The Ultimate TV Comedies Bracket -- Round Two, Day Four

Those were the days...

As we all celebrate the 95th anniversary of Mickey Mouse — I know this bracket has nothing to do with Disney, but this is a Disney-focused newsletter typically — I hope you’re ready for some more votes in the second round of the Ultimate TV Comedies bracket. The Roses and the Huxtables and the Petries await!

(3) All in the Family vs. (30) The Cosby Show: On one side of this fight, we have an irascible man with old-fashioned perceptions of how a family ought to operate. On the other side, we have Archie Bunker.

Kidding! I’m kidding. But seriously, I think we all know that All in the Family is winning this one. …Right?

All in the Family

The Cosby Show

(14) Roseanne vs. (46) Schitt’s Creek: So, Schitt’s Creek beat out Night Court by one vote. One! One of you out there — was it you, Mr. Sepinwall? I doubt it. — helped send the Rose family to the second round, against Roseanne. This time around, I will vote for Schitt’s Creek, because a) I’ve never loved Roseanne and b) …well, y’know, Roseanne’s whole…thing.

How do you vote, though?

Roseanne

Schitt’s Creek

(6) The Dick Van Dyke Show vs. (38) Atlanta: I’m going to keep emphasizing this: so much of the American sitcom can be traced back to The Dick Van Dyke Show, without which we don’t have pretty much every sitcom you can think of. Not only was it massively influential, but it’s still funny today. I know many of you think Atlanta was excellent (again, I’ve only seen one episode, so I make no claims about its quality one way or the other), but…gotta give this one to Rob Petrie.

The Dick Van Dyke Show

Atlanta

(11) The Bob Newhart Show vs. (22) Barry: For me, the now-fairly-common debate of what is and what is not truly a comedy is what drives this vote. The first season of Barry is very funny in a Hollywood-insider kind of way, while also being terrifying. But as the show continued, it became a lot less funny (on purpose) and a lot more disturbing (also on purpose). Against The Bob Newhart Show, I’m not sure it can compete.

But that’s me, because the vote derives from the question “Which of these is a better comedy?” For you, the answer may be different.

The Bob Newhart Show

Barry