The situation comedy genre has been a staple of American television viewing nearly as long as televisions themselves have been in existence. Although many like to think that television has come a very long way since its first waves of popularity, the truth is that some things really haven't changed. The longevity of the sitcom as a genre speaks volumes about its adaptability and appeal. While these characteristics are interesting from a historical perspective, the question we're all asking is: Which one should I watch?
Well, although we here at wiseGEEK can't know your personal preferences, and many of the lesser-known sitcoms are no longer available in reruns, we decided we'd do some research and develop a strategy for answering this very important question.
wiseGEEK chose 18 sitcoms for our analysis, based on a combination of two factors: Availability in reruns and popularity of series in its first run. You may notice that some of the shows we looked at are not from a particularly popular series, but what they lack in popularity, they make up for in rerun availability.
Our data collection process was simple: Each sitcom was analyzed for the number of laughs over the 30-minute time slot, as well as the Laugh Intensity for each occurrence. Laugh Intensity (LI) ratings are based on a 4-point scale; snickers, giggles, or chuckles ranking a 1, and knee-slapping, tear-wiping, wake-up-your-roommate guffaws ranking a 4.
TLV: Total Laugh Volume
| Series Title | TLV: Total Laugh Volume | |
| Friends | 185 |  |
| 8 Simple Rules... | 161 | |
| I Love Lucy | 157 | |
| The Parkers | 150 | |
| All in the Family | 149 | |
| Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | 145 | |
| The Cosby Show | 144 | |
| Seinfeld | 144 | |
| Happy Days | 140 | |
| The Brady Bunch | 124 | |
| Leave it to Beaver | 116 | |
| Frasier | 114 | |
| Golden Girls | 114 | |
| How I Met Your Mother | 114 | |
| Sanford & Son | 110 | |
| Family Ties | 107 | |
| The Andy Griffith Show | 67 | |
| M*A*S*H | 56 | |
These scores are the sum of the collected data. We simply added up the Laugh Intensity scores for all recorded laughter to determine which shows had the most (and least) amount of laughter, and call that the Total Laugh Volume (TLV).
LPM: Laughs per Minute
| Series Title | LpM: Laughs per Minute | |
| Friends | 10.14 |  |
| The Parkers | 8.11 | |
| 8 Simple Rules... | 7.67 | |
| All in the Family | 7.27 | |
| Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | 7.25 | |
| I Love Lucy | 7.22 | |
| The Cosby Show | 7.11 | |
| Happy Days | 7.09 | |
| Seinfeld | 6.94 | |
| The Brady Bunch | 6.05 | |
| Frasier | 5.63 | |
| Golden Girls | 5.43 | |
| Sanford & Son | 5.37 | |
| Leave it to Beaver | 5.27 | |
| How I Met Your Mother | 5.12 | |
| Family Ties | 5.10 | |
| The Andy Griffith Show | 3.19 | |
| M*A*S*H | 2.70 | |
Each show's Laugh per Minute (LpM) score was determined by taking the TLV and dividing it by the total number of minutes of show time. We carefully subtracted time wasted on credits and commercials in order to avoid punishing sitcoms rerunning on networks that show too many commercials.
LII: Laugh Intensity Index
| Series Title | LII: Laugh Intensity Index | |
| All in the Family | 1.67 |  |
| Friends | 1.61 | |
| Frasier | 1.54 | |
| Leave it to Beaver | 1.45 | |
| Sanford & Son | 1.39 | |
| Golden Girls | 1.37 | |
| Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | 1.37 | |
| Happy Days | 1.36 | |
| 8 Simple Rules... | 1.33 | |
| I Love Lucy | 1.30 | |
| The Andy Griffith Show | 1.22 | |
| The Cosby Show | 1.20 | |
| Family Ties | 1.19 | |
| The Brady Bunch | 1.17 | |
| M*A*S*H | 1.17 | |
| How I Met Your Mother | 1.11 | |
| The Parkers | 1.10 | |
| Seinfeld | 1.10 | |
The Laugh Intensity Index (LII) takes the TLV score, and divides it by the number of laughs recorded for the show. In this way, we can determine which shows have a higher Laugh Intensity per laugh than other shows. Where some shows rate high on the previous two measures, repeated chuckles will not help you in this analysis. For the shows topping the Laugh Intensity Index, if you're laughing, it's probably more than just responding to the peer pressure of the laugh track.
