Yeah, I gotta do something about that. In the meantime:

http://popzara.com/pages/3194/

I really liked this book. Austerlitz pinpoints exactly what made each of the 24 shows he discusses so important to television history (not always for the better; some of these comedies had a pretty baleful influence on the shows that followed), and why many of them are still funny to watch today.

He explains why the "heroic age" of sitcoms is over, and why so few people bother to watch such critically-hyped shows as 30 Rock and Arrested Development. Animated cartoons don't play much of a part in the author's history of television, simply because The Simpsons did everything first, and best. (The Flintstones doesn't count -- it was merely The Honeymooners in caveman drag.)

If you have any interest in television comedy, you should read this book.