Obscure Sitcoms You Should Check Out ASAP, According to Reddit
Redditor Infamous-Control-940 was fed up with the same-old, same-old so he posed a question to r/Sitcoms: “Does anyone know some good obscure sitcoms? I’ve seen so many now and just want some fresh ones.”
More than 1,300 replies later (“I was not expecting such a huge response,” the OP admitted), TV comedy fans had compiled a pretty exhaustive list. Here are the entries that earned the most upvotes…
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Police Squad!
After David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker scored a monster win with Airplane!, they chose a television spoof for an encore. Police Squad! starred Leslie Nielsen as Lt. Frank Drebin, spoofing corny police procedurals just as Airplane! did with disaster movies. The network ordered six episodes as a mid-season replacement then decided to cancel it — “for being too funny and requiring viewers to pay attention,” according to Whats-Opera-Doc.
Police Squad! is the only failed TV series to spawn three smash-hit movies (the Naked Gun series). Line for line, it's one of the funniest TV shows ever made. “Please watch this one,” begs tychobrahesmoose. “It is so worth it.”
Get A Life
“I forgot about that show, but I loved it. It was so offbeat and funny,” says Ddowns5454. Offbeat it was. Chris Elliott, fresh off his gonzo bits on David Letterman’s original show, played Chris Peterson, a 30-year-old paperboy who still lived above his parents' garage. Get A Life was anti-comedy before that kind of thing was popular — all you need to know is that Chris dies in 12 different episodes. “Chris Elliott — nothing right about that man,” swoons L3mmyKilmister. “That’s why I LOVE him.”
The Norm Show
This sitcom starring the late Norm Macdonald was an “absolutely incredible show,” according to Forward_Progress_83. Macdonald played Norm Henderson, a hockey player who got a lifetime ban from the NHL thanks to a gambling problem and tax evasion. As part of his community service sentence, Norm agrees to work for five years as a social worker. The show killed in the ratings when it first aired after The Drew Carey Show but schedule changes made The Norm Show too hard for viewers to find. “Loved The Norm Show!” exclaims nhwrestler.
Wellington Paranormal
Wellington Paranormal followed the adventures of police officers O’Leary and Minogue, characters who appeared in the What We Do in the Shadows movie. With a goofy monster-of-the-week premise and creative minds like Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement onboard, it’s puzzling that it never found a wider audience. It’s above 90 percent with both critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Take it from Heidi1066: “Wellington Paranormal is freaking hilarious!”
The League
“I need to rewatch The League,” says Klesea. “It’s so absurd.” The show revolves around a fantasy football league and stars just-about-to-break comic talents like Mark Duplass, Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas.
“If you’re into sports at all, The League is outstanding,” promises HistoricalAd1801.
“I’m not into sports AT ALL, and I still found The League to be absolutely hilarious,” adds tripometer. “Easily one of the funniest shows I’ve ever watched.”
