60 best sitcoms of all time

51. Mad About You

Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt took center stage in this NBC comedy about a newly married couple in New York City, but they were joined by an awful lot of talented folks who made Mad About You a smorgasbord of laughs for seven seasons. John Pankow was great as Ira, the wayward cousin to Reiser’s character Paul, while Hank Azaria stole scenes in his recurring part as the couple’s dog walker, Nat. Lisa Kudrow’s performance as Ursula here put her on the radar for the part of Phoebe in Friends; in fact, the two were later revealed to be twin sisters.

Much like Family Matters, the general idea of Mad About You wasn’t novel. But there was just so much talent stuffed into the show that you have to appreciate it for the performances and how it could always make you laugh even if you knew the joke. Among the many other folks who had main or recurring roles on the show were Richard Kind and Alan Ruck (Spin City), Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Goldbergs), Mo Gaffney (Absolutely Fabulous) and legends Carol Burnett and Carroll O’Connor. That’s not to take away from Reiser and Hunt, who had genuine chemistry together.

Mad About You got eclipsed in comic history by its more successful network siblings, and understandably so, but there’s still plenty of value to be found in the series. It’s what happens when you put a bunch of funny people on one project together and see what happens. If nothing else, we have this series to thank for part of Friends, and you all know how that turned out.

Next: 50. Married With Children