By Anton Dedvukaj
One hobby that my sister and I have taken up is to watch some old sitcoms from the 1990s and 2000s. We’ve been doing this for a good amount of time now and have watched four such shows.
While I initially watched these shows just for something to watch, I’ve begun to wonder how well these shows have held up in 2022, and whether or not they are still worth the watch. I’ll be reviewing these four shows in a quick retro-review style format, giving my opinion on the shows and whether or not they still hold up today.
The Office
Anyone who knows me knows that this show is my favorite show of all time. I originally started watching this show in 2018 back when a friend recommended it to me, and I loved it. Revisiting it, I’d argue it still holds up remarkably well. This show absolutely nailed the mockumentary style of comedy, and there are plenty of standout episodes that are joys to watch every single time. Among my favorite episodes are “The Injury”, “Stress Relief”, “Niagara”, and “Initiation”.
The characters and actors also play a huge role in why I love this show so much. Sure, I’m absolutely not a fan of Michael in Season 1, but from the second season onwards he became a real favorite of mine, despite the fact that he realistically should have been fired before he became manager. Dwight and Stanley remain my favorite characters, however, as they are always good to rely on for a laugh.
That being said, there are definitely some problems with the show. Season 1 is clearly trying to emulate the original U.K. version of the show of which I am not a fan. There are good episodes in it, but I’d argue that the show didn’t find its true identity until Season 2. Similarly, I think that seasons 8 and 9 were both rather unnecessary. While the final two episodes are both fantastic, the show really did not need to go on after Steve Carell left the cast. These are still good seasons, but they are pale in comparison to the previous six.
While this show does have some jokes that would get the show canceled pretty quickly today, and it did go on for a little bit too long, I’d still argue that this really is a great show that is deserving of all the accolades it’s received and is still well worth the watch.
Friends
This one was recommended to me by my mom, who is a massive fan, and it’s also my sister’s favorite of these shows. Even if I don’t love it as much as they do, I still find it to be a good show. The dynamic between the six main characters is often very entertaining, and there’s plenty of great moments to be seen throughout the show.
I personally think that Joey and Chandler carry the show, however. They are by far the funniest characters and the storylines involving them are generally the most enjoyable. Thankfully, while some characters are generally more entertaining than others, everyone does get their time to shine and I can point to at least one episode for each of them where they are the best part.
Now, the negatives. Like with The Office, there are plenty of jokes that would not fly in today’s society. In particular, the remarks Ross makes towards his lesbian ex-wife and the jokes that Chandler and his mother make towards his biological father, who is implied to be transgender, do not hold up at all.
Also, there are some storylines that were just plain not fun to watch. I’ve never been a fan of the “will-they-won’t-they” relationship dynamic, especially if it lasts the entire show, so Ross and Rachel did not exactly keep me on the edge of my seat. That ending was one I saw coming from a mile away. Also, storylines such as Ross’ post-divorce sabbatical and Joey and Rachel’s infatuations with each other felt uncomfortable to watch, even if there were funny moments within them.
Ultimately, this show is definitely good. The actors did good jobs with their characters, and there are loads of great episodes throughout all ten seasons. While there are plenty of uncomfortable moments that I am not a fan of, this is still a pretty good watch all the same.
The Big Bang Theory
Coming in at twelve seasons, this is easily the longest of the old sitcoms we’ve been watching. I decided to watch it after seeing some clips of the show and finding them funny. After watching the whole series, I can say that I do enjoy this show, but it is also not without its faults.
First, the positives. This show definitely has a good amount of funny moments that are enough to keep you entertained for a good bit. In particular, Sheldon’s complete innocuousness in most social situations makes for some good comedy. Also, it was cool to see a show where there are a few prominent female characters pursuing STEM subjects, with one even being a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize at the end of the series.
However, there are still a good amount of negatives. For one thing, you have the sheer amount of stereotypes that are played up for laughs. All four main male characters display typical nerd-culture traits, with Raj even being written in a way that made him physically unable to speak to women unless he was intoxicated. Other stereotypes included Penny starting off as a dumb blonde, even if her character was well-developed as the series progressed, and Howard and Raj being played for a lot of Jewish and Indian stereotypes respectively.
Also, certain personality traits which are perfectly normal were portrayed as otherwise which, while occasionally funny, made me a bit uncomfortable. For example, Raj is shown to display many traditionally feminine traits, which Howard rips him to shreds for. Also, Sheldon is heavily implied to be asexual, but is still pressured by his friends to get more intimate with his girlfriend, as if said asexuality implies that something is wrong with him.
In summation, I did think that this show definitely had its moments. Certain storylines, such as the three major relationships in the show, were well-developed, and the guest appearances from people such as Stephen Hawking and Bill Nye the Science Guy were very entertaining. At the same time, the show does have a lot of more problematic running jokes that could make some people uncomfortable. If you can get past those, however, I’d say give this show a shot.
How I Met Your Mother
I’m still in the midst of watching this show, as I’ve just started season eight out of nine, so take my opinion on this one with a grain of salt. However, I also think that this show is very entertaining.
The one thing that I was told about prior to watching this show was that Neil Patrick Harris steals the show, and yeah, Barney is easily the highlight of the show for me. His humor lands the most consistently and the most of the iconic running jokes on the show tend to come from him.
That’s not to say that the other characters don’t have their moments too, however. Ted’s constant attempts to find love usually cause him to fall flat on his face, Marshall’s perpetual innocence usually makes for some good jokes, and both Lily and Robin continually try to make it as a painter and reporter respectively, usually to little avail.
I also like how the different characters began to develop as the series progressed, with Marshall and Lily slowly adjusting to married life and Barney slowly turning away from his old womanizing ways as time went on. Sure, there are some more static characters – namely Ted and Robin – but they themselves weren’t really characters that needed to change all that much.
Then, there’s the negatives. Technically speaking, let’s not act like most of these characters would be particularly great people in real life. Barney’s a misogynistic womanizer for most of the show, both Ted and Robin are known cheaters, and Lily is known to aggressively meddle in people’s personal lives. Sure, these things all make for hilarious content, interesting storylines, or both, but this is something that I could see rubbing some people the wrong way.
Ultimately, though, this show, at least in its first seven seasons, is pretty solid. I’ve heard plenty about how the ending of the show is apparently horrible and one of the worst major sitcom endings in recent memory, but I haven’t seen that ending or the last season and a half of the show. Based on what I have seen, though, I’d say this show holds up just fine.
All in all, despite the fact that all of these shows have some blatant flaws and certain aspects that did not age all that well in hindsight, I would say that all of these shows held up to some degree.
