Evolution of... Sitcoms

This is another post in which I break down the War of 18-49's Final Battlegrounds post by genre. On this one, we look at half-hour scripted programs. Two and a Half Men's been on top for awhile (though it was actually topped by projected summer 2011 War of 18-49 entry The Big Bang Theory in the biggest sitcom race for 2009-10). This post actually inspired me to do a re-post of the entire Final Battlegrounds with the stuff color-coded by genre, because I think the sitcom genre as a whole has been pretty steady for several years, and that makes them look much better than some of the dramas that have come crashing down. That's coming up later today.

SITCOMS

1999-2000
The Simpsons 6.3/7.7/9.2

2000-01
The Simpsons 6.9/7.9/9.8

2001-02
Scrubs 5.4/6.1/8.3
The Simpsons 4.2/6.1/7.5
According to Jim 3.2/4.7/5.8 

2002-03
Scrubs 5.4/8.1/10.9
The Simpsons 4.6/6.6/10.3
According to Jim 3.0/4.50/6.1 

2003-04
Two and a Half Men 4.8/5.6/6.6
Scrubs 3.4/5.5/8.3
The Simpsons 3.2/5.1/7.8
According to Jim 3.3/4.5/6.0 

2004-05
Two and a Half Men 4.6/5.9/8.1
The Simpsons 3.4/4.5/5.6
Family Guy (some in summer) 3.0/4.1/5.8
According to Jim 3.0/3.8/4.9 
American Dad! 3.0/3.7/4.7
Scrubs 2.4/3.3/4.3
The Office 2.3/2.95/5.0

2005-06
Two and a Half Men 3.8/5.15/5.9
My Name is Earl 4.0/5.13/6.6 
The Simpsons 3.5/4.6/5.6
Family Guy 3.8/4.3/4.8
The Office 3.6/4.15/5.1
Old Christine 2.4/3.9/5.1
American Dad! 3.1/3.7/4.1
How I Met Your Mother 3.0/3.7/4.4
Scrubs 2.6/3.11/4.0
According to Jim 1.9/2.6/3.2 

2006-07
Two and a Half Men 3.6/4.78/5.8
Rules of Engagement 3.6/4.57/5.2
Family Guy 3.6/4.32/4.8
The Simpsons 3.0/4.26/5.4
My Name is Earl 3.0/3.82/4.6 
American Dad! 2.8/3.6/4.5
Old Christine 2.4/3.45/4.4
How I Met Your Mother 2.8/3.33/3.9
Scrubs 2.3/3.08/4.0
'Til Death 1.7/2.90/6.3
30 Rock 1.7/2.57/3.2
According to Jim 1.8/2.31/3.2 

2007-08
Two and a Half Men 4.4/4.95/5.4
Family Guy 3.6/4.77/5.6
Survivor (fall) 4.5/4.72/5.2
The Office 3.6/4.53/5.1
Rules of Engagement 3.7/4.05/4.5
The Simpsons 2.9/3.97/5.7
Without a Trace 3.1/3.80/6.4
How I Met Your Mother 3.1/3.50/4.5
Old Christine 2.7/3.46/4.5
American Dad! 2.4/3.18/4.2
Scrubs 2.4/3.10/3.8
My Name is Earl 2.4/3.09/3.8 
30 Rock 2.5/2.82/3.4
'Til Death 1.9/2.47/4.3
According to Jim 1.1/1.57/2.3 

2008-09
Two and a Half Men 4.0/5.06/5.6
The Office 3.4/4.27/4.9
How I Met Your Mother 2.9/4.01/4.8
Family Guy 3.2/3.98/5.1
Rules of Engagement 1.9/3.65/4.4
The Simpsons 2.5/3.38/6.2
30 Rock 2.4/3.30/4.1
American Dad! 2.3/2.91/3.6
My Name is Earl 1.7/2.46/2.8 
Scrubs 1.5/2.16/3.2
Old Christine 1.6/2.05/2.4
'Til Death 1.4/1.75/2.3
According to Jim 0.9/1.31/2.2 

2009-10
Two and a Half Men 4.4/4.94/5.8
The Office 3.2/3.97/4.8
Family Guy 3.1/3.85/5.2
How I Met Your Mother 2.8/3.53/4.0
The Simpsons 2.4/3.38/6.9
Rules of Engagement 2.5/3.00/3.6
American Dad! 2.0/2.89/3.6
30 Rock 1.9/2.69/3.3
Old Christine 1.5/1.94/2.3
Scrubs 1.1/1.52/2.3
'Til Death (F) 0.5/0.82/1.3