Laugh More, Laugh Harder
| Series Title | TLV=Blue, LII=Yellow | |
| 8 Simple Rules... | 161 | |
| 8 Simple Rules... | 1.33 | |
| All in the Family | 149 | |
| All in the Family | 1.67 | |
| Family Ties | 107 | |
| Family Ties | 1.19 | |
| Frasier | 114 | |
| Frasier | 1.54 | |
| Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | 145 | |
| Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | 1.37 | |
| Friends | 185 | |
| Friends | 1.61 | |
| Golden Girls | 114 | |
| Golden Girls | 1.37 | |
| Happy Days | 140 | |
| Happy Days | 1.36 | |
| How I Met Your Mother | 185 | |
| How I Met Your Mother | 1.11 | |
| I Love Lucy | 255 | |
| I Love Lucy | 1.30 | |
| Leave it to Beaver | 188 | |
| Leave it to Beaver | 1.45 | |
| M*A*S*H | 91 | |
| M*A*S*H | 1.17 | |
| Sanford & Son | 110 | |
| Sanford & Son | 1.39 | |
| Seinfeld | 144 | |
| Seinfeld | 1.10 | |
| The Andy Griffith Show | 67 | |
| The Andy Griffith Show | 1.22 | |
| The Brady Bunch | 124 | |
| The Brady Bunch | 1.17 | |
| The Cosby Show | 144 | |
| The Cosby Show | 1.20 | |
| The Parkers | 150 | |
| The Parkers | 1.10 | |
The chart above is designed to compare the Total Laugh Volume and the Laugh Intensity Index for each show. We created this comparison by assigning the top performer in each category the same bar size; shows with longer blue bars have more laugher, while shows with longer yellow bars have more intense laughter. We won't judge you for which you prefer, we just want you to be able to make an informed decision.
A Few Necessary Disclaimers
- We recognize that the absence of Cheers in this analysis is significant. Remember, shows were chosen based partially on availability of reruns, and it turns out that in many areas Cheers is just not on. We're not the only ones who miss it.
- Our researchers found that much of the comedy on The Cosby Show is Bill just being Bill, often causing an ongoing din of chuckles spanning a minute or more. This is very difficult to record with the model we've chosen, so the funniness of The Cosby Show may be underrepresented in our study.
- There is much discussion about how M*A*S*H got pretty preachy once it jumped the shark, and others blame Alan Alda's influence--especially as a director. The episode used for this study was in fact directed by Alda, and is clearly an example of this phenomenon, since everyone knows that one episode of M*A*S*H is funnier than all Andy Griffith Show episodes put together.
- It's important to note that at this time, information about which shows used a laugh track with or without a studio audience is not widely available. Our research has revealed that pretty much every sitcom uses a laugh track, though to varying degrees. We thought it best to just take that information for granted, and assume that the laughter is deserved, whether it was authentic or fabricated.
Candidates for wiseGEEK's Funniest Sitcom
| Series Title | Show Title | Original Air Date |
| 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter | "Changes" | 10/1/04 |
| All in the Family | "Mike's Friend" | 12/14/74 |
| Family Ties | "Big Brother is Watching" | 11/17/82 |
| Frasier | "And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon, Part II" | 10/24/00 |
| Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | "Something for Nothing" | 12/9/91 |
| Friends | "The One After the Superbowl, Part II" | 1/28/96 |
| Golden Girls | "Wham, Bam, Thank You Mammy" | 10/20/90 |
| Happy Days | "They Call it Potsie Love" | 12/2/75 |
| How I Met Your Mother | "The Wedding" | 1/9/06 |
| I Love Lucy | "The Girls Go Into Business" | 10/12/53 |
| Leave it to Beaver | "Train Trip" | 4/9/58 |
| M*A*S*H | "The Kids" | 10/31/75 |
| Sanford & Son | "The Way to Lamont's Heart" | 3/15/74 |
| Seinfeld | "The Engagement" | 9/21/95 |
| The Andy Griffith Show | "Goober's Contest" | 4/10/67 |
| The Brady Bunch | "Cindy Brady, Lady" | 2/18/72 |
| The Cosby Show | "Clair's Case" | 2/21/85 |
| The Parkers | "Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow" | 11/13/00 |