The best sitcoms you aren't watching. Or maybe you are. I don't know, I'm not you.

I can't really do my usual reviews of sitcoms, since they just don't really fit that format, and there's not a lot to say about individual characters.  After all, most of the comedy comes from the interactions between characters, rather than the characters themselves.  So instead, I'll do a brief round up of my unexpected favorites, plus a few standards that if you aren't watching right now, I don't think I want to know you.



The underrated gems:

Raising Hope:  This show is, quite honestly, really fucking weird.  But I love it. It's about a lower-class family, featuring two parents who were former teen parents and their son, who is also a teen parent-- the twist being,  Hope's mother was a serial killer who has since been executed (sort of.  They ret-con it a bit so that she didn't die).  Like I said, it's really fucking weird.  But it's charming and sweet at the same time, and I could watch Burt and Virginia mispronounce multisyllabic words all day.  The only time it doesn't work is when they focus on Maw-Maw, the semi-senile grandma the whole family lives with.

Why you should watch it:  It has a completely deranged sense of humor.  Example: Frank, a family friend, petitions to adopt Hope with the condition that he be able to rename her "She Frank."



Happy Endings:  I remember seeing commercials when Happy Endings first premiered, and it was basically a Friends rip-off.  I don't know what happened in the first season, but it went from shitty knock-off to amazingly hilarious in record time.  It's about 6 friends that live in Chicago (and there is *clearly* a Chicagoan on staff, as evidenced by the Brad-and-Jane-buy-a-lake-house subplot.  Damn Flatlanders summering on our lakes).  There's Alexandra  and Dave-- Alex left Dave at the altar, but since they've all been friends for years,  they still have to interact.  Dave is boring and Alex is dumb, and the show does not hesitate to call them out on this.  There's Penny, the "sad, single one" who is constantly trying to come up with catchphrases.  Max is the slutty, gross, lazy friend who gets inexplicably gorgeous boyfriends.  I knew this show was brilliant when they did an entire "Max turns into a bear" episode that was not a gay joke.  HE LITERALLY BECOMES A BEAR AT THE END OF WINTER AND DOES THINGS LIKE GETTING HIS HEAD STUCK IN A HONEY JAR.  Finally, there's Brad and Jane.  Brad and Jane are my favorite couple on TV right now, hands down.  They are an interracial couple (Brad is black, Jane is white) and this fact is acknowledged but not dwelled upon.  Mostly, they are super type-A control freaks who find one another hilarious and awesome.  It's rare to see that level of camaraderie between a married couple on TV.  Plus, Brad is played by Damon Wayons, Jr. and he looks EERILY like his father.

Why you should watch it:  Max's boyfriends and his Madonna cover band MANdonna, Jane's Serbian jokes, Brad's reaction to baby clothes (squealing like a 13 year old at Twilight), and Alex's stupidity.  ("It's like the Butterfly Effect.  That one movie led to Ashton Kutcher doing a lot of really terrible movies.")  And the scene where a drunk Brad points out which Friends characters they each represent.  Also, it is dangerously close to cancelation and that makes me sad, so watch this soon, okay?


The Mindy Project:  It's no secret that Mindy Kaling is my dream best friend.  The Mindy Project is witty and fun, and I love that her character is allowed to be kind of a fuck up in life but still be an unapologetically great doctor.  Plus, the soundtrack is amazing.  Mindy, I'd like to steal your ipod, because I have a suspicion your workout mix is kickass.

Why you should watch it:  It's a romcom in sitcom form, and Danny (the clear romantic interest) is based on BJ Novak, her ex-boyfriend/current best friend.  Additionally, the pilot has a scene where Mindy drunkenly yells "RACIST" at someone for no real reason.  I'm sold.


Archer:  Archer is a cartoon that is basically the cast of Arrest Development runs a spy agency.  Gangee is in charge, Kitty is a secretary, George Sr. is a rival spy, etc.  It's dirty, messed up, and quite possibly the funniest thing, EVER.  Archer is a wannabe James Bond with mommy issues and a kickass black turtleneck.

Why you should watch it:  Archer goes on a chemo-fueled rampage.  No, really.

It's the greatest thing ever.  For real.

If you aren't already watching these, consider yourself shunned until you do:

Parks and Rec:  Leslie Knope and Ron Fucking Swanson.  Oh, and Jean-Ralphio's raps that end two beats too late.  (And I'm sure my husband would like me to add Rashida Jones as Ann, because he's in love with her and not very good at hiding it.)  Plus, Leslie Knope is an unapologetic feminist and a kick ass friend.  Seriously, while it's a little over the top, Leslie and Ann's friendship (beautiful, beautiful Ann) is one of the most rock-solid female friendships I've ever seen on TV.

30 Rock:  I am seriously depressed about the end of 30 Rock, you guys.  Even at its weaker moments, it was brilliant and hilarious.  If you haven't seen 30 Rock, I'd like to leave you with this Liz Lemon monologue about the perfect man:

"I want someone who will be monogamous and nice to his mother.  I want someone who likes musicals but knows to just shut his mouth when I'm watching Lost.  And I want someone who thinks being really into cars is lame* and strip clubs are gross.  I want someone who will actually empty the dishwasher instead of just taking out forks as needed, like I do.  I want someone with clean hands and feet and beefy forearms like a damn Disney prince.  And I want him to genuinely like me.  Even when I'm old.  And that's what I want."

If that doesn't convince you that 30 Rock is hilarious and smart, GTFO.

*High five to my husband, who hits ALL of Liz's checklist except for this part about cars. (We can't all be James Marsden.)