In this video, 'St. Denis Medical' star Wendi McLendon-Covey takes a trip down memory lane, revealing her top 7 sitcoms of all-time. From dreaming of being Fonzie’s fearless girlfriend Pinky Tuscadero on ‘Happy Days’ to revisiting Lisa Kudrow’s relentless comeback on ‘The Comeback,’ Wendi dives into the unforgettable scenes and characters that shaped her. Alongside hilarious anecdotes, she shares personal moments and reflections on where she was in life when these iconic shows were on air. Whether it’s the heartwarming chaos of ‘Good Times’ or the sharp wit of ‘Veep,’ Wendi’s picks are packed with nostalgia, laughs, and a few life lessons.
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00:00How long have you been taking the birth control pills?
00:03What birth control pills?
00:05The pills I found in your dresser drawer.
00:07Sarah, where did you get the pills?
00:09We really haven't come that far, have we?
00:12Where do you think she got the birth control pills?
00:14Are we really doing this?
00:16I'm Wendy McClendon-Covey, and I've curated my top seven sitcoms of all time.
00:27We're just about to do the kiss.
00:29I know it doesn't work. Look.
00:31Arrested Development is a brilliant show that came out on Fox in the early aughts.
00:37It's one of the most perfect pilot episodes I've ever seen of any show
00:43because there are so many characters to introduce
00:46and all their weird backstories, and they do it seamlessly.
00:50It should be studied in universities.
00:52Let's watch a scene now.
00:54Mother, give me your company checkbook. You're cut off.
00:57Michael, look. Look what happened to my fox. Someone cut off his little foot.
01:03Is it noticeable?
01:05You've got to remember, you're going to be all splattered in red paint.
01:07That's going to distract the eye.
01:09I don't want you charging any more of your personal expenses to the company.
01:13Well, I had to pay for the Aztec tomb.
01:15I love Jessica Walters' performances when it comes to her kids
01:19because she clearly has a different relationship with all of them.
01:22I do love the relationship that Lucille has with Buster
01:25because he's clearly the baby and too weak to get himself out from under her.
01:30When you look at this script, there's so many scenes that you think
01:35there's no possible way you could fit this all into 22 minutes,
01:38but you can because of the amazing editing.
01:41It especially sets up all the infighting, which is beautiful.
01:45And, of course, this family does not get along.
01:48And you absolutely understand the amount of insanity from the jump.
01:55Michael, say the blessing.
01:57Thank you, God, for the grits we are about to receive.
02:00Good Times was a show about a family, the Evans family, that lived in the projects.
02:05And at one point, a little girl came to live next door with her mother named Penny,
02:12played by Janet Jackson.
02:13It turns out Penny was being abused.
02:16And this really upset me.
02:18A lot of their storylines were grounded in the truth.
02:21And this was my first exposure to what child abuse was.
02:25And I thought that being burned by an iron was all that child abuse was.
02:31Do you know what happens to children that make their mamas unhappy?
02:40I locked it.
02:41I knew that would be the first place you tried to hide.
02:44Unlock it, Penny!
02:46Please, Mama, I promise I won't be a bad girl anymore.
02:50Please, I won't be a bad girl anymore.
02:53Please, I promise.
02:55Please.
02:56Oh, no, Mama, please!
02:59This actually gave me nightmares.
03:02At the time I was watching this, I was about the same age as the character of Penny.
03:07And to see her eyes well up with tears like that.
03:10And I had also seen Janet on the Carol Burnett show with her brothers.
03:16And it was such a weird juxtaposition, like her singing and dancing and being so great on Carol Burnett.
03:22And then watching this, it just blew me away.
03:24I clearly wanted to be best friends with Janet Jackson.
03:27I'm still waiting for that to happen.
03:33Cheers was a sitcom that has never been off the air.
03:37It's been in reruns forever.
03:39It started out in the early 80s and it took place in a bar in Boston.
03:46And all the fun people that frequent that bar.
03:49Like the theme song says, it's a place where everybody knows your name.
03:53My favorite moment from Cheers has to do with Frasier and his then-wife Lilith having a party for their two-year-old in the bar.
04:04In the bar, like you do, the performer for this event is Nanny G.
04:10And Nanny G is a fun children's performer.
04:12She's all rainbows and sparkles and everything, but she's also Frasier's ex-wife.
04:17Nanny G is hilarious.
04:19I can see why the kids love her, but she is being not so subtle about trying to, you know, make a play for Frasier.
04:30When you're feeling clammy, just look up and laugh the loss.
04:33Hot, hot, hot, hot.
04:35I've never seen her before.
04:37And nothing you can do will turn that up.
04:39Oh my God, I know who she is.
04:41That's Nanette Goosman.
04:43Who?
04:44My first wife.
04:45I thought I was your first wife.
04:47Daddies, you all stand up and clap with me, okay?
04:52And this was my first introduction to Emma Thompson and clearly she's a genius.
05:00She can do anything.
05:01When you are given such a gift like this role was for Emma Thompson, like this was a character that was meant to be played big and that's what she did.
05:10Exhausted the premise and made it something memorable and also heartwarming and that's something that Cheers always did really well.
05:18I do feel like a movie tonight.
05:21You know, I've been in the mood for a movie all day long.
05:24Mmm.
05:25What kind of movie shall we see?
05:27Something short.
05:29Oh.
05:35Watching these terrible pickup lines, that's how I remember the eighties.
