for all intents and purposes, sitcoms have been around since the advent of television. it's an ancient medium that has always been geared to hit as many target demographics as possible, and as such, been consistently watered down so as to not offend the delicate sensibilities of john q. public while still getting them to chuckle at broad jokes stemming from the premise of "men are from mars and women are from venus, and their in-laws are crazy."
the long ago canceled hbo series lucky louie, created by and starring comedian louis ck, takes all the stereotypical tropes of the modern sitcom (predictable plot lines, dirt-cheap sets, an emasculated husband, the loving wife who puts up with him, their precocious kid, more wacky neighbors/coworkers/family members than are probably necessary, all filmed before a live studio audience) and tries to bend them to its will. that the show was on hbo allowed for some subversive humor that turns genre expectations on their head, while never straying very far from the basic frame of any given episode of say, everybody loves raymond or king of queens. for instance, there are a lot of penises in this show, as well as an ample amount of explicit sex talk and general profanity. oftentimes this subversion works well, sometimes making scenarios much more relatable than their network tv counterparts, and other times it seems a little overindulgent. generally, the times it works make up for the times it doesn't. i'm not sure if i would call this a forgotten gem per se, but it's definitely a worthy footnote for having approached the sitcom genre from a truly unique angle.
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