The Sitcom Study

Major Dad is ambushed with a birthday hoedown, Sheldon purchases his first birthday present, and Dick Van Dyke matches wits in a clandestine party-planning chess game with his wife... This week's trope is Surprise Parties! Here's what we're watching: The Dick Van Dyke Show S2 E30 "A Surprise Surprise is a Surprise" Major Dad S1 E20 "Officer of the Day" Big Bang Theory S1 E16 "The Peanut Butter Reaction" The Middle S7 E13 "Floating 50"

The doctors of MASH get whipped into shape, Dharma and Greg embark on equally inspirational quests, and the Goldbergs triumph in sports that don't exist... This week we're talking about the Olympics in sitcoms with sports professional David Smith! Here's what we're watching: M*A*S*H S6 E11 "The MASH Olympics" Dharma & Greg S1 E17 "The Official Dharma & Greg Episode of the 1998 Winter Olympics" The Goldbergs S3 E16 "Edward 'Eddie the Eagle' Edwards" Superstore S2 E1 "Olympics" This is a good old fashioned RERUN! We'll be back with a new episode next week!  

Bar Wars rage on at Cheers! Halloween Heists strike again at Brooklyn 99! Paintball Armageddon is back with a vengeance at Greendale Community College! This week we're returning to the great Recurring gags and long-standing rivalries of the sitcom world! Here's what we're watching: Cheers S7 E10 "Bar Wars II: The Woodsman Strikes Back" Community S2 E23-24 "A Fistful of Paintballs" & "A Few Paintballs More" How I Met Your Mother S2 E16 "Stuff" Brooklyn Nine-Nine S2 E4 "Halloween II"

Ray Romano makes some questionable game-time decisions, Seinfeld spends some quality time in the stands with Newman, and Al Bundy sells his soul for a shot at playing in the big game... This week's trope is Going to the Superbowl! Here's what we're watching: Seinfeld S6 E12 "The Label Maker" Married with Children S11 E21 "Damn Bundys" The Simpsons S10 E12 "Sunday Cruddy Sunday" Everybody Loves Raymond S5 E13 "Superbowl"

Natalie and Tootie are plunged into bitter showbiz rivalry, Patty Duke dons the tiara of Cleopatra, and Mr. Moore's class goes together like ramma-lamma-lamma-ka-dingity-da-dinga-dong... This week's trope is School Plays! Here's what we're watching... The Patty Duke Show S1 E11 "The Actress" Facts of Life S3 E12 "Green Eyed Monster" Head of the Class S2 E7 "That'll Be The Day" Black-ish S1 E11 "Law of Attraction"

Frasier hits the road for the new millennium, Laverne and Shirley look for love at the dawn of the 1960s, and Paul Reiser brings time to a halt from the rooftops of Times Square... this week's trope is New Year's Eve plans gone wrong! Here's what we're watching: Laverne & Shirley S3 E12 "New Years Eve, 1959" Mad About You S4 E9 "New Years Eve" Frasier S7 E12 "RDWRER" How I Met Your Mother S1 E11 "The Limo"

The Seavers take in a dumpster-diving teen runaway, Zack Morris woos an underprivileged shopping mall employee, and Family Matters postulates that Santa is real and he's a scruffy man in Chicago... This week's trope is befriending the homeless for Christmas! Here's what we're watching: Barney Miller S8 E7 "Homeless" Growing Pains S2 E9 "The Kid" Saved By The Bell S3 E24-25 "Home For Christmas" Family Matters S6 E11 "Miracle on Elm St"

Celebrity guest stars abound as Charles meets Buddy's boozy sister, the Hey Dude ranch is soaked in beer and whiskey, and Alex P. Keaton learns the terrifying truth about his Uncle Ned... This week's trope is visits from alcoholic relatives! Here's what we're watching: Good Times S2 E13 "Sometimes There's No Bottom in the Bottle" Family Ties S2 E14 "Say Uncle" Charles in Charge S3 E14 "Bottle Baby" Hey Dude S3 E11 "Melody's Brother"

Hide your cats, this week we're revisiting all of our discussions of that rascally extraterrestrial Gordon Shumway and the mild-mannered family he lived with and terrorized, as well as testing our knowledge of the merry man from Melmac with a trivia quiz... It's time for the Alf mixtape! With segments from: Puppet-Based Sitcoms: S1 E1 "ALF" Run-ins with the Mafia: S3 E13 "Hideaway" Skydiving: S1 E9 "Jump" Earthquakes: S3 E25 "Shake, Rattle & Roll"

