The success of long-running sitcoms can be attributed to their timelessness and adaptability. Historically, situation comedies have come a long way in their premise and relationship with their audience. The format was popular among families in the mid-20th century, as television became a medium to propagate nuclear family values in America.
Even though sitcoms have retained their significance, the characters, motives, and style have evolved drastically. Today, these characters are highly politicized and caricatured in animated series. Families have been replaced by friends, colleagues, or flatmates as sitcoms adapt to cultural changes. Here are 10 longest-running sitcoms that have left a lasting legacy in American television.
10 Curb Your Enthusiasm (11 Seasons)
The dead-pan phenomenon, Curb Your Enthusiasm, is a reel-meets-real take on Larry David’s career and public persona. The show stars Larry David as himself, a cranky semi-retired television writer meandering through mundane absurdities of everyday life. Larry easily loses his temper and is seen doing the clumsiest things at the most inappropriate times.
The show is heavily improvised and is known for featuring several celebrity guests playing a version of themselves, including Ricky Gervais, John Hamm, Salman Rushdie, and Wanda Sykes. The show first aired in 1999 and had a six-year hiatus from 2011 to 2017, concluding its eleventh season in 2021. The show is critically acclaimed and has achieved cult status for David’s self-aware style of writing about his public perception and his industry, keeping audiences guessing where fiction ends and reality begins.
9 The Big Bang Theory (12 Seasons)
The Big Bang Theory combines common tropes of a sitcom with the fresh perspective of science geek-ism, making it a highly watched and admired show post-F.R.I.E.N.D.S. The five main characters from the show are roommates or best friends who also share the same vocation. Leonard and Sheldon are physicists at Caltech and are friends with aerospace engineer Howard and astrophysicist Raj Koothrapalli.
The show follows their quirky lifestyle, mostly involving science, comic book fandom, and poor luck with women. Their life is interrupted by Penny, who shares their apartment, adding the much-needed femininity to their lives and the show. Later, neuroscientist Amy and microbiologist Bernadette enter the boys’ lives as love interests. Sheldon’s hyper-obsessive behavior and socially awkward mannerisms become the highlight of the long-running show. The show aired in 2007 and completed its final season in 2019.
8 Two and a Half Men (12 Seasons)
The cult classic Two and a Half Men has had a tumultuous history in 12 seasons. Originally, the show starred Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper, a free-spirited jingle writer who reluctantly lives with his brother and his naughty son after his brother’s marriage falls apart. However, after Sheen’s controversial career downfall and rift with the producers, he was replaced by Ashton Kutcher as Walden Schmidt, an internet billionaire who owns Charlie’s house following his death.
The show follows the male characters’ immaturity and their failure to understand women. It enjoyed a large viewership numbers despite its somewhat questionable content. It also launched Chuck Lorre’s career as a producer, who went on to produce The Big Bang Theory after the success of the series.
7 King of the Hill (13 Seasons)
Greg Daniels and Mike Judge created King of the Hill, an animated series centered around a family in Texas. It follows Hank Hill, a salesman living with his wife, son, and niece. Hill is an everyday Joe who has a normal life living in a ranch-style house and meets his neighbors Bill, Dale, and Jeff frequently. It also features Hill’s co-workers, relatives, classmates, and friends as recurring characters.
The show is known for its realistic portrayal of a Texas neighborhood, including the characters’ politics and blue-collar occupations. For example, Hill’s wife is a substitute teacher, Bill is a military barber, and Dale is a pro-gun, anti-government pest exterminator. It's considered a great representative of regional America and was critically acclaimed throughout its 13 seasons.
6 The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (14 Seasons)
Before It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the 1950s sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet held the record of the longest-running live-action American sitcom. The series aired on ABC and starred the Nelson family, who were real-life celebrities in the 1950s and ‘60s. The show was based on the radio show of the same name and expressed the values of the nuclear family through the popular figures. The Nelsons included the couple Ozzie and Harriet and their sons David and Ricky. Each episode focused on family-based issues pertaining to the ‘50s across 435 episodes and spanned 14 seasons.
