Sitcoms

The most interesting and enjoyable part of sitcoms is the lengths they go to to make every stand-alone episode accessible to anyone. For me, that starts with the laugh track they're set to. There's just something about laughing along with other people that makes the humor so much easier to digest for the audience (me). If I'm watching TV by myself, I'd rather watch an episode of 2 and a half men than, say, Arrested Development. Which show is funnier? Probably Arrested Development, but I'd have an easier time laughing along with 50 other people at Charlie Sheen having a one night stand with yet another stripper. It's the same reason I love watching comedies in theaters with a big group of people instead of on my laptop in an airplane. Sitcoms make watching feel like being part of a group experience, and that everyone is enjoying the jokes with you. 

Beyond the laugh tracks, there's the perfect mixture of episodic arcs that allow a single episode to stand alone, with little earmarks here and there that develop over time and reward a dedicated audience for keeping up with every episode. Even better, these little developments also give an audience watching a random rerun a sense of place in the overall scope of the show. If I'm watching an Everybody Loves Raymond rerun on TBS, I get everything I could ask for from a TV in 30 minutes. I get to laugh with my laugh track friends at Ray make an ass of himself confronting a 6 year old he thinks is bullying his kid, but in the end reconcile and make up for his mistakes. At the same time, I subtly notice that Robert and Amy are married in this episode, so this must be from one of the later seasons (probably 7). I get a reward for something I didn't even do (keep up with the show regularly).