In a perfect world, these sitcoms would live forever, running on endlessly like a favorite food you never get tired of. Unfortunately, all good stories must come to an end, no matter how much audiences wish otherwise. Still, in a purely hypothetical situation, some shows feel like they could keep going without ever losing their charm.
Whether it’s the camaraderie of the characters, the timelessness of the plots, or the bingeability of these shows, these sitcoms have become comfort watches that anyone could pick up on. With a staying power that’s hard to ignore, these shows have worked their way up to the audience’s hearts over time. Despite the changes, they still feel like a house that’s worth returning to. Without further ado, here are great sitcoms that have earned the right to run forever.
5
‘King of the Hill’ (1997–2009, 2025–Present)
Hank, Boomhauer, Bill, and Dale in the alley, drinking beers in King of the Hill.Image via Hulu
Set in the fictional town of Arlen, Texas, King of the Hill is a hilarious animated sitcom that follows the titular Hills and their neighbors’ lives. Hank Hill, a propane salesman, deals with the mundane day-to-day problems, from raising the sweet but unpredictable Bobby to keeping his wife Peggy happy.
King of the Hill is deserving of an open-ended run because of its relatable comedy that finds endless ways to comment on ordinary suburban life and routines. It relies on universal family dynamics and gentle social observation, both of which are timeless subjects. This enduring power is proven by its recent revival, which showcased King of the Hill‘s surprising staying power.
4
‘The Simpsons’ (1989–Present)
Homer (Dan Castellaneta) has his feet up on the safety console while eating birthday cake in The Simpsons.Image via Fox
Animated sitcoms wouldn’t be where they are today without The Simpsons. The iconic family has become an American staple, representing suburban life in all its chaos and charm. But not all real-life suburbs are as fun and wacky as what the Simpsons go through. Whether it’s taking over Springfield Elementary or going up against a conniving mayor, The Simpsons proves that the suburbs can be just as interesting as any major city, and it all starts with the family at the center of it all.
The show also has a knack for social commentary. Despite its lighthearted premises, it often slips in observations about real-life issues into its storylines. It’s even reached the point where The Simpsons is known for its predictions. If the show were to go on forever, it would be fun to see how The Simpsons continues playing with that idea, keeping their episodes fresh and relevant as it bases itself on current events.
Collider Exclusive · TV Medicine Quiz Which Fictional Hospital Would You Work Best In? The Pitt · ER · Grey’s Anatomy · House · Scrubs
Five hospitals. Five completely different ways medicine goes sideways on television — brutal, chaotic, romantic, brilliant, and ridiculous. Only one of them is the ward your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out exactly where you belong.
🚨The Pitt
🏥ER
💉Grey’s
🔬House
🩺Scrubs
01
A critical patient comes through the door. What’s your first instinct? Medicine under pressure reveals who you actually are.
02
Why did you go into medicine in the first place? The honest answer says more about you than the one you’d give in an interview.
03
What do you actually want from the people you work with? Who you want beside you under pressure is who you are.
04
You lose a patient you fought hard to save. How do you carry it? Every doctor who’s worked a long shift has had to answer this question.
05
How would your colleagues describe the way you work? Your reputation on the floor is usually more accurate than your self-image.
06
How do you feel about hospital protocol and procedure? Every institution has rules. What you do with them is a choice.
07
What does this job cost you personally? Nobody works in medicine without paying a price. What’s yours?
08
At the end of a long shift, what keeps you coming back? The answer to this question is the most honest thing about you.
Your Assignment Has Been Made You Belong In…
Your answers have pointed to one fictional hospital above all others. This is the ward your instincts, your temperament, and your particular brand of dysfunction were built for.
Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center
The Pitt
You are built for the most unsparing version of emergency medicine television has ever shown — one that puts you inside a single fifteen-hour shift and doesn’t let you look away.
You need your work to be real, not romanticised — meaning over drama, honesty over aesthetics.
You find purpose inside the work itself, not in the chaos surrounding it.
You’ve made peace with the fact that this job takes from you constantly, and gives back in ways that are harder to name.
Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center demands exactly that kind of person — and you would not want to be anywhere else.
County General Hospital, Chicago
ER
You are the person who keeps the whole floor running — not the most brilliant in the room, but possibly the most essential.
You show up, do the work, absorb the losses, and come back the next day without needing the job to be anything other than what it is.
You care about patients as individual human beings, not as cases to solve or dramas to live through.
You believe in the system even when it fails you — and you understand that emergency medicine is about holding the line just long enough.
