I think the TV show is not aimed at geeks but to "common people" in order to laugh at geeks and the geek culture. The subject matter needs to be presented in a very simplified form so that anyone can get it (and laugh at it). Like constant references to Star Wars and such, as everyone knows Star Wars...

It is similar as with Frasier, where the point was for common people to laugh at the manners etc. of cultural "upper class" people. Like how their hobbies include wine-tasting, going to manicure etc...

I guess I mention this as I remember one friend of mine, which considers himself as a geek I guess, was looking forward to the series, apparently thinking it is a sitcom aimed at geeks. Not so, it is still aimed at common people, to laugh at archetypal geeks.

Not a huge fan of sitcoms in general... but:

BEST:
Frasier: One of my favourite shows ever. It almost feels a bit like theatre in parts, with the overdramatic acting and the chemistry between the main characters (especially Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce).
While i agree that the later seasons lost a bit quality i still think that they are way above most other shows i have seen. The last season even has a few of my favourite episodes.

Community: Doesn't technically count i guess, but its my other favourite comedic show. Any show that has Chevy Chase dressed as the Beastmaster on drugs does something right :D
Its also a great example of nerdy humour done right i think. While in TBBT you just laugh -at- the characters and their antics here its much more embraced and also often a clever way to hide more serious matters, while still being funny. Great cast too.

WORST:
Big Bang Theory: pathetic, unlikable characters (i think Amy is the only decent person out of all of them), lame jokes (no, a reference for the sake of having a reference isn't funny), very repetitive humour too, obnoxious laugh track, overall awful.

Two and a half man: Just.. no.

Full House: So. Lame.
Agree with TBBT, Frasier not so much. On Cheers the Frasier character was like that but on the actual show its rarely the "upper class" things they do that are the main source for humour but more their desperate attempts to belong to what they consider upper class. The episode with the manicure is a nice example, they could be perfectly happy with what they have got but they crave so much to be even more elitist that they end up on the street next to a dumpster. Its more about their vanity than anything else, in my opinion

I don't remember any bad ones but I liked Seinfeld, Friends, IT Crowd, Coupling and Mash.

Thanks to having to watching a younger relative during 2005-2007, pretty much any Disney Channel tween sitcom is the worst to me. I would rather endure every season, even the bad ones, of Big Bang Theory than watch that dreck ever again. At least BBT can churn out some decent moments every now and then.

I know that stuff is made for a younger audience in mind but come on, kids can handle shows that are a lot smarter and clever than those shows. One of the ones in the group, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody I was able to at least endure because Phil Lewis is in it and I imagined him being his character Hooch from Scrubs after he was released from the asylum. It made it way funnier than it should be with that mindset.

Best - Columbo

Worst - Cavemen (lol)

Best: Frasier - Can't think of any other show that had me laugh as much. Sure, it's got a lot of slapstick moments, but for the most part it's always done rather cleverly.

Indifferent: Seinfeld, Friends & Co. - I've watched enough of those to come to the conclusion that they were nothing but overrated. Not particularly funny either.

Worst: Eh! Who knows? There's lots of shit out there.
Man, I must have missed all the good jokes! =P

Colombo is a great detective show, but I would never classify it as a sitcom. I don't think many here would either.

The law is known as "jumping the shark", in reference to "happy days".

I thought the exaggerations were the whole point of it. Not just to cater to the mass audience, as Timppu referenced, but part of the point of it is also to take the geek culture to the nth degree and poke fun at it. I don't know, but it tickles my fancy (as I noted earlier though, I actually know people that are very similar to a couple of the characters on the show, so this gives me a big laugh many times).

*edit* Oh, and yeah, agreed on the Friends thing. The characters I actually liked were Chandler and Joey. Phoebe had her moments as well (one of the lines she delivered on the show is actually a private in-joke between my wife an I).

I'm glad you enjoy TBBT, it just isn't for me. And the episode of Friends where Phoebe tries to seduce Chandler is still my very favorite, makes me laugh out loud.

That's totally fair. I'm just bewildered why so many people put this one up on their 'worst' list. There are so many others I've seen that I thought were orders of magnitude worse than TBBT. I guess maybe it's because it's so popular that it sticks in peoples' craw?

Then again, it's all totally subjective, so there's going to be no concensus on it anyway.

Hmm, I don't watch too much tv anymore, so I might have missed a lot of the bad ones as well. Two and a Half Men was horrendous. Which other ones did you think were bad?

Best: Seinfeld
Worst: Basically any sitcom that isn't Seinfeld

I generally can't stand sitcoms, I don't think many of them endure the test of time, with the exception of Seinfeld. I find myself quoting jokes from that sometimes on a daily basis.

"He took it out"
"He took what out?"

Currently, two sitcoms are played in the household (i.e. shows my girlfriend watches):

Big Bang Theory: I think this show started off decent, I liked the dynamic between Penny, Leonard and Sheldon, however as they added more characters, the show got worse, especially around season 7/8 - it's like they don't even know what to do with the show or characters anymore but refuse to end it because the show continues to make so much money.

2 Broke Girls: Pretty awful, the only reason I even stop and look is because I like Kat Dennings.

But what about Cavemen?