60 best sitcoms of all time

13. The Mary Tyler Moore Show

We must first give The Mary Tyler Moore Show credit for its contribution to TV as a whole: daring to make its main character a single, independent women when that just did not happen in the 70’s. We’d think nothing of it today, but Mary Tyler Moore was the first and so for that this show will always deserve a seat at the table.

But beyond that, this series was wonderful. So many shows with someone’s name in the title never rise above the idea of a star vehicle, but perhaps because Moore herself is no diva, the saga of Mary Richards and her colleagues was much more than a one-woman show. Not only was it an entertaining workplace comedy, but the series included issues like wage equality (which is now one of the industry’s hot topics again), contempt of court and even a plot where Mary got addicted to pills. What other series at the time would dare to put their leading lady in that position?

The Mary Tyler Moore Show left us with three spin-offs, which is unheard of for most sitcoms or shows that don’t have some sort of acronym in the title. It’s also been referenced by or an influence on many other series here, including 30 Rock and The Simpsons. No matter how many other great sitcoms follow, we’ll still be looking back at this one as one of the foundations of the genre.

Next: 12. It's Garry Shandling's Show