Laugh through the tears


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Still from "Community." Donald Glover and Danny Pudi dressed as bees and Chevy Chase dressed as a marijuana leaf on a stage.
Donald Glover and Chevy Chase star in “Community,” an NBC sitcom that followed a friend group of six community college students. (JackySparrow | Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)

Burnout is very real. And, as the true iPad baby I am, my true happiness comes from watching stuff — specifically comedies. I can’t even remember the last time I watched a dramatic show. I’m here for silly little laughs and that’s it. I believe it is my duty to share my curated list of sitcoms and their greatest episodes (so I don’t have to do the whole “I promise it gets better after x amount of seasons” thing) to share the joy with my fellow Trojans who are equally burnt out right now. 

Although I honestly can’t tell you the last time I sat down and watched TV (due to assignments and the fact that I am unable to put down my phone for more than five minutes), here is what I would watch, if I could.

“Taskmaster” – “Melon Buffet” — Season 1, Episode 1

“Taskmaster” is incredible from the very first moment of the very first season. 

One day, I’m going to write an entire article on this show: my absolute favorite show of all time. There are definitely episodes I have watched over 10 times and am willing to watch again. It is my life’s purpose to spread the “Taskmaster” agenda. Each season, or series as they call it in the United Kingdom, involves five of Britain’s top comedians competing in bizarre tasks such as “Make the best music video for a nursery rhyme” and “Make this coconut look like a businessman” to receive points from the almighty Taskmaster. 

You don’t actually need to start with the first season — I personally started with season seven — but series one is one of my all-time favorites for one specific reason: the work of comedian-poet Tim Key. With quick wit and incredible lateral thinking that never leaves a dull moment, Key is my favorite contestant of all time and is sure to make you fall in love with the show.

I could never do “Taskmaster” justice in such a short blurb, but it’s free to watch on YouTube, so there’s no harm in checking it out. Maybe you can even catch up in time to watch Series 14 before it ends on Dec. 1.

“Community” — “Digital Estate Planning” — Season 3, Episode 20

“Community” is the cult classic I’m sure that one friend talks about all the time, as it follows six community college students that become a Spanish study group as they go through all types of wacky adventures. While there may only be three actually good seasons of the six-season show, you will fall in love with the characters enough that you will each sit through the painful seasons. 

With big names such as Donald Glover and Alison Brie (…and Chevy Chase) and its use of different mediums such as claymation, the show stands out among the other workplace-type comedies that plague the screen (although I love those too.) 

“Digital Estate Planning” is one of those episodes that utilizes a different medium — the characters are put inside an 8-bit-style video game as they compete for Pierce’s (Chase) inheritance. For a 20-minute network sitcom, “Community”’s production and creativity is nothing short of showstopping. The game, “Journey to the Center of Hawkthorne,” is surprisingly expansive, giving the characters a whole new world to explore. Plus, Abed’s romantic subplot with the NPC Hilda is the greatest love story of all time. 

“Modern Family” – “Games People Play” – Season 4, Episode 23

“Modern Family” may be one of the most watched ABC sitcoms of all time, but I still feel like it doesn’t get the love it deserves. Lovable characters in quirky situations — what’s not to love? A mockumentary watching the life of three families for over 10 years, the Dunphy-Tucker-Pritchett family begins to feel like part of your own.   

Choosing a favorite episode is a near impossible task, but “Games People Play” is definitely up there for me. In the episode, Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) becomes the obsessive, competitive parent he hates (going so far as to root for a child to fall off a balance beam), Gloria (Sofia Vegara) and Jay (Ed O’Neill) break in and snoop around their children’s houses and the Dunphy family takes an absolutely disastrous RV road trip. 

It’s also my dad’s favorite episode, so shout out to John. He is the reason I have such obsessive TV habits where I’ll just watch the same episode of the same TV show and never get tired of it. I mean, you can’t say I don’t know what I like. 

I hope this list can maybe provide some comfort during the dreary Los Angeles winter days. And if not, well, I have nothing to offer but my love.