An indispensable aspect of popular culture that has produced some of the best shows of all time, sitcoms number among the most widely watched and influential forms of television out there. Featuring beloved and long-running names like The Office, Peep Show, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the best sitcoms of all time chronicle a diverse array of stories from all walks of life, continuously evolving and highlighting that there is no set formula for a show to become wildly successful.
However, for every superb sitcom that deserves every bit of the praise that it receives, there’s at least one counterpart that leaves viewers scratching their heads as to how the show even got off the ground in the first place. Whether the sitcom played out as an insufferable mess from its very first scene, or steadily fell off in terms of quality and innovation as the show progressed, the last decade has played host to some of the most overrated sitcoms of all time.
10 The Big Bang Theory (2007-2019)
Created By Chuck Lorre And Bill Prady
Running for 12 seasons and spawning a multimedia franchise including a prequel series, Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady’s The Big Bang Theory is one of the most successful television shows of all time. Chronicling the lives and times of a socially awkward group of scientists, the wildly popular series ran for 12 years between 2007 and 2019, surpassing the storied likes of Friends and How I Met Your Mother as one of television’s longest-running sitcoms.
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The ironic thing about this state of affairs is that the show has always been one of television’s most overrated offerings. Harsh realities that reveal themselves during a rewatch of The Big Bang Theory include the core characters’ lack of likability, the dysfunction between the show’s romantic pairings, and an infuriating laugh track. To compound matters, the show is purportedly a celebration of nerd culture but ultimately spends more time reducing its own characters to little more than an array of stereotypical caricatures.
9 Mrs. Brown’s Boys (2011-present)
Created By Brendan O’Carroll
A sitcom created by and starring Brendan O’Carroll, Mrs. Brown’s Boys follows the antics of the show’s titular loud-mouth Irish matriarch and her family. A veritable success story on paper, Mrs. Brown’s Boys has consistently attracted huge viewership numbers, high ratings, and a loyal following. While the show only features a limited number of episodes, it has produced multiple seasons, a feature film, and returns on an annual basis for a yearly holiday special.
There’s an entertaining viewing experience to be had here if the sight of a man dressed as a foul-mouthed elderly woman sounds amusing, but this is an arduous watch otherwise.
Despite such enviable success, Mrs. Brown’s Boys has consistently been decried by critics as one of television’s most overrated shows. Attracting descriptors ranging from “crass” to “lazy trash” (per The Guardian), O’Carroll’s offering has received poor reviews throughout its run, with detractors highlighting the show’s crude and unimaginative humor as the chief culprit behind this state of affairs. There’s an entertaining viewing experience to be had here if the sight of a man dressed as a foul-mouthed elderly woman sounds amusing, but many find this is an arduous watch.
8 Friday Night Dinner (2011-2020)
Created By Robert Popper
Friday Night Dinner is a British sitcom centered around the Goodman family, who gather every Friday night for a traditional Shabbat dinner. Created by Robert Popper, the show features parents Jackie and Martin, and their adult sons Adam and Jonny, whose bickering and pranks often lead to chaotic yet comedic situations. The series, renowned for its humor and family dynamics, stars Tamsin Greig, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird, and Tom Rosenthal.
- Cast
- Tamsin Greig , Paul Ritter , Simon Bird , Tom Rosenthal , Mark Heap
- Release Date
- February 25, 2011
- Seasons
- 6
- Creator(s)
- Robert Popper
Running for six seasons before the tragic death of core cast member Paul Ritter, Robert Popper’s Friday Night Dinner chronicled an array of weekly dinners at the Goodman residence, a middle-class Jewish family residing in North London. The sitcom numbers among the more influential British offerings in recent memory, with characters in the vein of Mark Heap’s Jim Bell and catchphrases like “Shalom, Jackie” inspiring endless imitations and earning cult classic status in British popular culture.
It’s a remarkable state of affairs, given that the show was never the funniest television offering to begin with. Friday Night Dinner starts out strongly but swiftly slides into repetitive jokes and childish gags. It’s not irredeemable by any means, with Popper’s series boasting some notably sidesplitting episodes. The show’s middling quality simply doesn’t merit its remarkable popularity and prominent status in British popular culture, particularly when considering the vast range of funnier contemporaries.
7 Modern Family (2009-2020)
Created By Christopher Lloyd And Steven Levitan
Modern Family is a comedy series that follows the unconventional Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker family as they redefine what makes a family in their modern age. Broken into sub-families, the three diverse groups shake up the nuclear formula with empty nesters, adopted children, gender neutrality, and more as they attempt to navigate the various pitfalls and comedic misadventures of their dysfunctional but warm-hearted family dynamic.
- Release Date
- September 23, 2009
- Seasons
- 11
A titan of American television, Modern Family ran for 11 seasons between 2009 and 2020. Focusing on the interconnected lives of three family set-ups residing in suburban Los Angeles, Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan’s show featured an ensemble cast and won multiple awards throughout its run. On paper, Modern Family sounds like the furthest thing from an overrated outing, but a closer look at the long-running sitcom reveals several fundamental flaws.
