20.) Silicon Valley (HBO)
At its highs, Silivcon Valley was amazing. The characters it created through the acting of TJ Miller, Martin Starr, and most notably the guy playing Gavin Belson ("Consider the giraffe....") were just amazing. What ultimately made it great is what probably cost it from being even higher - in teh startup world, you either grow to hyperscale (where problems because frankly not very relatable) or die. Well, they went for the die, but get reborn, option all the time. It kept the storeis fresh, but the plot a bit stale. In teh end, it wasn't about plot though - it was about moments like their discovery of the middle-out option, or so much else over the years. It's probably one of the funniest shows with probably the equally least sized lasting power.
19.) The Righteous Gemstones (HBO)
I'm probably going too low - call it the opposite of recency bias here. The Righteous Gemstones had many elements that were fantastic - featuring maybe one of the gerat characters of all time in Uncle Baby Billy, to some amazing wordplay and hijinks. Even the few moments they deigned to look at religion with a serious bent, were well played. Most of those happened early in the run, where as we went on, the show turned more and more into comedy. Granted, that is what it is - it never really tried to convince anyone otherwise. These were designed to be outlandish characters, and they were played well. Even in later years, there was some great earnestness - for instance the latter years being more open with Kelvin being gay and what that means in teh church. God bless Danny McBride for getting this on air, and keeping it so.
18.) Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
If the final few years of the show rebound towards its Season 1-2 glory, this could be a bit of an underrank when all said and done. But there have been some diminishing returns in years 3-4 - maybe it was focusing on the death of the stunt double was just not as interesting as everythign with those first two seasons. What I really liked about early yaers was how good of a whodonit it was at its best. Steve Martin's character also has become a bit strained over time. What isn't strained is everything Martin Short, who has remained just incredible throughout. As has Selena Gomez the more and more her storylines have taken her away from Martin and Short. In the end, this is a fantastic show, but there may just be a bit too much repetition in storylines to go any higher.
17.) Party Down (Starz)
This does include the revival season a few years back, which had they been able to include Lizzie Kaplan it may rank higher. For the limited output, my word did Party Down pack a punch, with some of the most memorable characters ever. It probably ended at the right time too - with first Jane Lynch getting Glee and then Adam Scott getting Parks and Rec. Still, I could've watched these cater waiters for a while longer. The small moments rather than pure jokes is what made it special. Rob Thomas is just a master of tone - be it noir from Veronica Mars, to depressed hilarity here. He could really get the interplay of these characters so well down. The best workplace comedies (or any sort of workplace show) makes you want to take up that career. It is amazing that this show could make me want to be a cater waiter, but here we are.
16.) Letterkenny (Hulu)
I'm honestly curious how Canadians feel about this show that overtime got way more popular in the US. At the end of the day thought it was created by Canadians and acted by Canadians, so they're lampooning themselves. But really this is about the town, and the interplay of these various groups. The other lasting aspect of the show was how sharp the writing was - the wordplay, the running gags, the timing. Yeah, it wasn't the most deep, or laugh out loud, but man could they turn a twist of phrase. I actually like the fact that while it was comical how hot every female character was - they always played it straight and gave most of them perfect agency (see how many choose to break up relationships with main characters). Some have compared Letterkenny to being the Canadian It's Always Sunny, and I can see it - the small but incredible list of recurring characters, the one amazing emale lead surrounded by male lunatics. The fact it is way smarter than any outsider would give it credit for. Yeah, there was probably more fat here over its 13-season run (they went 2x a year, so realistically more like 6.5 seasons), but still it deserves its plaudits.
15.) How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) lasted nine seasons. It never should've gone that long. The creators pretty clearly ran out of ideas about four years in, and otehr than a few moments of genius (the storyline where Marshall's father dies in Season 6), it was a rough watch the last five years, finishing with one of the most despised finales ever. But though all of that... man those first four seasons, end especially those first two seasons, this was a gem of a show. By far the most creative network sitcom of its time (it aired before Parks & Rec, or 30 Rock). It was smart, it was funny - Barney, the S1-3 version, is an all time character. It could play dramatic moments as well as incredible comedy. It played with the structure of time and unreliable narrators in such a good way. There's a great what-if where this show came very close to being cancelled after S2 (despite ratings that would be seen as amazing by the end of its run). That season ended with Ted adn Robin breaking up, Barney mid-word, and the show batting nearly 1.000 in terms of quality. If it ends then, it easily is in my Top-10. If it ends after S4 (though by that point it wasn't in danger of doing so), it probably ranks 3-4 spots up. Instead, it languished way past anyone's wildest imagination, and suffered for it. But don't forget how good it was at its best.
