Welcome to a new Wildcard Wednesday! This week, I’m sharing the results, and some takeaways, from my latest reader survey, which closed a few weeks ago. But first, a thank you to all 464 of you who provided feedback — you’ve definitely helped clarify a few things for me.
Let’s go through it. For the first question, I asked participants to pick their favorite 2000s sitcoms from the ones that I’ve already covered (up to and including Parks And Rec). The clear top choice, with 22.4% of the vote was 30 Rock, followed by The Office at 17.2% and Curb Your Enthusiasm at 13.8%. My top five are your top five (although I’m not sure of the order).
My second question was whether How I Met Your Mother was worthy of full coverage here. 70.7% of you said “yes,” and I can announce that it will be coming up here, right after Parks And Rec.
The next question asked if participants personally enjoyed the next three sitcoms slated for coverage after Mother — The Big Bang Theory, Community, and Modern Family. 64.9% of responders enjoy Big Bang, 52.6% enjoy Community, and 50.9% enjoy Modern Family. No surprises here — although Modern Family is lower than I perhaps thought it’d be, given that it was more popular than the other two when I surveyed readers here in 2023… As it stands now, I’m still eager to discuss all three of those shows here over the next few months. Expect them!
After that, I asked participants to rank their favorite decades for sitcoms from best to worst. The results were: 1970s, 1990s, 1960s, 2000s, 1980s, 1950s, 2010s, and 2020s. It was pretty much the same as 2023’s results, only I added in the 2020s for the first time, and the 2000s decade that we’ve been spotlighting lately has moved up two slots, surpassing both the 1980s and the 1950s. I think this is fair and I basically agree; I don’t consider the transitional 2000s decade better than the standard-establishing 1970s, the high-quality 1990s, or even the sitcom-plentiful 1960s, but I think it’s better than the very hit-and-miss (high-and-low) 1980s, and despite having written a book on the 1950s (and therefore loving it), I do think the 2000s has better samples of the genre. (Note: I can’t say yet where I’d put the 2010s or the 2020s without subjecting them to the same scrutiny as I have other decades, so I’d also keep them at the end for now.)
Question #5 provided responders the chance to suggest shows for me to discuss either on Sitcom Tuesdays or Wildcard Wednesdays. I’m happy to say that some of your recommendations have already been featured here in some form — namely, The Comeback, Out Of Practice, Titus, Norm, Carpoolers, and Oliver Beene. Be sure to check out those posts!
In terms of other suggestions, there was no obvious consensus about a glaring omission from the 2000s decade, but I can reveal the two write-in shows that close to 20% of responders suggested and where I currently stand on them. The most popular answer, by far, was The Middle, which I initially polled readers about in 2023. I decided to shelve it then because I think it fits in better with a 2010s slate than a 2000s slate. I stand by that verdict, for although upcoming shows like Community and Modern Family also debuted in 2009, I find them aesthetically linked to the late 2000s single-cams that we’ve recently been discussing — The Office, 30 Rock, Parks And Rec — and therefore a continuation of this era’s trends. In contrast, I associate The Middle with the quieter, single-cam ABC family shows of the early 2010s. So, it’s a title that I’m not going to consider until I decide if/when I formally want to move into the 2010s. After that, the second-most written-in show was It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, which I agree — I want to cover here. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), it’s still producing new episodes right now, and I don’t want to touch it until it’s a wholly complete series. Whenever that changes, I hope to slot it in…. I’ll keep you updated. In the meantime, I can confirm that I’ve already got plans to examine more than a few of the many 2000s Wildcard suggestions, so stay tuned…
As for the 2010s, my last question asked if participants would be interested in seeing the decade covered here. 67.2% of responders voted affirmatively. So, that’s good to know — I’ll be making that decision next year, after we get through nine weeks of How I Met Your Mother, 12 weeks of The Big Bang Theory, six weeks of Community, and 11 weeks of Modern Family.
Thanks again to everyone who participated! I’m so grateful for your readership and support. Be sure to check out my new book, Great American Sitcoms of the 1950s, if you haven’t already!
Come back next week for another Wildcard! And stay tuned Tuesday for more Parks And Rec!