Regrettably, Modern Family is a prime example of a show that lived off its early success, with later seasons receiving a considerably more mixed critical reaction than the near-universal acclaim associated with earlier installments. Modern Family incorporates common sitcom tropes to the point that it feels like the show relies on them, a status quo that is compounded by narratives and character molds that can come across as formulaic.
6 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015-2019)
Created By Tina Fey And Robert Carlock
When cheerful, optimistic Kimmy Schmidt is rescued from a doomsday cult after spending years underground, she opts not to return home to Indiana and instead decides to try and make it in New York City.
- Release Date
- March 6, 2015
- Seasons
- 4
- Showrunner
- Tina Fey
Created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt follows the titular character and her attempts to adjust to regular life after being held prisoner by a doomsday cult for 15 years. Brought to life by The Office’s Ellie Kemper in the leading role, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt received positive reviews throughout a four-season run that was concluded by an interactive film special.
|
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Rotten Tomatoes approval rating |
|
|---|---|
|
Season 1 (2015) |
95% |
|
Season 2 (2016) |
100% |
|
Season 3 (2017) |
97% |
|
Season 4 (2018) |
94% |
|
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend (2020) |
94% |
However, strip away Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s unique premise and what viewers are left with is a fairly average sitcom. While charming, Schmidt’s relentless optimism and upbeat nature can also come across as grating at times. Furthermore, Fey’s brainchild arguably fails to adequately deal with Kimmy’s surprisingly traumatic dark backstory, the fraught subject matter that forms the show’s bedrock. It may be a comedy at the end of the day, but sweeping such a horrific ordeal under the carpet feels like a notable missed opportunity for the show to comment on a relevant issue that hangs over proceedings like a cloud.
5 2 Broke Girls (2011-2017)
Created By Michael Patrick King And Whitney Cummings
2 Broke Girls is a sitcom that aired on CBS for six seasons from 2011-2017. Created by Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings, the series follows the lives of Max Black (Kat Dennings) and Caroline Channing (Beth Behrs), as they work at a local diner to try to earn enough money to open a cupcake business in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Caroline is the daughter of a billionaire, while Max grew up in poverty, which makes for hilarious differences in their outlooks on life. The series had a quirky cast of supporting characters, including Garrett Morris as Earl Washington, Jennifer Coolidge as Sophie Kachinsky, Jonathan Kite as Oleg Golishevsky, and Matthew Moy as Han Lee.
- Release Date
- September 19, 2011
- Seasons
- 6
- Showrunner
- Michael Patrick King
The CBS comedy 2 Broke Girls centers on two 20-something waitresses working at a Brooklyn diner. Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings’ sitcom following Kat Dennings and Beth Behr’s titular characters initially displayed promising signs, but regrettably gets bogged down through the overuse of tone-deaf comedic takes on fraught social issues in short order. To provide a little context, the show has been described by the New Yorker as “so racist it is less offensive than baffling.”
…2 Broke Girls
morphed into a show that was clearly trying to be edgy and outrageous, but arguably came across as more uncomfortable and contrived due to an overreliance on vulgar humor.
Despite the unquestionable potential posed by the clear comedic chemistry between the show’s leading duo, 2 Broke Girls morphed into a show that was clearly trying to be edgy and outrageous, but arguably came across as more uncomfortable and contrived due to an overreliance on vulgar humor. However, despite being largely lambasted by critics, the show went on to enjoy a hugely successful run of six seasons and 138 episodes before eventually being canceled by CBS in 2017.
4 After Life (2019-2022)
Created By Ricky Gervais
After the death of his wife, journalist Tony Johnson contemplates suicide, but instead decides to spend the rest of his life saying and doing whatever he wants, regardless of how it impacts others.
- Cast
- Ricky Gervais , Tony Way , Mandeep Dhillon , Ashley Jensen , David Bradley , Penelope Wilton , David Earl , Jo Hartley , Paul Kaye
- Release Date
- March 8, 2019
- Seasons
- 3
- Network
- Netflix
Regarded as one of the best British shows currently on Netflix, After Life is arguably one of the streaming giant’s most successful offerings. The Ricky Gervais-led show following a widower and the aftermath of his beloved wife’s death ran for three seasons before concluding in 2022. With The Office creator writing, directing, and starring in the black comedy outing, After Life is purportedly meant to be the comedy icon at his purest and there are undoubtedly some great highlights.
|
After Life Rotten Tomatoes approval rating |
|
|---|---|
|
Season 1 (2019) |
73% |
|
Season 2 (2020) |
77% |
|
Season 3 (2022) |
62% |
Unfortunately, the rave reviews directed towards certain segments of Gervais’ offering gloss over some fundamental shortcomings at After Life’s heart. Even for a tragicomedy, the show is unrelentingly bleak and has been criticized (per AV Club) for appearing to often function as little more than an exercise to underline the intellectual superiority of Gervais’ protagonist. The supporting characters are colorful, but are often reduced to little more than affable background scenery by the show’s narrative.