This week we're exploring the many lovably sarcastic characters played by the late great Matthew Perry both before and after his iconic role as Chandler on Friends... Could we BE any more excited to discuss this fascinating career? Here's what we're watching: Home Free S1 E1 "Pilot" Mr Sunshine S1 E1 "Episode #1.1" Go On S1 E1 "Pilot" The Odd Couple S1 E12 "The Audit Couple"

Richie Cunningham bobs for apples in a haunted house, Tim the Toolman Taylor busts up a juvenile bacchanal, and Step by Step boasts a record-setting gourd... This week's trope is Halloween Parties! Here's what we're watching: Happy Days S2 E6 "Haunted" Step by Step S4 E6 "Something Wild" Home Improvement S5 E6 "Let Them Eat Cake" Parks & Rec S4 E5 "Meet and Greet"

Corey and Topanga are stalked by a ghost-faced killer, Community's college goes full zombie, and Salute Your Shorts creates the most terrifying figure in all of recorded media... this week's trope is Horror Movie Parodies! Here's what we're watching: Salute Your Shorts S1 E2 "Ghost Story" Boy Meets World S5 E17 "And Then There Was Shawn" Community S2 E6 "Epidemiology" Blackish S3 E5 "The Purge"

Sanford fleas to Vegas, ALF nails his bed to the floor, and Nell Carter is marooned in a library with a deaf woman... this week's trope is Earthquakes! Here's what we're watching: Sanford & Son S5 E1 "Earthquake II" Gimme a Break S4 E19 "Earthquake" ALF S3 E25 "Shake, Rattle and Roll" Modern Family S2 E3 "Earthquake"

Clarissa Darling and Tina Belcher face pint-sized Lucifers, Mary Tyler Moore scrapes the bottom of the barrel, and the King of Queens gives his friends' kids and unintended lesson in fornication... this week's trope is Babysitting! Here's what we're watching: The Mary Tyler Moore Show S2 E18 "Baby Sitcom" Clarissa Explains it All S4 E12 "Babysitting" King of Queens S3 E9 "Twisted Sitters" Bob's Burgers S8 E4 "Sit Me Baby One More Time"

Tootie learns the facts of automatic transmission, Tia and Tamara light up the parking lot, and Reverend Jim gets his license by any means necessary... This week's trope is Learning to drive! Here's the lineup: Taxi S2 E3 "Reverend Jim: A Space Oddysey" The Facts of Life S7 E14 "Tootie Drives" Sister, Sister S2 E9 "Two For the Road" 8 Simple Rules S1 E4 "Wings" This is a good old fashioned RERUN! We'll be back with a new episode next week!

This one's for the leches, the lotharios, and the ladies men... From sexed up friends and neighbors to local ne'er-do-wells and aging seductresses, we're counting down our most beloved sitcom horndogs!

Roseanne fudges the stats, Sheldon "becomes" the ball, and Jim Belushi communes with the gods of the lanes... this week's trope is Bowling! Here's what we're watching: The Flintstones S2 E24 "Fred Strikes Out" Roseanne S4 E14 "The Bowling Show" According to Jim S1 E8 "The Turkey Bowl" The Big Band Theory S3 E19 "The Wheaton Recurrence"

Larry and Balki hit the jackpot (or so they think), Geoffrey the butler burns his bridges, and Mama puts her fortune in the hands of a celebrity chicken... this week's trope is winning the lottery! Here's what we're watching: Perfect Strangers S4 E1 "The Lottery" Mama's Family S5 E15 "The Big Wheel" Fresh Prince of Bel-Air S3 E14 "Winner Takes Off" Malcolm & Eddie S1 E4 "Partnership of Fools"

From the coffee shop with Jerry and George to the oval office, we're breaking down the career of the most spongeworthy comic actor in town and her four very distinct sitcoms! Here's the lineup: Seinfeld S7 E9 "The Sponge" Watching Ellie S1 E1 "Pilot" New Adventures of Old Christine S1 E1 "Pilot" Veep S1 E1 "Fundraiser" This is a good old fashioned RERUN... We'll be back with a new episode next week!

Fran the Nanny searches for love on the high seas, the Designing Women meet an iconic maritime drag performer, and the gang from It's Always Sunny face the grim possibility of a watery demise... this week's trope is going on a cruise! Here's what we're watching: Designing Women S2 E8 "Cruising" The Nanny S3 E26 "Ship of Fran's" Hot in Cleveland S3 E2 "Beards" It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia S11 E9-10 "The Gang Goes to Hell" Parts 1 & 2