ER is television about endurance. You have it.
Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, Seattle
Grey’s Anatomy
You came to medicine with your whole self — your ambition, your emotions, your relationships, your history — and you have never quite managed to leave any of it at the door.
You feel things fully and form deep attachments to the people you work with.
Your personal and professional lives are permanently, chaotically entangled — and that entanglement drives both your greatest disasters and your most remarkable saves.
You understand that extraordinary medicine often happens at the intersection of clinical skill and profound human connection.
It’s messy at Grey Sloan. You would not have it any other way.
Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, NJ
House
You are drawn to the problem above everything else — the symptom that doesn’t fit, the diagnosis hiding underneath the obvious one.
You’re not primarily motivated by the patient as a person — though you are capable of caring, even if you’d deny it.
You work best when the stakes are highest and the standard answer is wrong.
Princeton-Plainsboro exists to house one extraordinary, impossible mind — and everyone around that mind is there because they’re smart enough to keep up.
The only way forward here is to think harder than everyone else in the room. That is exactly what you do.
Sacred Heart Hospital, California
Scrubs
You understand that medicine is tragic and absurd in almost equal measure — and that the only sane response is to hold both of those things at the same time.
You are warm, self-aware, and funnier than most people in your field.
You use humour to get through terrible moments — and at Sacred Heart, that’s not a flaw, it’s a survival strategy.
You lean on the people around you and let them lean back. The laughter and the grief are genuinely inseparable here.
Scrubs is a show about learning to become someone worthy of the job. You are still very much in the middle of that process — which is exactly right.
3
‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ (2005–Present)
WhenIt’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia first came out, it quickly established itself as a show full of ists: racist, sexist, ableist, and more. Simply put, it’s one of the most unapologetically offensive sitcoms to ever air on television. But it was also a product of its time. In an era where sitcoms were expected to live up to the Friendsarchetype, IASIP subverts that formula with an ensemble that thrives on brutally mocking each other daily. The camaraderie comes from their shared chaos — schemes to save Paddy’s Pub or fuel their own (often illegal) ambitions — which almost always end in them sabotaging one another.
Now, as the show heads into its 18th season, it’s clear IASIP was built for longevity. The jokes may not be as overtly offensive as before — and that’s a good thing — but the real chemistry has always come from the Paddy’s gang themselves. It’s a strange kind of comfort zone for anyone who enjoys something completely unhinged, and if it keeps going, it’ll be interesting to see how they maintain that same level of chaos as they grow older.
2
‘Bob’s Burgers’ (2011–Present)
The Belcher family in ‘Bob’s Burgers’ “An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal”Image via FOX
People can’t get enough of Ocean Avenue’s best burger joint. Bob’s Burgers is the ultimate working-class animated sitcom. Husband and father Bob Belcher (H. Jon Benjamin) is obsessed with running his burger business — not because he wants to be the best chef in the world (though he is an excellent cook), but because he needs to support his family. Despite their humble setup — living right above their eatery — the Belchers are full of life and joy, always finding ways to bring that spark into the mundane.
Throughout the series, Bob’s Burger Shop has undergone numerous closures and reopenings. Whether it’s a fire, an insect infestation, or even a massive sinkhole right in front of the restaurant, it just can’t seem to stay down. That longevity is also a symbol of the Belchers’ perseverance. Across its many seasons and counting, Bob’s Burgers could easily run forever, especially as the Belchers continue to grow and mature — as they’ve already started to in recent seasons. But it would also be great to see the gang learn to embrace family even more, especially when business gets in the way.
1
‘Ted Lasso’ (2020–Present)
Image via Apple TV
Football season is back — and not the American kind. Across the Atlantic, football, or soccer as the States would call it, is alive and well, and it’s all because of Ted Lasso. Thanks to Coach Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis), AFC Richmond slowly transforms into a well-oiled machine, even if they still miss a few goals here and there. The journey, of course, hasn’t been smooth. For one, the English aren’t exactly thrilled about having an American lead a sport their country practically treats as religion — and honestly, that skepticism is understandable.
Although Ted has already achieved much of what he originally envisioned for AFC Richmond, his story still feels far from over. The show also follows him through personal setbacks, many of which he only begins to confront as the series progresses. With a new season on the way, it’s clear Ted’s coaching career isn’t done yet. Yesterday it was the men’s team, today it’s the women’s club, and tomorrow? Maybe a junior team, where teenagers can humble adults like no one else. The possibilities are endless.
