Watching a sitcom episode could make you feel a lot of emotions. People can cry, laugh or even feel secondhand embarrassment for a character. Most of the time we don’t realize that watching a TV series can influence our own actions or beliefs on certain topics.

In today’s world, the access to technology is endless, and you can find sitcoms available online for free or for a small fee. Watching any sitcom or TV series has become more simple and easier. In the past, watching a sitcom was more difficult; people needed to wait for one episode to go out on TV every or every other week.

A sitcom is a comedy series that keeps showing a cast of characters in a sequence of fun circumstances. Typically the episodes are 30 minutes or shorter. A TV series or shows can be viewed live (real time), recorded, or streamed over the internet, their episodes are usually over 30 minutes.

Throughout the years, viewer tastes have changed, and sitcoms kept changing to adapt to trends. This is noticeable when we compare popular series in the 21st century, which are mostly related to fantasy or are inspired by books, compared to the most popular series from the 80s or 90s were comedy and entertainment sitcoms were most popular. 

For example, one of the most popular sitcoms of the 80s is Cheers. The sitcom took place in a bar called “Cheers”. Diane and her fiance, Sumner Sloan, stop in at Cheers for a drink. They are laden with luggage and on their way to Barbados, where they plan to be married. But Sumner wants to get an antique wedding ring that his ex-wife has. Sumner leaves Diane in Sam’s company (the owner of “Cheers”). The regular consumers of the bar are a group of people who bond because of their shared place in life — Cheers is their home away from home.

The next decade, the format of the most important sitcom changed. The Simpsons is one of the most popular sitcoms, which has been running since 1989. This is an animated sitcom that explores the life of a family of five and all of their troubles.

In the 2000’s, one of the most popular sitcoms was Friends. Even though Friends episodes began to come out in the 1994, it is was most popular the 2000’s when it had a boom of viewers, and they kept producing episodes until 2004. Despite it’s popularity at the beginning of the 21st century, this sitcom continues media themes most popular during the 80s. Friends explores a group of six people (three young men and three young women), their friendship, and their life in Manhattan. 

For the 2010s one of the most popular sitcoms was How I Met Your Mother. This show kept having had episodes from 2005 to 2014. The show follows the protagonist, Ted Mosby, and depicts flashbacks of his love life. In the year 2030, Ted tells the story to his son and daughter of how he met their mother, giving wise lessons about life. The series explores many storylines, including a love triangle between some characters, as well as the careers of the characters.

As the 2020s just began, there are already a lot of sitcoms and TV series in line for the best one, but it seems like one of the most popular shows is Brooklyn Nine-Nine. With 153 episodes and eight seasons, this sitcom has been around for a long time, with the first episode being released in September of 2013, and the finale episode in September of 2021. In this series, the viewer meets Jake Peralta, a talented detective that never followed the rules of his district. This changes when a new commander, Ray Holt, transfers to the “99th”. He challenges Jake and makes him follow the rules. Along with the plot there is a good deal of drama and romance.

Sitcoms are predictable, and that’s why viewers love them. They include topics like love, friendship, and drama. With sitcoms, though the format changes with time, there is something for everyone.