Welcome to a new Wildcard Wednesday! This week, I’ve got another Q&A entry, where I answer questions submitted by readers. Thanks to everyone who sent in something — if you don’t see your “Q” here, I just may “A” it next time. (And keep them coming — any related topic on which you want my opinion and/or a little research? Just let me know!)

Michael asks… What’s your dream Broadway bootleg that you wish existed?

Cole Porter and Ethel Merman first ignited my interest in Broadway history via Anything Goes, so for my own personal enjoyment and curiosity, I would say that I most wish we had a full record of Merman’s performance in the original 1934 production of that Cole Porter classic. And then, if I could be greedy, I wish we had the same with her replacement, Benay Venuta, and their understudy, Vivian Vance (who even succeeded Venuta in the last stop of the national tour).

Paul D. has an idea… About M*A*S*H have you considered covering in-depth the seasons 1 – 4 under Larry Gelbart and summarizing the rest? ‘The Danny Thomas Show’ was done in a similar way. 

I don’t believe that would ever be a consideration for me – M*A*S*H is eleven consecutive seasons of a singular series that is entirely available to us, and to provide a proper study of its best samples, I feel like I would have to afford the entire run the same analytical rigor. That’s the standard I keep here – once it’s chosen, I look at every episode of a show that I can find, maintaining one rhetorical framework throughout coverage. I firmly believe that holding every season of a series up to the same level of scrutiny is more effective at exhibiting fluctuations in quality than deliberately altering the rules of discussion mid-course in attempted accommodation. I may trim a list of favorites (to eight or seven or six) if I really can’t pick ten, but that’s the furthest I go; since my goal is always to highlight ten from a full season, the rare exceptions are revealing. (Incidentally, I think I was consistent with this philosophy in my coverage of Danny Thomas, for the choice to discuss its first three seasons in one single essay wasn’t based on my perception of their value, as you suggest doing here with late M*A*S*H, but rather their availability. And if I thought that only having access to 35% of the Margaret years thereby precluded me from offering a fair look at the best episodes from the later seasons, I wouldn’t have given any part of the show Sitcom Tuesday shine. It just so happens that her departure was enough of a restart in the situation — and the show’s syndication status — to make a late drop-in feasible. That’s not so much the case with M*A*S*H – or most series.) So, if I ever grit my teeth and subject myself to M*A*S*H here, it’ll be the whole run.

Beanie has a question… Who do you think is the funniest “friend” from the cast of FRIENDS?

On the show, probably either Lisa Kudrow or Matthew Perry. In general and going beyond just Friends, I think Lisa Kudrow has done the funniest, most interesting, highest quality work in terms of comedy, as evidenced by our recent look at The Comeback. 

Eboni wants me to choose… Which do you think is better: Curb or Seinfeld? 

Well, Curb only exists because of Seinfeld, which poses an interesting philosophical question about art. When one work stands on the shoulders of another, should we crown the piece on top for being able to reach higher or the one on the bottom for providing the foundation that allows any later height to be reached? As an amateur historian who enjoys studying culture as a way to get insight into the present via the past, I tend to take the latter approach — I like to find connections between shows and give credit where its due, and, for me, Seinfeld is still the towering achievement — it influenced the genre en masse, and its own singular influence is felt within Curb, and therefore all the shows Curb inspired as well. Also, in terms of quality, I’m not sure Curb, by the standards of its era, reaches heights Seinfeld already hadn’t, by the standards of its era. So, I love both, but if I have to pick one to celebrate as superior, it’s Seinfeld. 

Mr. Melody wants to know… how would you say that the rise of cable, and streaming, have affected the sitcom genre?

In a sentence, sitcoms now behave less like sitcoms, more like dramas. For more specifics on the genre’s evolution, stay up to date with my Sitcom Tuesday coverage — I’m finally in the 21st century, and my opening Curb essay addresses this subject explicitly.

Have a question for me? Submit it at the “Ask Jackson (Q&A)” link.

Come back next week for another Wildcard! And stay tuned Tuesday for more sitcom fun!