Must Watch: Sitcoms That Primetime Forgot
A mixtape of intros to failed and forgotten sitcoms from the past 50 years.
This is easily the best two hours of mindless viewing I’ve done lately, and that says a lot. It’s a fast-paced and expertly edited trip down a somewhat fuzzy memory lane, jam-packed with loads of awful premises and many future stars looking young and hopeful in the opening credits. There are also a bunch of shows with entire casts of actors you’ve never heard of.
Yes, it’s cringe heavy, and that’s what we’re here for. The majority of the show intros are interminably long, and there is lots of forced-fun dancing (poor Ed Asner) and “Can you believe this guy?” poses. Halfway through, it feels like it might dissolve into “Too Many Cooks” territory, but please keep watching.
This bit of nostalgia bait does make me miss a good old-fashioned sitcom theme song, and there are a few toe-tappers in this collection. Case in point: “Everything’s Relative” (1987, 10 episodes), an awful American sitcom starring Jason Alexander, John Bolger, and Gina Hecht. I’m pretty sure that’s Jason belting out the theme song, and it is reminiscent of his best song ever. Okay, enough hype…
I write some nonsense at Bluesky and co-host the “Junk Miles with Chip & Jeff” comedy podcast.
