The days of “Friends” and “Seinfeld” are over. These shows no longer hold the spotlight of prime time sitcoms. We can still watch reruns of “That 70s Show” and “Home Improvement” on other channels, but the situational comedies from ABC, NBC and CBS are new, and there are plenty of them
      Let’s start with NBC’s newest shows:
      Outsourced: “Outsourced” is a sitcom about a company that was outsourced to India. It follows a young manager, Todd Dempsy (played by Ben Rappaport) moving to India and teaching his new Indian employees how to sell American gag gifts. It is definitely a risky show, a little racist at times. But overall, the show is undeniably with the times and funny.
      Community: “Community” is a sitcom about a bunch of misfits banding together to form a study group at a community college. The star of the show, Jeff Winger (played by Joel McHale from “The Soup” on E! Network) forged a college degree, was caught, and enrolls in Greendale Community College. There he meets his new study buddies, including Abed (played by Danny Pudi) and Pierce (played by the hilarious Chevy Chase). Together, the group gets into ridiculous, entertaining situations, such as their Christmas episode where they turn into claymation characters or the episode with the epic paintball war.This show is absurd and playful, a great combination, making it a great sitcom.
      ABC has their list of new comedies as well.
      Cougar Town: “Cougar Town” follows Jules (played by Courtney Cox, known more for her role as Monica from “Friends”), who lives in Florida and hangs out with her neighbors a lot. That’s pretty much the entire show. Even though it doesn’t have much of a premise, the show is great. The sitcom basically feeds off witty jokes, but successfully pulls it off.Courtney Cox isn’t anything like her character from “Friends”, but “Friends” and “Cougar Town” both have the similarity of friends hanging out.
      Modern Family: “Modern Family” is one of the best new sitcoms. In fact, it won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series following its first season. This fresh sitcom about a multi-dimensional family follows the father Jay (Ed O’Neill) and his sassy Columbian wife Gloria and her son Manny. The son of Jay, Mitchell, has a life partner Cam, and they adopt a baby named Lily. Jay also has a daughter, Claire, who is married to Phil, and they have three children. There are quite a few characters, but each one adds their own element to the show. Watch a few episodes of this show and you’ll be hooked.
      The often overlooked network CBS is not without a few gems of its own.
      $#*! My Dad Says: “$#*! My Dad Says” is the sitcom based off of the book/Twitter feed of Justin Halpern of the same name. The plot is simple; Ed (played by William Shatner) says crazy things. Luckily, the show’s producers and writers realized a show can’t run off of having Shatner saying crazy things, so they’ve actually started to develop their characters and the plot. The show is relatively new, and as time goes on it might prove itself to be a great sitcom.
      The Big Bang Theory: OK, “The Big Bang Theory” is in its fourth season, but not nearly enough people watch it. The show is about a group of nerdy scientists joking about physics and the string theory and so on, but the show is a lot of fun for everyone. A crowd favorite, Sheldon, (played by Jim Parsons) is outlandish, unable to understand human emotions for the most part, and matter-of fact. Parsons does a great job portraying such an off-beat character. The on-again-off-again relationship between Leonard and Penny (played by Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco, respectively) keeps the show from being too geeky. This show is absolutely hysterical.
      There you have it, the latest sitcoms from the three biggest networks. If you’re ever flipping channels during prime time and find one of these, give it a try. They all exceed at being entertaining and amusing. If you’re looking for sitcoms that have more seasons under their belt, “The Office,” “30 Rock,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “Rules of Engagement” are recommended.