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An informal survey of family and friends on which show was the funniest TV comedy of all time, brought unanimous agreement: Seinfeld. That doesn't happen very often in my family, but they are not alone in their opinion. Seinfeld claims the top spot on TV Guide's 2002 list of "50 Greatest Shows of All Time." Entertainment Weekly placed Seinfeld third of the best TV shows of the last 25 years.

While it's true that the show, according to the IMDB website has won 58 awards and 120 nominations, there are several other long-running TV comedies, draped in awards that could vie for this coveted spot, the funniest TV show of all time. So why Seinfeld, hands down?

The funniest TV comedy shows are often centered around a life situation, ritual or relationship: the field hospital in M*A*S*H; life with your too-close-for-comfort family in "Everything About Raymond"; the single woman trying to make a new life as in, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show". All fodder for funny TV comedy.

But Seinfeld is not a situation comedy in this traditional format and therein lies a clue to the show's genius and why it holds the title by so many as the funniest TV comedy show ever. As the now famous line from one of its own episodes, Seinfeld is "a show about nothing." That is, it's more about the mundane minutes in-between the everyday events of life than the events themselves. As Jerry Seinfeld once said in an interview featured on www.ew.com, "it's a show about conversation....a show about being a human being,"

With that deceptively simple formula, Jerry Seinfeld and his co-creator and producer, Larry David, cooked up some complex subplots and twists to illustrate the failings of its ensemble cast of characters. There is no one especially flawed character, no character the audiences love-to-hate. Instead, through the minutiae of everyday life, the audience sees how each character fails, so pathetically, to end the day honorably. Yet, does the viewer snub George or Jerry for their shortcomings? Do we sneer at Kramer because he fails to find life's purpose, or even a job? Or Elaine, because she appears so vain and shallow? No! The show makes no condemnations, and neither, in the end, do we. And again, that is the genius of the show at work and why it should carry the crown as the funniest TV show ever. As the best TV comedy ever, Seinfeld mirrors life, through its witty dialogue and insightful self-examiniation, revealing our faults to ourselves, being careful not to reject itself, or us, for who we are.

Perhaps that is part of the reason why teenagers today, too young to enjoy the show in its first airing, still enjoy it in reruns. According to www.sonypictures.com, Seinfeld still airs in over 200 markets around the U.S., and is especially popular among men and young adults. The show doesn't play favorites; viewers get to frown at the entire cast, every last self-absorbed one of them -and empathize with all of them too. There's a little bit of Jerry and his friends in all of us; and that is why Seinfeld leads the pack as the best TV comedy show ever. Its humanity endures.

By Brent Lang, The Wrap

Does this mean it's curtains for "FlashForward"?

The ABC supernatural drama logged its worst ratings yet on Thursday, but the network's other heavy hitters, "Greys' Anatomy" and "Private Practice," recorded strong numbers against stiff competition from CBS' "Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains" and "The Mentalist."

FLASHFORWARD TO CANCELLATION: ABC dramas performed reasonably well despite being weighed down by "FlashForward." "Grey's Anatomy" was No. 1 in the 9 p.m. timeslot with 10.7 million total viewers and a 3.7/11 in the key 18 to 49 demographic. "Private Practice" drew 8.3 million viewers and a 2.8/8 demo score. "FlashForward," though, was down 19 percent from last week, attracting 4.7 million viewers. Among adults 18 to 49, the series drew a 1.3/4.

SORTA MUST SEE TV: Though it beat Fox's "Bones" (2.5/8 demo, 8.88 million viewers) and "Fringe (2.2/6 demo, 5.85 million viewers), NBC's comedy block was dwarfed by ABC's dramas and "Survivor." Holding steady were "Parks & Recreation," with a 1.9/ 6 and 4.1 million viewers overall, and "30 Rock," with a 2.7/7 and 5.6 million total viewers. "Community" (2.0/7) saw a modest 5 percent bump in the key demo and 4.5 million viewers overall. "The Office" (3.5/10, 6.8m) slipped slightly, but managed to tie "Grey's Anatomy" for first place in the demo. At 10 p.m., "The Marriage Ref" (2.2/6) had its highest score in the key demo since April 1 and drew 5 million viewers overall.

PARTY LIKE A CASTAWAY: CBS won Thursday for the eighth consecutive week. "Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains" (4.0/13, 12.8m) was the night's top program in 18-49, while "The Mentalist" was tops in total viewers (3.3/10,14.7m). "CSI" (3.0/9, 14.7m) also won its 9 p.m. hour

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NEW YORK — Having already caused a fuss this spring with the depiction of the prophet Muhammad on "South Park," Comedy Central said it has a cartoon series about Jesus Christ in the works.

"JC" is one of 23 potential series the network said it has in development. It depicts Christ as a "regular guy" who moves to New York to "escape his father's enormous shadow."

His father is presented as an apathetic man who would rather play video games than listen to his son talk about his new life, according to Comedy Central's thumbnail sketch of the idea. Reveille, the production company behind "The Office," "Ugly Betty" and "The Biggest Loser," is making "JC."

It wouldn't be the first time Jesus Christ has been on a Comedy Central cartoon; he's a recurring character on the long-running "South Park."

Comedy Central was the target last month of an Internet threat for a "South Park" episode that supposedly showed Islam's prophet in a bear costume.

Whenever "South Park" features Muhammad in an episode, Comedy Central obscures the character with a black box; Muslims consider any physical representation of their prophet to be blasphemous. Following the Internet threat, Comedy Central angered "South Park" producers by editing out a character's speech about intimidation in a subsequent episode.

"It's not certain what is more despicable: the nonstop Christian bashing featured on the network, or Comedy Central's decision to censor all depictions of Muhammad," said William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, on Thursday.

Comedy Central wouldn't comment on Donohue's statement, said network spokesman Tony Fox, who declined to give further details about "JC."

A development deal is a couple of steps ahead of a series making it to air and, in fact, most such deals don't result in series. The network would have to like the scripts enough to produce a test episode, then like that enough to put it on the air.

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