60 best sitcoms of all time

52. The Inbetweeners

Comedies that feature teenage characters are, to quote Kenny Loggins, a “danger zone.” It’s way too easy for these shows to turn into nothing but a series of crude jokes about sex, drugs and general misbehavior without actually having a plot or a point. The Inbetweeners, the first British sitcom on our list, was not one of those series. Yes, there were a lot of jokes about sex as Will, Simon, Neil and Jay failed to impress girls like most boys their age. But there was an awful lot of humor here that didn’t go down the usual route.

One of the early episodes is called “Thorpe Park” and details everything that goes wrong when the guys finally have access to a car and decide to go to a theme park. The car Simon (a perfectly cast Joe Thomas) is given by his parents is naturally terrible and ugly. The drive goes wrong when they interrupt a funeral procession. Jay breaks the front passenger door off and — as the park has no place to store such a thing — Simon winds up carrying it around all day like a giant ugly piece of jewelry. Things come to a head when Will snaps and insults a bunch of people who happen to be from a charity organization. It’s hilarious from start to finish, and it has little to do with the usual teen comedy tropes.

The Inbetweeners was a refreshing version of that subgenre. It was able to be about a variety of different issues, and when it did venture into familiar territory, at least it made it funny. There are reasons that the show spawned two movies and a short-lived MTV version. Just do yourself a favor and stick with the UK original.

Next: 51. Mad About You