"romantic comedy"

1982 · 11 Seasons · NBC · Comedy

Cheers is one of the foundational texts of the American sitcom, building an entire show around the regulars of a Boston bar with writing so sharp and performances so lived-in that the location feels like a place you've actually been. The Sam-Diane dynamic defined the will-they/won't-they template for a generation, Ted Danson's Sam Malone is one of the great sitcom protagonists, and the ensemble grew richer with every season. The show spans two distinct eras (the Diane years and the Rebecca years) of varying quality, and some episodes haven't aged as gracefully as the show's reputation suggests.

1977 · Woody Allen · 93 min · Comedy, Romance

Annie Hall changed what a romantic comedy could be, and its influence on the genre is hard to overstate. Diane Keaton's performance remains a high point of American screen comedy, and the film's structural inventiveness still feels fresh decades later. Alvy Singer's self-absorption limits the emotional range, and some of the cultural references have faded. But as a portrait of how relationships fall apart despite the best intentions of the people in them, it still finds the nerve.

1998 · 11 Seasons · NBC · Comedy

Will & Grace broke ground as network television's first prime-time sitcom with gay lead characters and earned its audience through sharp writing and a comedic ensemble anchored by the dynamic between Eric McCormack and Debra Messing. Sean Hayes' Jack and Megan Mullally's Karen stole every scene they were in, becoming two of the most quoted characters of the era. The revival seasons (2017-2020) diluted the show's legacy, and the humor occasionally relies on stereotypes it's simultaneously attempting to normalize.

2005 · 9 Seasons · CBS · Comedy / Romance

How I Met Your Mother built one of the most beloved sitcom friend groups of the 2000s and pioneered a nonlinear storytelling structure that gave a standard sitcom genuine narrative ambition. The first five seasons are consistently funny, emotionally resonant, and structurally inventive, with Neil Patrick Harris's Barney Stinson becoming a cultural phenomenon. The controversial finale and the declining quality of the final seasons cast a shadow that the show's considerable strengths don't entirely escape.