The cast on American sitcoms change from show to show, but the basic outline remains – put a group of characters in a situation and watch what happens.

We saw it with six New Yorkers on “Friends.” We followed an eccentric bunch of coworkers on “The Office.” We’re still watching it unfold in “Paddy’s Pub” with the cast of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” 

Sitcoms stand for “situational comedies,” or series that involve a continuing cast in various comedic circumstances. Here’s a look back at some that made history.

What was the first sitcom?

The first American sitcom was “Mary Kay and Johnny,” which debuted in 1947. 

Starring real-life couple Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns as “strait-laced bank employee Johnny” and “his zany wife,” the show featured the adventures of the young married couple in New York City. The Stearns also co-wrote the show. It originally ran on the DuMont Network but moved over to NBC and CBS before ending in 1950.

“Mary Kay and Johnny” saw the characters in comedic dramatizations of incidents that happened to them as a couple. It was also the first TV show to portray pregnancy and a married couple sharing a bed.

“We got a tremendous amount of mail,” Stearns told the LA Times in 2001, “because people had never seen a husband and wife in real life doing skits that were based on what really happened in our marriage.”

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the BBC’s “Pinwright’s Progress” was the first television sitcom on an international scale. The British comedy featured James Hayter as J Pinwright, a “pompous, deluded shopkeeper.” “Pinwright’s Progress” ran from 1946-1947.

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What was the first sitcom on the radio?

The first radio sitcom was “Sam ’n’ Henry,” which was renamed to the more widely known “Amos ’n’ Andy.” Pioneered by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, who wrote and performed in the show, “Amos ’n’ Andy” was rooted firmly in 19th-century Blackface minstrelsy as the two white performers played Black men from the rural south living in the city.

The show’s 4,500 episodes from 1926 into the ‘50s were hugely popular and established Gosden and Correll as the first “coast-to-coast sitcom stars.” Airing during the Great Depression, Americans flocked to radio sitcoms as a form of escapism but also to make sense of national issues, “A Companion to the History of American Broadcasting” explains.

What is the longest-running sitcom?

The title of the longest-running sitcom goes to the Brits once again. BBC’s “Last of The Summer Wine” ran for 37 years and 31 seasons from 1973-2010. Comedy writer Roy Clarke’s series followed three Yorkshire seniors reminiscing on their youth and scheming adventures.

The longest-running American sitcom is The Simpsons. That’s right – we’ve been following the misadventures of Homer and his family for 34 years. The series is currently on its 35th season.

The longest-running live-action American sitcom is “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” which broke the record in 2021 with its 15th season. The comedy, which follows the five owners of the unsuccessful Paddy’s Pub in South Philly wrapped up its most recent season in July and will return for a 17th season. 

Here are the top 10 longest-running sitcoms based on the number of seasons they’ve released:

1. The Simpsons: 35 seasons
2. South Park: 26 seasons
3. Family Guy: 22 seasons
4. American Dad!: 18 seasons
5. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: 16 seasons
6. Bob’s Burgers: 14 seasons
7. The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet: 14 seasons
8. King of the Hill: 13 seasons
9. The Big Bang Theory: 12 seasons
10. Two and a Half Men: 12 seasons

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