Cable Network President and Somers Resident Jennifer Caserta's Top Five TV Sitcoms

The Somers cable network president on her favorite sitcoms

Photo by Phil Knott

“Choosing just five favorite sitcoms of all time was like having to choose a favorite child,” says Somers resident Jennifer Caserta, president and general manager of IFC, a cable channel that’s turned heads recently with its own sketch-comedy show, Portlandia. “I began with a list of more than two dozen shows and agonized over which would make the cut. Since I’ve been a TV addict influenced by the power of comedy since my formative years, I reached deep into the vault of shows that have made me laugh through the decades.” Here, the shows that made it past her brutal whittling-down process.

1. I Love Lucy “I watched this show in syndication as a kid, and I laugh just as hard today,” she says. “I introduced it to my six-year-old, and it stood the test of time. If you love Kristen Wiig, revisit Lucille Ball, who is still one of the funniest ladies of all time.”
2. Taxi “An outstanding workplace comedy with Danny DeVito’s ‘Louie De Palma’ at the helm. The episode where Reverend Jim takes his driving test at the DMV is superb comic writing. ‘What does a yellow light mean?’ Fans know it means a fall-out-of-your-chair hilarious episode.”
3. Seinfeld “The show about ‘nothing’ is still relevant today,” she says. “Over a decade later, episodes are still a part of the cultural conversation. Seinfeld goes down in history as one of the comedies that made it cool to be un-PC, making us laugh at taboo topics like disabilities, make-out sessions during Schindler’s List, and nose-picking.”
4. Arrested Development Caserta describes the Bluths at the center of this show as “my kind of family.” The show is “a whole new level of dysfunction brought to the screen by one of the greatest and most unlikely ensemble casts,” she says. “Arrested was cut short way, way, way before its time.”
5. Family Guy “I’m a big fan of ‘cartoons for big kids,’ so thankfully this boundary-pushing animated series was resuscitated by post-mortem success after its initial cancellation. The show’s creator, Seth MacFarlane, is a genius in the way he boldly infuses pop culture, provocative references, and downright potty humor to create content that swoops right over the head of anyone under the age of sixteen.”