My top ten favorite sitcoms

Growing up, I was always a little different than my peers. While kids my age were watching Family Ties and Dynasty, I was watching The Donna Reed Show and Perry Mason. My sophomore year in high school I wore a pony tail nearly every day because I wanted to be just like Betty "Princess" Anderson on Father Knows Best. While other girls my age had crushes on Kirk Cameron and Michael J. Fox, I had a crush on Wally Cleaver and Bud Anderson. Needless to say, my picks for best sitcoms may not be the same as yours, but here they are.

I realize that this particular sitcom is probably on many Top Ten lists. The Officeis that good. It has to be my favorite sitcom of the moment, and the only one still on the air that I actually plan to watch. It has that undefinable "it factor". Taken independently, many of the characters are unlikable. Dwight, Andy, Michael and Angela are people we wouldn't chose to be friends with in reality, but the chemistry among the cast is enviable, and watching Jim prank Dwight is priceless entertainment.

Lacking ratings during it's short life, Arrested Developmentwent to the Sitcom Graveyard much sooner than it deserved to. Now a cult hit, a movie is supposed to be in the works, bringing the Bluth clan back. I, for one, am looking forward to catching up with this dysfunctional family.

Yet another sitcom cancelled to make way for less original, less entertaining reality shows, Tituswas an honest look at a dysfunctional, yet relatable family. An alcoholic, verbally abusive father apparently doesn't play well to advertisers, but it makes for an awesome sitcom.

I guess I have a preference for dysfunctional families, but The Addams Familyis one of my favorite shows of all time. The beautiful Morticia and the eccentric Gomez had such a strong chemistry, and Uncle Fester, Pugsly, Wednesday, Lurch, Grandmama, Thing and Cousin It all added to the charm of the show. As creepy and cooky as they all were, they were a likable family, and one I thoroughly enjoyed watching, both as a child and as an adult.

I didn't really begin to watch Reba until it went into syndication, and just before it was cancelled. Another one of those shows that if the characters were examined alone, they would likely all be annoying, but together they made one entertaining half-hour. Van Montgomery is easily one of my favorite characters of all time. Stupid, yet sweet, funny and loyal to a fault, Steve Howey worked brilliantly opposite Reba McEntire, JoAnna Garcia, Melissa Peterman, Christopher Rich and Scarlett Pomers. It's five year run wasn't long enough, in my opinion.

Before Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway, there was Don Adams and Barbara Feldon. The original bumbling CONTROL agent, Don Adams was able to make 99 fall in love with him, the Chief grow aggravated with him, Siegfried grow frustrated by him, and the audience to laugh with him, all while foiling the most recent plot of KAOS.

A brilliantly funny show, That 70's Show brought us back in time with a tried but true concept. Like The Breakfast Club, it introduced us to six teenagers who grew beyond their labels. The Girl Next Door, the Vain Rich Girl, the Rebellious One, the Foreign One, the Village Idiot, and the Average Joe were joined by the Foremans and the Pinciottis, as well as Leo, the aging hippie. It was an original show, not following the standard of sitcoms, and presenting taboo issues (such as regular pot smoking) in a way the audience wasn't used to. More importantly, they made me laugh.

Another one of my favorites as a kid, The Dick Van Dyke Show was funny and ground-breaking. Those who know about classic television will tell you that it was a BIG deal for Laura Petrie (played by Mary Tyler Moore) to wear pants on the show. Innovative for it's day, it offered both witty one-liners and slapstick comedy. What more can an audience ask for in a sitcom?

One of the last sitcoms to hold any respect for it's patriarch, The Cosby Show is probably my favorite traditional family sitcom. There has always been a debate regarding whether or not it represented African-American families honestly, and wherever you stand on that issue, I think the general consensus is that The Cosby Show is television royalty.

While it may not be considered classic television like The Cosby Show or The Dick Van Dyke Show, 3rd Rock from the Sunoffered us an original, humorous alternative to traditional sitcom...and yet it maintained that traditional feel. Aliens (original) took on the identities of an average American family (traditional), so the characters were able to explore both kinds of story lines.

This was harder than I thought it would be, so I must add that honorable mentions are WKRP in Cincinnati, The Big Bang Theory, Scrubs, Frasier, Welcome Back, Kotter, and Everybody Loves Raymond.