Honorable Mention: Archer, King of the Hill
5) The Simpsons
Funny quote: "Alcohol, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems." - Homer Simpson
The Simpsons is truly an American classic. It is number five because it paved the way for other adult cartoons to come. Its longevity is truly what makes it stick out from any others. I was never allowed to watch this show growing up as a kid, which tells me that if my parents new about it, it had simply transcended generations, and was a staple to our American fabric in terms of cultural relevance. This iconic family has created a gigantic following and though I never thought the show to be truly that funny, there are always pieces of the show that carry with me. Homer Simpson will always be a classic character, and he has provided us with numerously funny quotes over the years. Thank you to the Simpsons, for they paved the way for funny comedies to come.
4) Family Guy
Funny Quote: Peter Griffin: "Hey Brian check it out, there's a message in my cereal. It's saying: oooooooo."
Brian Griffin: "Peter, those are Cheerios."
An overweight dad with a family full of mischievous characters. Sound familiar? It is. However, what sets Family Guy apart from other comedies is its ability to utilize its cartoon characters to extraordinary circumstances. In Family Guy's prime the cutaways and outlandish plot removals became essential to the show's humor. While the flashbacks and other high jinks were often over the top and sometimes a bit ridiculous, they were often funny. There was a time when just about any young adult male (and often females) would associate with the show at some level. The stories of Stewie and Brian often made for some great television, and in the early 2000s no one could touch the level to which this show rose. Now it is a bit too over the top, even for a cartoon, with long flashbacks or cutaways that exhaust you more than interest you. Only the most die hard can get in to some of those plot turns now, but you cannot deny that the show provided a strong foundation for adult cartoons to continue.
3) South Park
Funny Quote: "Nothing mom, I'm just a little bi-curious." - Butters
South Park has been around approximately 15 years. Where my two previous picks struggled, South Park has not, by remaining edgy, funny and relevant. Part of the ability for South Park's ability to remain so substantial is it's network. Unlike the others you see before, this show had the gift of being on Comedy Central. With this network supporting the show, the characters and stories became much less limited and opened up a new way of thinking about cartoon comedies. Without these limitations of the major networks, we have seen episodes with gruesome deaths, no limit topics (such as rape and racism), and anything else you might imagine. Even though you have these incredibly volatile story lines, there is often a message involved in the show. While Cartman provides all the drama the show is grounded by Stan and Kyle, who often offer sensible solutions and explanations to the problems around them. While I never watched the show as a kid, I have caught much more of it as an adult, and what sets the show aside from others is its relevancy. The creators are able to create shows within a week of production. This leads to current topics which are often right on the money with American opinion, the only downfall is that when the show misfires, it does so, hard.
2) Futarama
Funny Quote: Farnsworth: You've killed me! You've killed me!
Leela: Oh, no! What have I done?Farnsworth: I just told you - You've killed me!
What The Simpsons were to generations before me, Futurama is to me now. While the show may never be incredibly laugh out loud funny or hold any serious messages along its way, there is one word I always think of when thinking about the show: FUN. It truly is. The consistency of how it is based allows me to know what to expect each and every time I watch an episode. Fry is just a casual, dim-witted man who has embraced his new surroundings. The flying cars, aliens and mutants offer a humorous realm to how we may or may have thought of our future. The characters in the show each bring their own unique touch, maybe more so than any other cartoon on my list. The professor will always be brash and not afraid to hold back how he feels about his crew. Bender is as egotistical as it gets. Leela is the good looking cartoon chick that is ready to defend herself at a moment's notice. Fry, our main character, will always be the dumb sap who never gets Leela but never stops trying. There are a host of other great characters that make the show run, and the stories they provide never go too deep. This light-heartedness of the future makes this show a true treat any time you watch.
1) Dilbert
Funny Quote:
In an episode where Dilbert is trying to impress a woman during a softball game the following was stated:
Juliette: "I'll be playing 2b, if you ever get that far we can talk there."
Dilbert: "Second base? No engineer has ever gotten that far."
This may seem as a peculiar pick to many of you, but for me it is right on the money. Like many quality shows of their time (Freaks and Geeks, Arrested Development, etc.), this one was cut short. Propelled by its relevance from Scott Adams's comic strip, the show was put onto the screen in 1999 and lasted all of two seasons. I enjoyed this short lived cartoon because of its brilliant writing. With the help of Scott Adams, executive producer Larry Charles put together a very funny, thoughtful, witty show. In the show Dilbert is your above average working stiff who has a bright mind but is often stuck in the ways of corporate drudge. His boss is a bumbling idiot and his co-workers often encourage the opposite result of productivity. The strongest character of the whole show is Dogbert, who is a mastermind of manipulation, control and power. Dilbert often refers to Dogbert whenever he is in a bind, and Dogbert is at times seen as an evil genius. His character has produced numerous quotes with his own cult following. You can find many t-shirts or mugs with one of his numerous sayings. While many of us may not work in the type of work environment Dilbert does, it does provide an insight to corporate America, and how irrational things can be at times. It rationalized the ultimate "man getting us down" theory. One can say that Dilbert's comic strip paved the way for The Drew Carey Show, where the main characters share sparkling resemblances as well). Some other characters that standout in the show are Wally, a below average worker who equivocates to today's office worker that always plays on facebook. Catbert is the "Evil Director of Human Resources" which no one ever wishes to disturb. And as briefly mentioned before, "Pointy Haired Boss" is the buffoon that runs the branch and often makes terrible decisions. There was nary an episode where Dilbert was not hilarious, and its too bad it did not get more time. Most of this can likely be blamed on its network, or its network audience. Can you guess which station carried this cartoon? If you guessed UPN, you were right (and possibly surprised). The show even managed to win a prime time emmy before disappearing. But Dilbert still lives on every day in comedies and is a wonderful treat to the more absurd side of corporate America. I enjoyed its two years of great brilliance, and maybe its short run amplifies its greatness to a different level.
So that's my list! Feel free to talk about your favorites, tell me shows I left off, and tell me your number one show, or what shows I missed!
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