Sitcoms, Ranked

Won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1993 and is routinely placed at or near the top of greatest-sitcom rankings; TV Guide named it the greatest TV show of all time in 2013 and it topped Rolling Stone's 2025 '100 Best Sitcoms of All Time' list.

Was the most-watched show in the US for four of its six seasons, won the first Emmy for Best Situation Comedy (1953), and pioneered the multi-camera format still used in sitcoms today.

Won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series five straight years (1994-1998), a record run for the category, and earned 37 Emmys total during its original run.

A landmark blend of comedy and pathos set in a Korean War field hospital; its 1983 finale remains one of the most-watched broadcasts in US TV history and it won a Peabody plus dozens of Emmys. Essential canon.

Won four Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series and drew a record 117 Emmy nominations; its 1993 finale was watched by roughly 80 million viewers.

Won 29 Emmys including three consecutive Outstanding Comedy Series awards (1975-1977), and is a fixture near the top of critics' greatest-sitcom lists.

Won the 2006 Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series and became a streaming phenomenon, logging over 57 billion minutes viewed on Netflix in 2020 per Nielsen.

Won the 2004 Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series and is consistently ranked among the best-written comedies ever despite modest ratings that led to its cancellation.

A sharply written ensemble workplace comedy that won three consecutive Outstanding Comedy Series Emmys and launched Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, and Andy Kaufman. A critical darling that shaped the genre.

Tina Fey's hyper-dense, joke-per-second satire of network TV won the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy multiple times. Tremendously influential on modern comedy pacing, though its rapid-fire absurdity kept it just shy of the S tier's broad classics.

A warm, optimistic mockumentary that grew into one of the most beloved comedies of the 2010s, with Leslie Knope and the Pawnee ensemble becoming cultural touchstones. Beats HIMYM-tier fare but lacks the era-defining reach of the very best.

Larry David's largely improvised comedy of social discomfort extended the Seinfeld sensibility across two decades and stayed remarkably sharp. A critical heavyweight, if an acquired taste that narrows its audience.

A cultural juggernaut whose 2004 finale drew 52.5 million viewers, yet it won only one Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy (2002) across ten seasons, trailing its S-tier peers on awards.

Was the most-watched scripted show on US TV for several seasons, but its Emmy wins were largely for Jim Parsons' lead-actor performances and it never won Outstanding Comedy Series.

A nine-season ratings hit, but a widely reviled series finale damaged its standing and it never won Outstanding Comedy Series across its run.

One of the highest-rated comedies of its era and home to TV's then-highest-paid actor, but critical aggregates stayed middling and its late seasons were overshadowed by off-screen turmoil.

A durable syndication favorite and global export, but it won just one Emmy (for costumes) and sits outside critics' greatest-sitcom rankings.

A wildly popular family sitcom that defined TGIF and remains a nostalgia staple, but its saccharine, laugh-track-heavy formula and thin writing keep it well below the genre's critical greats.

Never cracked the Nielsen top 30 in any season and earned zero Emmy nominations, surviving on nostalgia and syndication rather than contemporary critical or awards consensus.

The 'Friends' spin-off was pulled from NBC's schedule with episodes of its second season unaired amid collapsing ratings, and is widely cited as one of TV's most notorious spin-off failures.