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)
For this post — #5 on the list — I have selected Season Two of TITUS, which I first wrote about here: https://jacksonupperco.com/2024/04/10/the-ten-best-titus-episodes-of-season-two/
Surprise! One of my Wildcard Wednesday titles has actually made this list. Now, if you haven’t seen Titus before — and maybe even if you have — you might find a Top 5 endorsement hyperbolic, for certainly there are longer-running shows that more definitively proved their excellence. You’d be right. This isn’t a better sitcom than Frasier, Curb, King Of Queens, or Will & Grace. But I’m more thrilled and impressed by it in the context of this season, when it was still young enough to enjoy the novelty of its sheer existence, acquitting its material as especially fresh and unique. Indeed, its brand of anti-establishmentarianism is special — unlike other outliers such as HBO’s Curb or even FOX’s nevertheless more mainstream Malcolm In The Middle (stay tuned!), Titus roots a large part of its rebellion within the genre’s traditions. Namely, it combines the cutaway-rich freneticism of Malcolm and other 2000s-era contemporaries with a throwback sensibility that evokes the great sitcoms of, in particular, Norman Lear, placing comedic asides within otherwise self-contained dramas featuring, like all the best multi-cams, just a few characters on just a few sets. And, like Lear’s best, it’s got stories that aren’t afraid to hit heavy beats, in evidence of a darker sensibility that’s actually motivated by the situation, for it stems from the centralized Titus character and his portrayer’s own personal ethos. In that regard, it’s a great example of sitcommery, uplifting idea-driven interests with support from character, in a theatrical package that honors the art form while maintaining a modern comedic edge. Now, I’m not saying the leads here are as precisely well-defined or as much of a focus as those on many of the other great sitcoms on this list, but in Season Two, when the show isn’t as naturally dark as it was in One (but less sanitized and/or try-hard than it will become in Three), Titus reaches the right balance with its regulars, coming to know them well enough for all to feel distinct, and in weekly ideas that exemplify the series’ overarching tonal identity. Its situation. That’s especially true in the first half of the year at least — the period where Titus is at its most exciting. Exciting enough for me to insist upon including it in this list’s top half. I can’t go any higher — the series ahead are much finer, but Titus’ output here, and how it reflects upon the sitcom genre at large, deserves this high praise. It’s a bright spot in, specifically, 2000-2001.
Notable Episodes: “The Test,” “What’s Up, Hollywood?,” “Locking Up Mom,” “Tommy’s Girlfriend,” “The Last Noelle,” and “The Pendulum”
Come back next week for #4 on my countdown! And stay tuned tomorrow for a new Wildcard!