3 Gavin & Stacey (2007-2024)
Created By James Corden And Ruth Jones
Gavin & Stacey is a British romantic sitcom that explores the long-distance relationship between Gavin, from Essex, and Stacey, from Wales, highlighting the dynamics of their families and friends with humor and charm.
- Character(s)
- Stacey Shipman , Pam Shipman , Gavin Shipman , Smithy , Vanessa Jenkins , Mick Shipman , Gwen West , Bryn West
- Release Date
- May 13, 2007
- Seasons
- 3
A British sitcom following the lives of the eponymous couple and their respective families, Gavin & Stacey is one of the BBC’s more prominent success stories. Created by cast members James Corden and Ruth Jones, the comedy has run for three seasons and two holiday specials, with a third special set to follow in December 2024 to conclude the long-running show. As quintessentially British as it gets, Gavin & Stacey is widely regarded as one of the best British sitcoms of all time.
Gavin and Stacey’s surnames, Shipman and West, are named after famous serial killers, Dr. Harold Shipman and Fred West.
However, while Gavin & Stacey isn’t terrible by any means, it’s hard to escape the notion that it’s contentiously an overrated piece of television rather than the seminal sitcom that it’s made out to be. For a purported comedy, the show rarely leaves its audience howling with laughter. The titular couple are relatively bland and uncompelling individuals, while Corden’s insistence on his character Smithy’s prominent involvement throughout proceedings can often be construed as grating.
2 Young Sheldon (2017-2024)
Created By Chuck Lorre And Steven Molaro
A spinoff of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon follows the youth and coming-of-age of Sheldon Cooper during his childhood in Texas as he pursues science and academia. The show also follows his parents, siblings, and Mee-Maw, painting a picture of the world where Sheldon grew up.
- Cast
- Iain Armitage , Zoe Perry , Lance Barber , Montana Jordan , Raegan Revord , Annie Potts , Jim Parsons , Wallace Shawn , Craig T. Nelson , Matt Hobby , Wyatt McClure , Emily Osment , Doc Farrow , Ed Begley Jr. , Melissa Peterman , Ryan Phuong , Rex Linn , Brian Stepanek , Wendie Malick , Nancy Linehan Charles , Danielle Pinnock , Valerie Mahaffey , Sarah Baker , Rachel Bay Jones , Will Sasso , Mckenna Grace , Ava Allan , Isabel May , Grady Lee Richmond , Dan Byrd , Katherine Von Till , Reba McEntire , Andrea Anders , Mary Grill , Jason Alexander , Billy Gardell , Nick Alvarez , London Cheshire , Julia Pace Mitchell , Bill Fagerbakke , Taylor Spreitler , Steve Burns , Pam Cook , Chris Wylde , Richard Kind , Caleigh Kilpatrick , Dave Foley , John Hartman
- Release Date
- September 25, 2017
- Seasons
- 7
A coming-of-age prequel series to The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon chronicles the origins of Jim Parsons’ Sheldon Cooper and his adolescence growing up in Texas. Starring Iain Armitage as the child version of Sheldon with Parsons joining as narrator, the show ran for seven seasons before the Young Sheldon series finale dropped in 2024. Much like its predecessor, the show received generally positive reviews, overshadowing a number of shortcomings at the heart of this Sheldon-centric prequel.
The effect of the largely unsympathetic character introduced in
The Big Bang Theory
is that the younger version of Sheldon has little scope for any meaningful character development.
Unfortunately, Young Sheldon’s premise is contentiously flawed from the get-go. The effect of the largely unsympathetic character introduced in The Big Bang Theory is that this younger version of Sheldon has little scope for any meaningful character development, making it all the more remarkable that the show manages to run for seven seasons. While the prequel does expand its focus to encompass the rest of Sheldon’s family, this development does little to elevate Young Sheldon above “just another sitcom” status.
1 The Mindy Project (2012-2017)
Created By Mindy Kaling
Created by and starring Mindy Kaling, The Mindy Project follows the life of Dr. Mindy Lahiri, an OBGYN working at a clinic in New York City. The series deals with the trials and tribulations of Mindy’s professional and personal life, with a colorful cast of characters that includes the talents of Chris Messina, Ike Barinholtz, Ed Weeks, and Garret Dillahunt.
- Release Date
- September 25, 2012
- Seasons
- 6
- Network
- FOX
The brainchild of The Office star Mindy Kaling and one of IMDb’s highest-rated female-led sitcoms, The Mindy Project depicts the turbulent life and times of an OB-GYN living in New York City as she attempts to juggle her personal and professional responsibilities. The Mindy Project ran for six seasons before concluding in 2017, receiving consistently positive reviews across the show’s run, but bears the unenviable label as one of the last decade’s most overrated television shows due to two simple shortcomings.
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In the first instance, for a sitcom, The Mindy Project is more quirky than laugh-out-loud hilarious. Despite the show’s charming aura, the laughs can be few and far between, a status quo that becomes more apparent following the conclusion of the first season. However, perhaps more critically, the show simply doesn’t feature any particularly likable characters. With even Kaling’s protagonist possessing an objectification habit and a penchant for toxic relationships, it’s difficult to lend any considerable emotional investment to proceedings.
