Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
While you weren’t looking (and while Netflix was busy keeping their original content game strong), sitcoms became something of a hot commodity for streaming services. In the last few months, Hulu and Amazon have announced major additions to their lineups, especially if you’re in the mood to recapture the magic of yesteryear.
Hulu is adding a ton of shows from ABC’s legendary T.G.I.F. lineup (Full House, Family Matters, Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper, Perfect Strangers, Step By Step) later this month, and that’s in addition to the shows included in a massive deal with 20th Century Fox (like How I Met Your Mother). Over on the Amazon front, a new deal with FilmRise has brought Roseanne, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Cybill, Grace Under Fire, A Different World, and Grounded for Life to Prime. At the start of the summer I lamented the lack of sitcoms on the big three streaming services, and whoah baby has that changed over the last few months.
With streaming services aggressively gobbling up classic shows, one has to wonder what shows could (or should) be gobbled next. The truth is that there are still a lot of important, long-running, and/or fan favorite shows still M.I.A. from Netflix, Hulu, and/or Amazon. Me being the number-crunching stats dude that I am, I set out to find out which shows would be the most valuable additions to a service.
To clarify, valuable shows are shows that:
- Trend high on Google
- Have a social media presence
- Add a lot of episodes to a service’s content library
I compiled a list of the 82 most prominent sitcoms of the last 60 years, pulling from decades and decades of award show nominations and yearly ratings. I then ranked them all in Google Trends to determine which ones are still being talked about online today. I added in these shows’ social media followings and episode counts and, after a lot of spreadsheet action, came up with this ranking. When pairing shows with streaming services, I looked at the state-by-state Google Trends and matched based on a correlation between the show and a service’s most popular state. Again, a lot of numbers
Before I get to the 10 most successful shows that still pop on Google and social media, I gotta share shows #20-11–because they’re also fantastic and full of surprises! These are more shows that streaming services need to hook up with: The Nanny, Night Court, The Jeffersons, ALF, All in the Family, Three’s Company, Sanford and Son, Gilligan’s Island, Bewitched, and The Facts of Life. On to the top 10!
Will & Grace
Original Run: 1998-2006
Episodes: 194
Should Stream On: Netflix
Of all the shows on this list, Will & Grace’s absence from streaming is the most straight-up baffling. Unlike these other shows, Will & Grace is set for a major comeback on NBC later this month! But if you didn’t watch this groundbreaking show when it originally aired around the turn of the century, you’re outta luck if you’re hoping to get caught up. Up until very recently, you had to have a cable account in order to watch the antics of Karen and Jack (the show’s real stars, come on). You can now purchase the first four fabulous seasons on iTunes and Amazon, which will run you around $80.
Good Times
Original Run: 1974-1979
Episodes: 133
Should Stream On: Netflix
The catch phrase “Dy-no-mite” may have fallen out of popular usage, but people are still talking about Good Times.
Surprisingly, the Maude and All in the Family spinoff is also more popular than its parent shows online. And while Good Times doesn’t have as big of a social media following as the shows ahead of it on this list, the dormant Facebook page still has 1.2 million likes! The Norman Lear show, which focused on the Evans family and their life in the Chicago projects, tackled serious issues while also delivering serious laughs. The show would pair well with Netflix’s One Day at a Time, another Norman Lear show with a similar tone.
Boy Meets World
Original Run: 1993-2000
Episodes: 158
Should Stream On: Netflix
TGIF fans got to grow up with Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) during the show’s seven-year stretch on TGIF. Because of its longevity, Boy Meets World evolved from a middle school family sitcom to a show starring college-aged young adults. That kind of real-world progression would make binging Boy Meets World a blast, especially for the Generation Z kids that missed out on the show’s original run and only know the characters from the follow-up series Girl Meets World. Like Good Times, Boy Meets World has an impressive Facebook fanbase (1.8 million likes!)–and the page is still active! This is a fanbase that you know would flock to whichever streaming service grabs it. Hulu didn’t get Boy Meets World in its TGIF acquisition, so maybe their loss could be Netflix’s gain.
