Second in my "Top 10" blog posts, this is a little more detailed than the last, and it may well be the only one of its kind. Don't get too cozy.
1. Scrubs - A hospital sitcom with a lot of slapstick, self-referencing, and pop culture-related humor. Most anyone can appreciate this series, and not once in its currently seven-season run does it ever lose its touch. Scrubs has become known for its asides and brief dream sequences akin to Family Guy's own such sequences, but these are usually centered on the series' main character, who has a tendency to drift off in his own mind and narrate his day. This leads to a lot of in-jokes in the series, such as switching narrators for an episode by him accidentally bumping into a character, or patting someone on the back, and characters mentioning the main character's tendency to drift off or narrate his life "again."
2. The Colbert Report - Political pundit Stephen Colbert plays the character of a republican conservative, commenting on current events and politics in utterly brilliant fashion. Colbert's narcissistic antics and exaggerated names for segments and graphics enhance the silly and often very random humor to unheard-of levels. No area of domestic or international news is safe from Colbert; not even space can escape his reach now, as he's even broadcast into the International Space Station. The Colbert Report covers every area of current events you can imagine, from the more prominent political segments, to sports, local interest, and even video games.
3. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - Yes, The Daily Show's spin-off series is actually a little bit funnier, but better? Not entirely. The Daily Show is usually a little more serious and covers political and global news, usually keeping away from local matters. Actually, most of the interviewed guests of The Daily Show are given serious interviews, which is often a refreshing break, as most comedy series are too intent on getting laughs to slow down and get serious, even if it is only for about a minute.
4. Monty Python's Flying Circus- This is the quintessential British comedy series, rivaled perhaps only by Benny Hill and Mr. Bean in terms of following. Flying Circus's sense of humor covers most any topic; foreign cultures, current events, sex, religion, politics, and so on. Monty Python humor in general is often an acquired taste, but the sheer randomness of much of this show makes up for any obscure humor by far.
5.Excel Saga - Excel Saga is the ultimate in self-referencing humor. Created by Koshi Rikdo, Excel Saga is a Japanese anime series that parodies a different genre of anime in every episode while still keeping to a relatively coherent plot. Exaggerated hairdoes and melodramatic voice acting included. The series runs somewhere between 22 and 26 episodes, and every one is comedic genius. Admittedly, the humor may go over the heads of people who don't watch enough anime or get enough pop culture references (both Japanese and otherwise).
6. Futurama - Created by Matt Groening of Simpsons fame, Futurama is a similar sort of show, in a different premise and following a different approach. The most noticeable difference is in the characters, who are not road-sign-yellow. Arguably better than The Simpsons, depending upon who you ask, Futurama is a sci-fi comedy set in the distant future. Obviously, this means it references a ton of science fiction films and series, including Soylent Green, Planet of the Apes, Star Trek, 2001, and Star Wars. And that's just the sci-fi references. Futurama is also loaded with video game, Hollywood, and political references from the current and previous generations.
7. The Venture Bros. - Often a little disturbing, The Venture Bros. offers a glimpse into the lives of the family of a mad scientist and their arch nemeses. Venture Bros. has a lot of comic book humor as well as references to older mystery, horror, and action films, not to mention cartoons like Scooby Doo. The humor is generally very good, and while it is aimed at a rather small scope of people, almost anyone can enjoy it whether they get the references or not.
8. Animaniacs - Warner Bros. had a huge hit with the Animaniacs in the mid-90s. Perhaps one of the most memorable cartoon shows out of the decade, this show brought in a lot of adult viewers as well as younger children, for its accessible-to-all-ages humor. There's a lot of slapstick humor and silly jokes children will love, but the shorts also touch on a lot of adult themes as well, like menopause, politics, and marriage.
9. Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe - I'll admit that Dirty Jobs isn't inherently a comedy series, but Mike Rowe's smart remarks and often falling over or getting dirty in a comical fashion were enough to merit mention on this list. The show itself is actually fairly informative otherwise, and it offers a lot of insight into some of the jobs you wouldn't imagine people would even do in our society.
10. Johnny Bravo - Who could forget the mycoginistic, dense Elvis impersonator of the same name as the series he starred in? Johnny Bravo is hysterical, and one of the silliest overall shows on Cartoon Network. The show was actually a lot smarter than it seemed, packing in literature references to short stories like "The Most Dangerous Game" as well as American pop culture (Star Trek, Addams Family, King Kong, noir detective films).
Honorable Mention:
Monk
South Park
Family Guy
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Metalocalypse
Rocko's Modern Life
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