14.) Happy Endings (ABC)
I almost had to rank these two back to back, because Happy Endings is very much what my hypothetical on HIMYM was. It was cancelled after three seasons, after nearly being killed after two. I don't know if it lasted for nine of the creators would've run out of steam - I mean probably. But man did they go all out. The funniest part is the first season was for a lot of it a disaster - a weird Friends knockoff that thougth we cared about the fact Dave left Alex at the alter. Soon enough it realized no one did. We wanted comedy, we wanted turns of phrase, we wanted it all. And they pivoted and delivered. Season 2 was a masterpiece. Season 3 was nearly as good. It showcased a host of hilarious people who have never been given better characters. I honestly can't think who my favorite was between Adam Pally, Damon Wayans Jr., Eliza Coupe or Casey Wilson. All four are hilarious people, and have never come clsoe to being as funny as they were here. From little moments, like Casey Wilson saying "Max, hold your horses" before we cut to Max suddenly picking up two plush horses under his arms, to the more slapstick moment like Max's back-nog bag being cut open. Happy Endings knew exactly what it was - a show that needed little to no plot to make it sing. It's early cancellation keeps it as a popular list of shows people would love to revive - I would say the 2010s version of Freaks and Geeks. It won't happen, but then again, if it did, or if it didn't get cancelled and run out of steam much like HIMYM did, I wonder where this ranks.
13.) Parks and Recreation (NBC)
My final network TV sitcom is the one that probably deserves that honor more than any. It's weird that this the only Michael Schur show I have on this list (spoiler I guess for my Top-12). But it is the one that matters more than others - the perfect blend of his razor sharp comedic mind, and the fact that he is a fundamentally just good, normal person that likes to imbue his series with heart and warmth. He doesn't always get that ratio right - Brooklyn 99 was too much the former for me, and The Good Place too much the latter. But in Parks he had something that was just perfect. Of coruse, it didn't start that way - but he had the smarts to stop making it an Office knockoff after the first season, than the good fortune of the actor playing Mark Brendanawicz to choose to leave (opposite of a loss) and replace him with Adam Scott and Rob Lowe, and we were off. The characters were brilliant. Their interplay was brilliant. More than anything, he knew how to play each one for the best laughs and moments. They were all cartoons to some degree, but we never got too much of Ron, or Tom, or Andy or April. The only gag that never really worked was them being continuously mean to Jerry. But at the end of the day, Parks and Rec was ust a great, great show - if one whose politics look way too quaint and simplistic for a 2020s world. This is probably why it doesn't have the rewatchability of many of the other shows on this list, but I'm not grading for that.
12.) The Great (Hulu)
There is a chance this is laughably high. It's also one of those shows that may have gotten a blessing in disguise with its sad cancellation after its third season - they finally killed Czar Peter (way after he would've died if they tried to stay at all true to actual history...), and despite some ingenius ideas of how to keep the brilliant Nicholas Hoult around, it was shaping to be a very different show. Instead, we'll never get to really see that show. What we got though is the great version of drunk history anyone could've asked for. It was absolutely a comedy, even if they showed palace intrigue and politics in a very true to art way. Call it the Russian Czarist era version of Veep if you will - the interplay at Court being every bit as good as the politicking on Veep. It probably didn't have the staying power to justify ranking any higher (even I already this might be sillily high), but some of the performances were just that good. Elle Fanning was brilliant playing Catherine - captivatingly awesome in her slow takeover of Russian politics. But to me it was Hoult who stole the show. That was a really tight rope to draw. They could've easily made him into a Joffrey type moster, but a combination of way Peter was written, and Hoult's just, well, earnestness, made it just amazing. You couldn't help somehow but not love Peter. And ironically I think that was the intention, which is part of the reason why I don't know how the show would've worked longer term - even when they tried to re-imagine Hoult into a fake-Peter. That was inspired, but the whole show was, really.
11.) Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
Ok, I talked about how in the HIMYM section that shows can overstay their welcome. Certinaly HIMYM did. Arguably, Curb did as well - there is no denying it's later seasons, let's call it Season 9 onwards, were diminsihing returns comapred to its season 3-7 peak. But for some reason, I can't get the same energy here just because how this was more a situation where Larry was going to make that show until he felt no longer interested in doing so. There's a certain Philadelphia-based show that is very similar that is still to come. Getting back to Curb - the conceit was brillaint. The performances were brilliant. Yes, it didn't always work, and when stories turned too far into the fact Larry is absurdly wealthy, it seemed to lose the plot a bit, but just for the amount of amazing arguments, amazing social nuances, and amazing turns of phrase, it deserves a spot. I cringe hard at anyone who tries to state taht it is a better show than Seinfeld - though I admit this is already a fairly minority opinion. Curb was great at what it was. It's been oft copied, with its semi-improvised appraoch. It's never been really replicated, and it shouldn't be. No show can so earnestly blend real and fake (it was always great to see who got to play a version of themselves, vs who played a character), can so earnestly higloght the problems of the rich, and the perverted way to look at the world.