05:39Rhea Perlman, Shelley Long and Kirstie Alley did not get enough flowers for being on this show.
05:45They were so funny and the way it was written, they always went head to head with the boys, humor wise.
05:52And they always delivered.
05:53Too Close for Comfort was a sitcom that came on in the eighties.
06:01It took place in San Francisco with Ted Knight playing a cartoonist and his two gorgeous daughters and gorgeous wife.
06:09And they all lived in the same apartment building and mayhem ensued.
06:14In the episode I picked for Too Close for Comfort, Sarah's parents found her birth control pills and for some reason this became the entire family's problem.
06:22And I thought that was so weird.
06:24Why is everybody weighing in on this? Isn't that her personal business?
06:27She's old enough to live in her own apartment.
06:29Get out of her birth control pills.
06:31How long have you been taking the birth control pills?
06:34What birth control pills?
06:35The pills I found in your dressy drawer.
06:37Sarah, where did you get the pills?
06:39Oh, from Wanda. They're hers.
06:42Wanda?
06:43We really haven't come that far, have we?
06:47Where do you think she got the birth control pills?
06:49That's all doctors give girls.
06:51Oh, you've got acne? Here's some birth control pills.
06:54Your leg is broken? Here's some birth control pills.
06:57I mean, birth control pills are still kind of the answer to literally everything in women's health.
07:02Whenever your parents go through your room and find your contraband, that's always, you know, a good recipe for comedy, but it's humiliating for the person.
07:10Like, I don't know where, I don't know where you would get them.
07:13Are we really doing this? He found them in your room.
07:16Don't act like you don't know how they got there.
07:18Four sexy singles living in a condo.
07:20Are you in the, uh, what, t-shirt contest scene, Vince?
07:23No, we're your roommates.
07:24Wow.
07:25The Comeback was a brilliant little show that came out in the early aughts, and it stars Lisa Kudrow.
07:34It was about a woman who had had a lot of success on one TV show back in the 90s, and now she's trying to make her comeback with another TV show.
07:44The comeback is great because we all see parts of ourselves in Valerie Cherish because she's so insecure, and we see that with every little smirk to the camera.
07:56We see how uncomfortable she is, and it just makes us love her more.
07:59So I chose the episode where they go, they try to have a nice, fun, relaxing weekend in Palm Springs, but Palm Springs is very much an industry town.
08:09So she does not have a good time.
08:12I'm sorry.
08:13Hi.
08:14I'm wondering, are all these chairs taken?
08:16Yeah, my boyfriend and my friends.
08:18Uh-huh.
08:19So you're saving one, two, three, four, five chairs then?
08:23Sorry.
08:24We got up real early to get these chairs.
08:26Yeah.
08:27What is all this?
08:28Oh, right.
08:29We're filming a reality show.
08:30They actually wanted to get a shot of me, we were hoping to, on one of these pool chairs, you know, just outside my room.
08:36That's my room right there.
08:37Just right, see, directly behind.
08:39It's a straight line.
08:40Can't miss it.
08:41Yeah, that's my room next to yours.
08:43Oh, is it?
08:44She so clearly wants to tell this girl where to go, but she can't because the cameras are on her.
08:50Again, this is why I don't go to Palm Springs.
08:52I'm not sure what a fake car would be.
08:57Veep is a brilliant show that came out on HBO 2013-ish, 2012-ish, but it stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who is one of my personal faves.
09:09I bow down to her.
09:11I just love the underlying thing, which is she's trying to throw Danny Chung, her opponent, under the bus.
09:18Madam Vice President, why don't you name a website suitable for work, please?
09:25Okay, Smarch, show me the Clovis homepage.
09:30You know what, guys, I have to address this.
09:37This Danny Chung torture story, I know Governor Chung very well, and I can tell you that these allegations are utterly unfounded.
09:48Utterly unfounded.
09:49If you are telling me that Danny Chung condones torture, I am telling you that those allegations are false.
09:57I love the cutthroat way she's using that word cloud.
10:01She knows exactly what she's doing, which means all these words are going to start trending, and she's acting like she's innocent, and that is kind of the overarching theme of Veep.
10:13Come out here looking for a loud mouth named Dooley. I see three guys here playing toughy.
10:18Happy Days was a sitcom that came out in the 70s and gave a very unrealistic view of life in the 50s.
10:26My favorite moment from Happy Days took place in season four when Fonzie's girlfriend came to town.
10:32Her name was Pinky Tuscadero, and oh god, I wanted to be Pinky Tuscadero so badly that it made me sob.
10:40I'm a second grader sobbing in my room because my parents won't buy me a pink motorcycle and pink motorcycle boots and a silver jumpsuit.
10:48I don't think I was asking for too much.
10:50Oh, you know, look at that.
10:53Of course, this goes on for way too long.
11:02Yes, another wheelie. We get it, Pinky.
11:04Okay, less motorcycle jumping, more making out. There we go.
11:10Look at that.
11:11Who didn't want to be that girl and riding a motorcycle?
11:14Happy Days was, was like an affectionate look at, you know, decades past that couldn't possibly be real,
11:22but we don't need them to be because it's just a fun TV show.
11:25I'm Wendy McClendon Cubby, and these are my top seven sitcoms of all time.
11:29We'll see you in the next one.
11:30Bye.
11:31Bye.
11:32Bye.
11:33Bye.
11:34Bye.
11:35Bye.
11:36Bye.
11:37Bye.
11:38Bye.