The Bernie Mac Show (2001)

Bernie Mac doesn't just talk to the viewer, he talks to the whole country. Between scenes he leans into the camera and addresses you as "America," venting about the three kids he's suddenly raising for his sister and asking you, man to man, whether he's wrong. Those confessionals give the show a warmth that a standard family sitcom can't fake: you hear the bluster, then you see him soften when the kids aren't looking. It won a Peabody in 2001 and an Emmy for comedy writing, and its five Fox seasons hold up.