The Most Unwatchable Sitcoms of All-Time

Most people have their comfort rewatch. For me, it’s Veep until the third episode of Season Seven. After that, the show stops existing in my mind. For others it’s Friends or Seinfeld. But depending on what you find comforting or what ending you absolutely hate, there are some shows that can never be streamed again, no matter how iconic or beloved. 

How I Met Your Mother is often considered to have the worst sitcom finale of all time, at least according to Reddit. “I thought it would be a show I’d rewatch; like a comfort show that you can watch an episode anytime,” a Redditor wrote back in July. “Nope — ending was so awful that I have never and will never watch an episode again.”

But in a new post in the r/Sitcoms subreddit, the shows that are least rewatchable don’t as closely line up with the shows that are considered to have the worst conclusions of all time. The prompt did name HIMYM though: “For me HIMYM is a hard one to rewatch,” the prompt states. “Every time I try, I give up. I think the overarching story for the entire show kind of ruins it once you know the ending. A lot of the episodes are very reliant on twists and the mystery of who the mom is.”

Here are the shows Redditors say that can’t stomach to watch again, no matter how much they enjoyed the show the first time:

• “I liked That ‘70s Show at the time. Earlier seasons at least. But now, no. I can’t.”
• “I loved Mad About You when it aired. When I saw it was on Prime, I immediately started watching it. I think I made it through 3 episodes before I had to quit. I hated how they ended it but I thought I would still enjoy the early seasons. Nope.”
• “Alf.”
• “I really just think it’s a quality issue. The Good Place has a lot of twists, but I enjoy rewatching because it’s a super solid show. I watched HIMYM when it was airing and enjoyed it alright. I wouldn’t mind an episode here or there, but I couldn’t rewatch the entire series because to me it just isn’t a great show. I don’t mean to yuck anyone else’s yum.”
• “We recently tried rewatching Designing Women and it just didn’t hold up. Lots of cringe moments and overused Southern tropes. On the other hand, Golden Girls is infinitely rewatchable!”
• “Full House was good enough when I was a kid but now? Nope.”
• “I struggle with the childish toxic insecurity, and selfishness of the Ross character on Friends. I fast forward anytime he’s trying to control, and manipulate.
• “Will & Grace….. There are funny episodes. But there’s a lot of things that haven’t aged very well and are super cringey.”
• “Cosby. Just can’t watch it again.”

The problem with some of the listed shows is that the actors who played the characters turned out to be not so great. Yet for many, there’s an HIMYM problem: the ending ruins the rest of the show. For others, the entire premise of the show might just not have aged well. 

My number one can’t rewatch? Friends. It’s simply responsible for too many annoying people.