Despite there being plenty of new sitcoms to choose from, television continues to fall back on the franchises that became huge in the 2000s with spin-off shows like How I Met Your Father. There was just something special about the sitcoms of that era.
A decade of huge titles like Modern Family, and so much more, viewers were spoilt for choice when it came to the television comedy of the 2000s. Ranker put the question of which was the best to TV fans and it made for some interesting results.
Note: Ranker lists are live and continue to accrue votes, so some rankings may have changed after this publishing.
South Park
Although it premiered in 1997, South Park truly began to hit its stride in the 2000s with the cultural and political environment of the decade providing the perfect basis for some shamelessly irreverent satire. Direct, offensive, and willing to confront the darkest issues, South Park still stands out amongst animated sitcoms.
Crucially, it's also full of excellent jokes and hilarious characters. Cartman, Kenny, and the others may not be the most charming characters in sitcom history, but they do make every second they're on-screen funny, and that's just as important. The show still continues to this day, giving it perhaps an unfair chance to win over even more fans but its popularity on Ranker is no surprise.
Malcom In The Middle
Considering it's competing against shows that continued on into the late 2000s and beyond, it's surprising that a show that started at the very beginning of the decade and only ran til 2006 is still so popular with the TV fans of Ranker. Then again, Malcolm in the Middle isn't any ordinary show.
Starring the delightful Jane Kaczmarek and Bryan Cranston, now of Breaking Bad fame, as parents of some typically troublesome kids, Malcolm in the Middle is a show that's full of creativity. From its unusual format to even the way the episodes are shot, everything about the show makes it stand out in the sitcom world and it's still a gem.
Family Guy
Although it began in the 1990s, there's something quintessentially 2000s about Family Guy with its absurd plotlines, constant cutaways, and self-aware humor that set it apart from the very 90s the most catchy opening sequences on TV, Family Guy was always likely to be a hit.
Whilst some doubted it could do enough to set itself apart from the likes of The Simpsons, its enduring popularity is the best proof that it was able to step out of the older show's shadow. With a looser format, Family Guy has adapted well beyond the 2000s and clearly retained a strong loyal fanbase.
Scrubs
A hospital seems like the last place a sitcom should be set in but, thanks to a cast of completely unique characters, to Dr. Cox's hilarious rants, it feels like every Scrubs character has their own thing that makes them uniquely fun to watch.
The heart of Scrubs came from its willingness to take on some of the unique issues that arise in such a tense and high-stakes workplace, from the stress of needing to get everything right for patients to the sometimes strained interpersonal relationships of the staff. Despite ending in 2010, Scrubs remains so popular with fans that it wouldn't be a surprise to see it brought back in the future.
Modern Family
Given it began in 2009 and didn't conclude until 2020, Modern Family has a much more contemporary feel than other 2000s sitcoms. Quirky, creative, and full of set-piece jokes that ensure every episode has at least a few laugh-out-loud moments, Modern Family set a lot of the trends that smart 2010s sitcoms would follow.
Whilst it's fair to say that it's not the most 2000s sitcom in of style, the show gained a huge amount of popularity from the very beginning meaning its style was something audiences were already very receptive to at the time. Of course, it's only grown bigger in the subsequent years meaning there were plenty of fans who wanted to see it amongst the very best sitcoms.
The Big Bang Theory
Any sitcom created by veterans Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady is almost guaranteed to be successful but it's doubtful even they could have predicted just how huge their show about a nerdy friend group and their new neighbor would become. Spawning some of The Big Bang Theory is one of the decade's sensations.
Whilst it might have been expected that its popularity would begin to wane now that the show's conclusion is already a few years old, the success of the spin-off Young Sheldon means that the show and one of its best characters have remained prominent in the public consciousness.
Friends
Beginning in 1994 but dominating the early 2000s, Friends was the show that every sitcom wanted to be. With its simple premise of following the lives of a group of Manhattan friends, the hilarity of Friends came out in the interactions between its distinctive characters.
Distinctive is almost an understatement. Each of the main characters in friends was so unique in their charm and their sense of humor that their names even became synonymous with personality types. Despite its age, fans of what was once the world's biggest sitcom have never gone away and they made up a large chunk of voters on Ranker.
Parks And Recreation
A gentle comedy about a lovably determined bureaucrat working in a small local government department wouldn't normally have the same universal appeal as other sitcoms. Nevertheless, Parks and Recreation became a fan favorite almost immediately when it first premiered in 2009.
Although Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope is the face of the show, the side characters played by the likes of Rashida Jones, Aubrey Plaza, Nick Offerman, and Chris Pratt, who has since become an unlikely movie star, are really what make the show so eminently watchable. Always a show to punch above its weight, the loyal fans it gained during its run came out in force to reinforce the series' popularity.
How I Met Your Mother
Premiering in 2005, How I Met Your Mother is almost the quintessential post-Friends sitcom. It has a roughly similar group dynamic that made it a great substitute for fans of the earlier show but it does so much differently as well to hook a whole new generation of sitcom fans. One of these is the central premise which frames the entire show as a story that central character Ted Mosby is telling to his kids.
Anyone who thought this would make it a straightforward rom-com would be disappointed as there are so many twists and turns and tangents in Ted's tale that must annoy his children as much as they entertain its core fanbase. The recent spin-off How I met Your Father undoubtedly reminded many of just how good the original show was.
The Office
There isn't a more quintessentially 2000s show than The Office, a sitcom about the unusual work environment at the Scranton branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. Despite having a mixed response at first as it tried to imitate the original British show a little too closely, it managed to hit its stride in later seasons, particularly with the relationship between Jim and Pam adding a whole new charming element.
The Office gained more fans as it improved throughout the late-2000s and its iconic character moments and hilarious running jokes are still talked about and referenced today. The show even gained a second wind when it was added to Netflix in more recent years but the show earned its immense popularity and the acclaim of critics and fans alike long ago.