, I will stan for Bewitched

PS, I am avoiding work again

What about Leave It to Beaver? If you can look past mom being formally dressed to do the dishes, it was both smart and funny about kids, and Eddie Haskell is an archetype.

no "Mr Ed"? no "Leave It To Beaver"? no "Gidget"?

no get a life?
no community?

no "Family Affair"? no "Mr Belvedere"? no "Parker Lewis Can't Lose"? no "Get A Life"?

Yeah, gotta give some love to the Beav.

Mr. Ed was maybe the most one-note show ever aired.

no himym?

My first-year roommate in university treated Leave It to Beaver like Zen philosophy...Mind you, he didn't last a second year.

I left off both Community and P&R because they're just freshmen (I don't even count P&R's first short season).

himym is there

head of the class?

Night Court

never seen this but "a court? a night? i'm already laughing"

Do enough people like HIMYM? Maybe more in the past than recently.

no "227"? no "Amen"? no "Martin"? no "Barney Miller"? no "Welcome Back, Kotter"?

Abbott & Costello
Burns & Allen

(yeah, I know)

Party Down anyone?

24?

Thank u for not including My Three Sons

Barney Miller YES -- the episode where Abe Vigoda eats hash brownies and chases a perp across rooftops is worth inclusion all by itself

Police Squad! (6 eps -- much funnier than the Naked Gun films)

I've never seen Barney Miller as an adult. The fact my parents wouldn't let me watch it as a kid probably means it was great.

I'd leave off My Three Sons too...but man, I had a crush on Polly when I was 12.

"The Andy Griffith Show"? "Boy Meets World"? "Everybody Hates Chris"? "Father Knows Best"? "Day by Day"? "Kate and Ally"? "Designing Women"?

why the hell do I know so many sitcoms

Mayberry is represented, fear not.

Do enough people like HIMYM? Maybe more in the past than recently.

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, August 10, 2010 4:26 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

Will & Grace
WKRP in Cincinnati

________________________________________________________________________________

Buffalo Bill was that Dabney Coleman show, right? I have the faintest memories of it.

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, August 10, 2010 4:15 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark

"Gilligan's Island"?

If people still care enough about HIMYM, I'll be glad to put it in. I never watch it, but I know people talk about it a lot less now.

"Ellen"? "Girlfriends"? "Valerie"/"The Hogan Family"? "Home Improvement"?

"Mama's Family"? "Malcolm in the Middle"? "Hello, Larry"? (<--- that is a joke btw)

"Mork and Mindy"? "Just Shoot Me"? "The Love Boat"?

I've added Family Ties, Barney Miller, Leave it to Beaver, and Welcome Back Kotter. There are six slots remaining.

Gilligan probably deserves a spot.

"One Day at a Time"? "Alice"? "The Munsters"? "Benson"?

You're digging in the second tier now.

I watched so much Gilligan's Island in the 70s -- I always watched it just before walking to baseball practice when I lived in Stanton -- but nah, I don't think it's good enough for this tourney. But omg Mary Ann, thankig u for being on my teevee.

My Mother, the Car

"My Name Is Earl"? "Private Benjamin"?

Mork & Mindy is worth inclusion

okay there is nothing "second tier" about either "One Day at a Time" or "Benson", wtf

there kinda is

Mork & Mindy added, five slots open.

dan is starting to scare me

but, there are a dozen tiers and 2nd tier is still good

"Perfect Strangers"? "The Odd Couple"? "Seinfeld"? "Silver Spoons"?

We've got Newhart, but is there The Bob Newhart Show?

Odd Couple! yessss

"Punky Brewster"? "Saved By The Bell"? (lol)

the 70s Newhart had the better drinking game

"Diff'rent Strokes"? "That Girl"? "Webster"?

I'll second The Odd Couple, even though it's been a while.

"What's Happening!!"? "The Tick"? "Spin City"? "Too Close For Comfort"? "It's A Living"?

"That Girl" was a waste of oxygen. "Diff'rent Strokes" is kinda important historically but not very good in execution.

SJP:

Square Pegs
Sex & The City

"Veronica's Closet"? (LOL) "Just Shoot Me"? "Two and a half Men"? (LOLOL)

S&tC was a sitcom? (never saw it)

What else would it be?

This roll call explains the board taste in film comedy

"Veronica's Closet"? (LOL) "Just Shoot Me"? "Two and a half Men"? (LOLOL)

― people are for loving (HI DERE), Tuesday, August 10, 2010 3:42 PM (13 seconds ago) Bookmark

That's the biggest LOL I've ever seen 2 1/2 men elicit

Did anybody else on the planet besides me, my wife and my daughter ever see "My Brother's Keeper"?

in retrospect I could have been pretty fucking brilliant had it not been for TV

Added The Odd Couple, four slots open.

so...The Bob Newhart Show? I love it too, but that's a lotta Bob.

yeah at some point I stopped listing shows that really SHOULD be there in favor of just... listing shows

like, no one is going to vote for 2.5 Men unless it's up against something like "Coupling (US)"

Can never have too much Bob. I think the 70s version was better all around except for the theme song.

