How many Seinfeld Rip-offs are on the Air right now?

There are a lot of them, Friends and Alright Already come to mind. Are there any others??

Ellen Drew Carey Suddenly Susan Newsradio Caroline In The City Ally McBeal Frasier Mad About You Just Shoot Me Fired Up Style & Substance Cybill Everyone Loves Raymond

And probably every other urban, ensemble comedy that came on the air after Seinfeld hit. Remember, in 1989 when Seinfeld first aired, there were not nearly as many sitcoms on tv as there are now, and most of them were family sitcoms (Cosby, Family Ties, Growing Pains, etc.) or really weird and awful stuff (Alf, Punky Brewster, Mr. Belvedere, Small Wonder, Gimme A Break, etc.). The good stuff, such as Cheers & Night Court was few and far between. I really think it was Cosby that saved the sitcom back in the 80s, and Seinfeld shored it up. Cosby showed a desire for quality family sitcoms, and Seinfeld showed a market for well written, quirky comedy (which also led to a hybrid of the two with shows such as Roseanne and Home Improvement which debuted in the late 80s-early 90s.)

With Seinfeld going off the air, and the likelihood of Mad About You going out maybe this year or next, and the dearth of any decent new sitcoms (save maybe Dharma & Greg), I kind of wonder what the future of the sitcom will be in the next 3-4 years. I imagine the next decade will be similar to the 60s and 80s where we will be stuck with awful, goofy sitcoms. Maybe its only the odd numbered decades that have good sitcoms - for example:

The 50s - I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners The 60s - Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeanne The 70s - All In The Family, Mary Tyler Moore The 80s - Alf, Punky Brewster The 90s - Seinfeld, Roseanne (except last season)

Of course there are exceptions, as the 50s also gave us Leave It To Beaver and Ozzie & Harriet, the 60s gave us The Odd Couple and That Girl, the 70s had Joanie Loves Chachi and The Sanford Arms, the 80s had Cheers & Night Court and the 90s has produced stinkers such as Jenny and Men Behaving Badly.

The 80s was actually a pretty good time for TV comedy. Newhart and Designing Women were great shows, and Saturday Night Live in the late 80s had one of its best casts, with Dana Carvey, Dennis Miller, Chris Rock, Phil Hartman and Kevin Nealon.

TyrantJR45 wrote in message ...

there

I have nothing against clones. I'd even prefer more Seinfeld clones -- that is if they were as amusing, original and plain good as Seinfeld.

    Infinite
    ICQ 1263548
    "You Ain't heard nothin yet!"

Infinite wrote:

Imitation IS the greatest form of flattery. On the other hand, the rip-offs that can't pull off what Jerry could tend to make some of us SICK.

And I don't see FRIENDS as a Seinfeld clone. They're too dissimilar. As for Alright Already, all I saw were a couple of the first episodes, and it seemed funny, but not like Seinfeld. I would think The Single Guy was a lot like Seinfeld. Not as witty, but the premise was extremely similar.

-DK

"You know, we're living in a SOCIETY!"

If they could be 1/2 as good as Seinfeld, then send in the clones!

Almost all sindicated shows on the air are decendants of seinfeld. Their humor and the way the show is setup. jeff

any others??<

**Give Allright Already a break....Give it a chance....after all..its from Seinfeld people....Carol Leiffer IS Lanie! I wouldnt call it a clone or a spinoff... Freinds..?? Feh! ever since the monkey left.... its all down hill**

It Shrinks...???

TyrantJR45 wrote in message ...

there

Have not seen Alright Already but I would hardly call Friends a ripoff of Seinfeld. Hardly anything in common between the shows except they take place in NY and are funny.