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Revenge of the sitcoms on CBS
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Remember when the "Rachel" was THE haircut of the nineties? Every group of friends had a Chandler, Ross, Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, or Joey, and thursday night at NBC was when television viewers set aside time for their Friends. Judging from its current daily syndication on at least two channels, Friends is still reaping the benefits of its massive success. Yes, between Friends, Will & Grace, Frasier, and Everybody Loves Raymond, sitcoms were king. But from 2004-2006, all of the most popular sticoms went off the air and hour-long primetime dramas reigned.
However, with the emergence of CBS Monday night shows How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory, the continuing success of the cancellation defying show Scrubs, and the ever popular The Office, sitcoms are looking to make a comeback. Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders, and Josh Radnor bring laughs from both mainstream comedy and the quirkier side of things to become a surprisingly hilarious and heartfelt show. Neil Patrick Harris' womanizing Barney Stinson constantly brings laughs and has become the pioneer of such catchphrases as "Legen- wait for it- dary" and "suit up!" How I Met Your Mother's crew is good, old-fashioned fun, and is quickly becoming the modern day Friends. Lily (Hannigan) and Marshall(Segel) are the Monica and Chandler of things and it's fair to say that Robin Sherbotzsky (Smulders) is the Rachel, although whether Ted (Radnor) or Barney is the Ross or Joey is difficult to tell. Mother's comedy is good every kind of humor, and it doesn't look like the show is winding down any time soon.
The Big Bang Theory is making it abundantly clear that geek humor is the new chic humor. While the show's premise originally centered around physicist Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and his relationship with the pretty new neighbor Penny (Kaley Cuoco), the real star of the show is Sheldon (Jim Parsons). These super-geniuses are quickly becoming superstars, and never has Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica seemed so enticing! If How I Met Your Mother is the new friends, then The Big Bang Theory is certainly the new Frasier! Frasier (Kelsey Grammar) and his brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce) were the kings of snob comedy, and these guys are snobs of a different kind! Their extensive scientific knowledge and love of comics and sci-fi might turn off the casual mainstream observer, but Penny is sympathetic to those watchers as the quintessential girl next door with a community college degree. The success of this show suggests that more of America's television viewers either are geeks or are geek lovers than are willing to admit, and that's okay! This show provides humor for everyone, whether you're a fanboy or simply a fan of comedy! CBS has done a "Bang" up job of putting together a great Monday line up of situational comedies, and maybe someday soon, these names will be synonymous with Friends and Frasier.
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Keep up with How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory on Monday nights on CBS during the regular television season, and are also available to purchase on DVD.