Everybody Loves Raymond
Original Run: 1996-2005
Episodes: 210
Should Stream On: Amazon Prime
People are loving Ray Romano‘s turn as a dramatic actor, but it’s a shame that we can’t enjoy the award-winning sitcom that made him a household name. Like a lot of sitcoms, Everybody Loves Raymond was actually on Netflix for a while, and there’s still a placeholder page for it should it ever return. But the show, which ranks higher in Google Trends than newer CBS shows like 2 Broke Girls and Mom, is nowhere to be seen! If Netflix ain’t gonna jumpstart that Raymond page again, then maybe it’s time for another service–like Amazon Prime, a service that just acquired a bunch of family sitcoms–to give the Barones some attention.
Married... With Children
Original Run: 1987-1997
Episodes: 259
Should Stream On: Hulu
With a lot of classic sitcoms, there sometimes isn’t a need for them to hit streaming because they’re still killing it on cable. You can watch, like, 10 episodes a day of Married… With Children every day if you so choose–if you have cable. If you don’t, then you’re missing out on the Bundy’s outrageous and edgy antics. This show’s also a major get for any streaming service that wants to tout how many hours of content they have. Whoever gets Married… With Children will get over 90 hours of content (that’s a lot of Ed O’Neill and Katey Sagal, or is it not enough?).
The King of Queens
Original Run: 1998-2007
Episodes: 207
Should Stream On: Amazon Prime
Ten years after it went off the air, The King of Queens is suddenly back in the zeitgeist for unexpected reasons. KoQ stars Kevin James and Leah Remini are teaming up again on James’ current sitcom Kevin Can Wait, a reunion that could only be made possible after the show killed off James’ new TV wife Erinn Hayes. If all that Kevin Can Wait news has you nostalgic for James and Remini’s nine-year run as the Heffernan’s of Queens, you’ll have to catch it on cable or shell out dollars for DVDs. The show’s unavailability is shocking considering it has a super engaged fanbase (3 million fans on Facebook, watching KoQ clips on a daily basis).
M*A*S*H
Original Run: 1972-1983
Episodes: 251
Should Stream On: Hulu
With its single-camera setup and dramatic slant, the Korean War-set M*A*S*H pushed the boundaries of what a sitcom could do way back in the ’70s. In fact, M*A*S*H has more in common with modern dramedies like Master of None or Transparent than it did with contemporaries like The Mary Tyler Moore Show. So yeah, it’d be great to see a new generation discover how ahead of its time M*A*S*H was–but right now the show’s only airing on cable. Hulu was supposed to get all of M*A*S*H, but the show’s still nowhere to be found. C’mon, Hulu, it’s time for some follow through!
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Original Run: 1990-1996
Episodes: 148
Should Stream On: Netflix, Hulu
Where. Is. Fresh. Prince?
Seriously, Fresh Prince’s enduring popularity cannot be overstated. The show that gave viewers a weekly dose of Will Smith (and also Alfonso Ribeiro) remains as popular today as it was when it ended 21 years ago. Look at the Google Trends: Fresh Prince dominates King of Queens, Married… With Children, and Everybody Loves Raymond. Only M*A*S*H comes close, but Will still dunks on ’em.
On top of that, Fresh Prince has a crazy active Facebook page with 11 million fans. This is a show that holds up, and people still want to watch it; that’s why it plays constantly on cable. But again, plenty of people don’t have cable. They need this show too!
Two and a Half Men
Original Run: 2003-2015
Episodes: 262
Should Stream On: Hulu
Love it or hate it, you can’t deny that Two and a Half Men was a mega hit. The show even survived a major cast shakeup (usually a deal-breaker with audiences) when Charlie Sheen was replaced by Ashton Kutcher. The show’s ratings held strong up until the end with season 12, and the quintessential Chuck Lorre sitcom still has a massive following on its still active Facebook page and inactive Twitter account. Diehard Sheeners and Cryers can get their fix on cable or iTunes, but it’s not the same as being able to mainline the entire series like comedian Gil Ozeri did.
The Big Bang Theory
Original Run: 2007-Present
Episodes: 231
Should Stream On: Netflix
This probably isn’t surprising, considering this CBS sitcom juggernaut has been the most watched comedy for five years running. It also has 4.61 million Twitter followers and almost seven times as many likes on Facebook. Yeah, The Big Bang Theory’s online followers could fill the state of California. And even though the show is super popular, you can stream it nowhere. You have to shell out money for Sheldon or have a cable subscription (where you can watch hours of it daily on TBS). The Big Bang Theory is a big deal, and based on it’s California-sized audience, it’d be a big get for Netflix (or Hulu or Amazon).
