Welcome to a new Sitcom Tuesday! This week, I’m continuing my rerun series celebrating the 25th anniversary of the 2000-2001 season, counting down my picks for its ten best sitcoms. Up for consideration is every comedy that I’ve ever covered from that particular TV year, both on Sitcom Tuesdays and Wildcard Wednesdays. In addition to directly comparing each show’s 2000-2001 output, my ranking is also factoring in how each season fares in the trajectory of their own individual series, along with how each show’s ultimate, overall (and average) quality measures up to the others. That is, I’m mostly looking at what was produced in 2000-2001, but I’m not ignoring the broader intra-series and inter-series implications of such a list.
With all that reiterated, here’s what I’ve featured so far:
#10. BECKER (Season Three)
#9. FRASIER (Season Eight)
#8. CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM (Season One)
#7. THE KING OF QUEENS (Season Three)
#6. WILL & GRACE (Season Three)
#5. TITUS (Season Two)
#4. FRIENDS (Season Seven)
For this post, I’m pausing this countdown ahead of the Top 3 to discuss the three Sitcom Tuesday options that I’ve decided to exclude from my Top 10 list. They are the following:
JUST SHOOT ME! (Season Five)
THE DREW CAREY SHOW (Season Six)
3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN (Season Six)
At the risk of removing all suspense surrounding which shows I’ve selected as the Top 3 best sitcoms from the 2000-2001 season, I felt it necessary to find a moment in this countdown to work in some thoughts on the three Sitcom Tuesday shows that, I’m confirming now, you won’t be seeing. I know this narrows down my Top 3, but heck, I think you already know what’s coming up anyway, based on the rundown so far and my initial commentary. The only thing you don’t know is the order; meaning, the suspense now isn’t about what, but where (and why). And that’s enough for me to justify using this post to confirm that my list won’t include the fifth season of Just Shoot Me!, the sixth season of The Drew Carey Show, and the sixth season of 3rd Rock From The Sun. I considered each — but, frankly, I knew Drew Carey and 3rd Rock wouldn’t make the cut. Drew Carey is a fun but mid-tier sitcom that was at its best in Seasons Two (1996-1997) and Three (1997-1998), and while Four and Five are decent enough to be competitive in the back half of a Top 10, Six isn’t. That is, in 2000-2001, peak-adjacent Becker is better than subpar Drew Carey. For 3rd Rock, on the other hand, I think all five of its earlier seasons would be candidates for their years’ respective Top 10s. They all have memorable samples and a decent baseline. Its final year is just such a comedown that, for the first time, those things aren’t true. I can’t celebrate it. As for Just Shoot Me!, I truly thought about it as a possible tenth-placer. It’s comparable to Becker as a show that never fully rises to greatness. Oh, it’s got a lot of good elements — the setup and structure of the show, in sum, works, and unlike Becker, every lead on Just Shoot Me! has definition. But even during its best year (Season Three — a Top 5 contender for 1998-1999), brilliance only comes in flashes. This season, its fifth, is the show’s fourth- or fifth-best overall, and its quality is ultimately too “meh” to justify a spotlight. At least Becker, despite its many weaknesses, has that one great character at its core. And with a peak-adjacent sensibility in 2000-2001, its relative success was determinative… So, with all that noted, it’s time to resume my list, as next week I’ll be revealing my pick for this season’s third-best sitcom!
Come back next week for #3 on my countdown! And stay tuned tomorrow for a new Wildcard!