'Frasier' Should Be Better Than This

This statement won't exactly shatter the walls of television criticism, but it bears repeating: For a sitcom to demand your attention week after week after week, dozens of times over, the characters need to be people you actually want to spend time with. What's the line you can draw between Elaine Benes, Leslie Knope, Carlton Banks, Homer Simpson, Chandler Bing, Carl Winslow, and Janine Teagues? Yes, they brought you joy, frustration, laughs, and surprises over countless dinners, lazy Sundays, weeknight chores, and the waning minutes of your night—but they were people that you happily chose to spend 23 minutes with. And no matter what they did over those 23 minutes, you'd pick them again the next week.