Published Aug 23, 2026, 8:02 PM EDT
Dyah (pronounced Dee-yah) is a Senior Author at Collider, responsible for both writing and transcription duties. She joined the website in 2022 as a Resource Writer before stepping into her current role in April 2023. As a Senior Author, she writes Features and Lists covering TV, music, and movies, making her a true Jill of all trades. In addition to her writing, Dyah also serves as an interview transcriber, primarily for events such as **San Diego Comic-Con, **the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Sundance Film Festival.
Dyah graduated from Satya Wacana Christian University in October 2019 with a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature, concentrating on Creative Writing. She is currently completing her Master’s degree in English Literature Studies, with a thesis on intersectionality in postcolonial-feminist studies in Asian literary works, and is expected to graduate in 2026.
Born and raised between Indonesia and Singapore, Dyah is no stranger to different cultures. She now resides in the small town of Kendal with her husband and four cats, where she spends her free time cooking or cycling.
Sign in to your Collider account
Nothing beats the classics, especially when it comes to comedy. These days, comedy shows are constantly reinventing themselves to reflect the times they were made in. And with comedies bringing people together all over the world, the genre feels more universal than ever. But every great comedy has its roots, and sometimes, those roots just did it better than the newer shows that came after them.
From creating the perfect family sitcom setup to turning a setting into a character of its own, these classics knew exactly how to make people laugh without needing some big overarching story. They have a few tricks up their sleeves that many newer shows still haven’t quite figured out. With that in mind,** here are beloved classic comedy shows that are still better than most new series**.
At its peak,*** I Love Lucy was watched by an incredible 40 million Americans, making Lucy Ricardo one of television’s earliest, biggest comedy stars. Played by Lucille Ball*, Lucy is a lively homemaker married to Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz), a nightclub bandleader who spends most of his time performing. Lucy, though, isn’t exactly happy sitting at home. She is always looking for her next chance to get onstage, often dragging Ricky into whatever crazy plan she has come up with. Of course, things rarely go as planned.
Like any other sitcom, these mishaps are the band of good comedy. It all boils down to Lucy’s big personality and Ricky’s more serious nature, which complement each other so well. However, the true soul of I Love Lucy is the way Ball pushes back against the usual expectations for married women at the time. She is supposed to take care of the house and support her husband, but Lucy clearly wants more than that. She loves being a homemaker, yet she also wants to perform, chase her own ambitions, and prove she can be just as funny as Ricky. The show was also a big deal because Arnaz, a Cuban actor, played one of the leads in a popular American sitcom at a time when that was far from common.
Most sitcoms from their era wanted to give viewers wholesome families and feel-good lessons. **Seinfeld basically said, “Yeah, no thanks.” Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) and his friends are petty, selfish, awkward, and rarely learn anything from their mistakes, which is exactly why they’re so much fun to watch. Instead of chasing some big message, the show turns everyday annoyances into comedy. A bad date, a weird conversation, or an annoying neighbor can somehow snowball into a completely ridiculous situation. Random as they may be, it’s the most intoxicating part about this “show about nothing.”
Everyone knows what it’s like to live a mundane life, but *Seinfeld *proves that these boring parts can be hilarious when you’re stuck with the right group of people. Seinfeld’s chemistry between the ensemble alone is enough to carry the show for nine seasons. Season 1 can take a bit of patience, but things really click once Season 2 gets going. Jerry’s dry humor, Elaine’s (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) blunt attitude, Kramer’s (Michael Richards) completely unhinged schemes, and George’s (Jason Alexander) nonstop worrying bounce off each other perfectly. Give them the smallest problem, and they’ll turn it into a huge mess. These four are probably going to make things worse, but watching them stumble into one terrible decision after another never stops being funny.
Your answers have pointed to one fictional hospital above all others. This is the ward your instincts, your temperament, and your particular brand of dysfunction were built for.
You are built for the most unsparing version of emergency medicine television has ever shown — one that puts you inside a single fifteen-hour shift and doesn’t let you look away.
You are the person who keeps the whole floor running — not the most brilliant in the room, but possibly the most essential.
You came to medicine with your whole self — your ambition, your emotions, your relationships, your history — and you have never quite managed to leave any of it at the door.
You are drawn to the problem above everything else — the symptom that doesn’t fit, the diagnosis hiding underneath the obvious one.
You understand that medicine is tragic and absurd in almost equal measure — and that the only sane response is to hold both of those things at the same time.
At a time when sitcoms rarely put women at the center—let alone older women—The Golden Girls felt refreshingly different. Dorothy (Bea Arthur), Rose (Betty White), Blanche (Rue McClanahan), and Sophia (Estelle Getty) aren’t treated like background characters or punchlines. They’re the stars, and they are funny, outspoken, complicated, and very much living their lives despite having lived for more than a century. Whether it’s the fickleness of the dating pool or simply the new realities of turning one year older, the show proves that life never stops being interesting after a certain age.
Thanks to these four women, getting older means that you’re given even more chances in your short worldly time to live out your dreams. *The Golden Girls *isn’t afraid to get serious when it needs to. Alongside all the jokes, the show tackled ageism, homelessness, immigration, sexuality, and HIV/AIDS. One minute, the four women might be bickering over sending someone to a retirement home to shut them up. The next, they’re going through grief together over the sudden death of a child. Mixing comedy and heart is always a foolproof equation for a solid show, but it’s the genuine friendship and camaraderie that makes The Golden Girls a timeless watch.
If you want a sitcom that feels like grabbing a drink at your favorite bar after a long day at work, Cheers*** ***is pretty hard to beat. The guy running it isn’t even a bartender in the first place. Former baseball player Sam Malone (Ted Danson) runs the Boston bar, where the regulars always have something highly personal to share. Diane Chambers (Shelley Long), Norm Peterson (George Wendt), Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger), and the rest of the gang fill the place with wit and quips, as well as a handful of complaints and nonsense.
Cheers viewers can’t help but vicariously be at the bar, as if you’re hanging out with these guys all night. There’s nothing complicated about the setup, but that’s part of the charm. The bar itself is the show’s biggest secret weapon. People come and go, relationships change, and storylines move on, but everyone can always end up back at Cheers. For 11 seasons, viewers kept coming back to this familiar hangout because it was funny, easygoing, and full of people who could turn the tiniest problem into a whole story. It’s the true definition of comfort TV, one that doesn’t require any strong commitment, but only a fraction of your time out of your busy schedule.
***Everybody Loves Raymond ***looks like a pretty typical family sitcom. Ray Barone (Ray Romano) has a job as a sports writer, a wife, three kids, and a nice house in the suburbs. The only annoyance in his life (and biggest) is his parents and older brother Robert (Brad Garrett), who live right across the street. Known for their big, brash attitude, they can turn any simple visit or family dinner into a completely ridiculous feud, making for some really satisfying laughs. The Barones don’t need anything dramatic to cause trouble. They can make a huge mess out of the smallest things.
Ray might be the lead, but the rest of the family’s personalities are even bigger than Ray himself. His wife Debra (Patricia Heaton) isn’t just there to clean up after Ray, and is more than willing to call everyone out when they get on her last nerve. Robert has his own baggage, especially his feeling that Ray has always gotten the better deal. Then there’s Frank (Peter Boyle), who can turn almost any conversation into a joke at someone’s expense. Marie (Doris Roberts) is even more involved, always ready to offer advice whether anyone asked for it or not. Together, they love each other, annoy each other, and somehow keep coming back for more.
1996 - 2005-00-00
The comical everyday life of sports columnist Ray Barone and his dysfunctional family.