The show was the reason behind Rick Nelson’s successful musical career, as it featured the singer’s musical talents. It takes one back to when sitcoms were a social tool for family integration, which is a dying theme in current times.
5 It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (16 Seasons)
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia became the longest-running live-action American sitcom, with its 15th season airing in 2022. The cult-favorite sitcom follows a group of erratic friends who run an Irish dive bar in Paddy’s Pub, Pennsylvania. The show focuses on their heavy drinking, dysfunctional activities, constant arguments, and backstabbing each other. Most of their actions are driven by boredom, revenge, selfishness, and financial envy. The sitcom’s title is satirical as the tone of the show is mainly dark, sardonic, and self-deprecating. There is a lingering social commentary in the show, but it holds on to its nihilist charm and, at times, even delivers heartfelt moments.
4 American Dad! (20 Seasons)
American Dad! is another creation from Seth MacFarlane with a similar premise as Family Guy, but primarily derives comedy from its hilarious characters instead of cutaway gags. The main characters belong to an upper-middle-class family from Virginia, led by the Republican patriarch, Stan, who is married to his supportive wife, Francine. Hayley is their liberal daughter, and Steve is their socially awkward high-schooler son.
Other supporting characters in the show are Hailey’s partner, Jeff, the family’s pet goldfish, Klaus, an alien named Roger, and its son, Rogu. The family is as strange as it sounds and represents the generational gap in politics in American families. MacFarlane’s frustration with the Bush administration in the early 2000s inspired him to create the show, which first aired in 2005 and will complete its 20th season in 2023.
3 Family Guy (21 Seasons)
Family Guy is another American series from the late ‘90s that mocks American culture, spanning over 21 seasons. The series was created by Seth MacFarlane in 1999 and follows an unusual family living in Quahon, Rhode Island. Peter is the politically incorrect American dad who lives with his wife Lois, their three children, and their talking dog named Brian. Meg is the misfit eldest daughter, Chris is awkward around girls, and Stewie is the youngest, filled with dangerous ideas. Brian has a world of his own and attempts to write essays, novels, screenplays, and articles. He keeps Stewie under control and is an avid enthusiast of martinis.
The show is known for its metafictional cutaway gags, exaggerating a burning American issue. The show is not free of controversies and has been accused of anti-religious sentiments. Nevertheless, Family Guy remains a popular show, earning over $1 billion in revenue.
2 South Park (26 Seasons)
The headline-favorite show, South Park, is a dark-comedy animated sitcom that started in 1997 and completed its 26th anniversary in 2023. The series is known for its outrageous humor, often involving profanity and violence. The main characters of the show include Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick, who fool around in South Park, Colorado.
The series comments on topical issues similarly to The Simpsons but holds no reservation in mocking the liberal values of America. In fact, the show takes it up as a challenge to mock every institution, political ideology, public figure, and controversial personality in popular culture, as it positions itself as a product of free speech rather than an ideology. Matt Stone and Trey Parker are the show’s creators, who also created the musical comedy The Book of Mormon, the 13th longest-running Broadway show. Both works add to the creators’ long-running body of work that is centered on satirizing societal dogma.
1 The Simpsons (35 Seasons)
The Simpsons premiered in December 1989, making it the longest-running sitcom to date. Created by Matt Groening, the show satirizes the stereotypical American family through the Simpsons, who live in the fictional town of Springfield. The sitcom’s main characters include Homer, Marge, and their children. Homer is the father who works at a nuclear plant and is outsmarted by the rest of the family. Marge is the nurturing matriarch who tolerates her husband’s antics. Among their children, Bart is the rebellious son, while Lisa is a child prodigy. Maggie is the youngest and is mostly seen sucking on her pacifier and falling whenever she attempts to walk.
The sitcom has several running gags and recurring characters as each episode deals with a topical issue in America from the perspective of the Simpson family. The show remains relevant as it stays in tune with every zeitgeist it enters, as the characters evolve with time. It heavily depends on caricatures and slapstick comedy, which often offends a new audience. However, the show is self-aware and comically adapts to time and evolving American politics.