I think sex and the city is among the most horrific things in human history, but if south park is a sitcom, I don't see what that shouldn't count

Does anyone have any attachment at all to Raymond? I like Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle, but I'm sure I could go 30 years w/o ever seeing that show again and be perfectly happy.

I never followed it regularly, but I think you have to include the first Bob Newhart.

eh, they were both great; they just had different things going for them

lol forgot "Bosom Buddies"

and SitC is ABSOLUTELY a sitcom

The Bob Newhart Show added, three slots open.

Soooo...SitC then?

only attachment to raymond is that I've actually seen it, unlike 50% of these shows (I was born in the mid 80s)

wait, isn't SatC?

oh shit what was the name of the Brooke Shields comedy where she was working at I think a magazine with Judd Nelson and Kathy Griffin

also lol, "Caroline in the City"

Sex and the City added, two slots open (lol)

also that horrible republican woman who plays his wife is kinda cute

Suddenly Susan xp

itt Dan Perry watches too much damned television.

Also, no "My Two Dads?" It gave us Giovanni Ribisi!

oh right, people wanted The Monkees in. Is that still the case?

YES

ok, that leaves ONE slot.

I guess I should put Diff'rent Strokes back in there, y/n? Given the choice, I'd go with The Facts of Life over Diff'rent Strokes.

will and grace? some people like that right?

I guess there's no room for Sean Hannity, right?

itt Dan Perry watches too much damned television.

full disclosure, I was using Wikipedia as a source, but I didn't list a single show that I haven't seen at least one episode of (except "That Girl", lol)

Entourage?

the original list (since it's in no man's land in the middle of the thread):

30 Rock
All in the Family
Arrested Development
Bewitched
Cheers
Coach
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Family Guy
Family Matters
Frasier
Friends
Futurama
Good Times
Green Acres
Happy Days
I Dream of Jeannie
I Love Lucy
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Laverne & Shirley
M*A*S*H
Married… With Children
Maude
Murphy Brown
Newhart
NewsRadio
Night Court
Roseanne
Sanford & Son
Scrubs
Seinfeld
Sgt. Bilko
Soap
South Park
Sports Night
Taxi
That '70s Show
The Addams Family
The Andy Griffith Show
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Big Bang Theory
The Brady Bunch
The Cosby Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Golden Girls
The Honeymooners
The Jeffersons
The Larry Sanders Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Office
The Simpsons
Three's Company
Will & Grace
WKRP in Cincinnati

if I had to bump a show off of this to make space for something... it would probably be "Coach"

I just remembered how much I liked The Patty Duke Show. Anyone with me?

I am pretty adamant about "One Day at a Time" actually

I'd take Coach over Patty Duke, so maybe One Day at a Time goes in.

y/n?

Seems weird to have Family Matters in there and not Full House, but people love Urkel more than Uncle Jesse I suppose. (I would probably vote in favor of the competition no matter the matchup, tho.)

Okay, here's the list of 64. Last chance to suggest a change:

30 Rock
All in the Family
Arrested Development
Barney Miller
Bewitched
Cheers
Coach
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Family Guy
Family Matters
Family Ties
Frasier
Friends
Futurama
Good Times
Green Acres
Happy Days
I Dream of Jeannie
I Love Lucy
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Laverne & Shirley
Leave it to Beaver
M*A*S*H
Married… With Children
Maude
Mork & Mindy
Murphy Brown
Newhart
NewsRadio
Night Court
One Day at a Time
Roseanne
Sanford & Son
Scrubs
Seinfeld
Sex and the City
Sgt. Bilko
Soap
South Park
Sports Night
Taxi
That '70s Show
The Addams Family
The Andy Griffith Show
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Big Bang Theory
The Bob Newhart Show
The Brady Bunch
The Cosby Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Golden Girls
The Honeymooners
The Jeffersons
The Larry Sanders Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Monkees
The Odd Couple
The Office
The Simpsons
Three's Company
Welcome Back, Kotter
Will & Grace
WKRP in Cincinnati

Full House got better ratings but Family Matters won more awards. Hmm.

Would Flight of the Conchords count?

it will be difficult to resist voting for Family Matters just because of the mysteriously disappearing little sister

One last suggestion: instead of a randomizer, just quickly seed everything according to your best guesstimate (real quickly, or it'd feel like work). I'm sure you'll be fairly close. I'm just thinking about the chance that you'll end up with something like Seinfeld vs. The Mary Tyler Moore Show in round one.

Or maybe that makes the first couple of rounds too boring...

imo randomize, but if you see first seed vs first seed matchups, randomize again until it looks better

That's a better idea.

noted.

Okay, I'm ready to get to work on this. Can a mod (Dan, WmC?) lock and/or delete these threads so we can begin fresh?

Wow, I feel like I've just had a hand in drafting the Bill of Rights or something.

now you have to decide which right is the best

second amendment
vs.
tenth amendment

seventh amendment
vs.
fourth amendment

eight amendment
vs.
first amendment

lol