Best Sitcoms of all-time - Part 2

The sitcom has always revolved around the family unit, albeit with a set of grotesques often and with added dysfunctionality. The sitcom has been that - the comedy set in the sitting room - of which the Royle Family is the ne plus ultra of the genre - essentially a single set sitcom. It was ever thus from the days of the Ozzie & Harriet Show, All In The Family, Til Death Us Do Part; so it is only fitting to highlight sitcoms set away from the family and in the workplace - in this case the political arena which combines sitcom and satire.

The best political sitcoms were clearly Citizen Smith, in which Robert Lindsay played the anarchic leader of the Tooting Popular Front - a somewhat cuddly bunch; Yes Minister, which saw savage satire on a Conservative administration; and The Thick Of It, which updated the spin of the Yes Minister to a new labour setting with the foul-mouthed grotesque of Malcolm Tucker.

The workplace sitcom substitutes the relationships at work for the family and never better than the lack of control over the family shown by Paul Eddington as the minister.

A clip from each:-

Citizen Smith:-

Yes Minister:-

The Thick Of It:-