Is ‘Seinfeld’ The Greatest Sitcom Ever?

Let’s set aside that this 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll should be discounted completely because I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show weren’t offered up as choices.  But among TV shows that were, Seinfeld edged The Honeymooners as the greatest sitcom of all time in the just-released survey conducted by the CBS News Election and Survey Unit. It’s linked to Vanity Fair’s January comedy issue, guest-edited by Judd Apatow (Note: The poll question “Who is Judd Apatow?” drew a blank from all but 14% of responders, with all others either guessing wrong or saying they didn’t know — sorry Judd.) NBC’s Seinfeld, created by Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, was the funniest show for 22% of Americans and CBS’ Honeymooners was No. 2 with 20%. NBC’s Friends and Cheers follow with 16% and 14%, respectively. Arrested Development, whose devoted following will see their favorite sitcom resurrected with 10 new episodes on Netflix sometime next year, was the funniest show for 7%, while 6% said Mary Tyler Moore was funniest and 5% preferred 30 Rock.