2016 Was the Year ABC's Comedies Left the Other Networks In the Dust for Good

Networks can't compete with the creative freedom cable channels like FX and HBO and streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon offer comedy creators.

CBS has continued to put up solid numbers for everything that isn't The Big Bang Theory, which remains enormous, but its sitcoms rely on tried-and-true formulas.

[...] more than that, it's due to the network's singular focus on warm, loving family sitcoms that each year have grown to encompass a broad range of experiences and perspectives that find the human commonalities in all different kinds of families we find in this country.

Since Modern Family launched with "gay couple with an adopted Asian daughter" and "patriarch who got remarried to a much younger Latin woman," every season has brought new types of characters to the network.

In 2014 and 2015, ABC doubled down on its commitment to showing a variety of families with Black-ish and Fresh Off the Boat, excellent shows about an African-American and a Taiwanese-American family, respectively. 2016 continued this trend to an even greater degree with The Real O'Neals, Speechless and American Housewife.

The Real O'Neals, now in its second season after premiering in the spring, got off to a bit of a bumpy start, but has found its footing as the ABC sitcom about what it's like to be a gay kid in a religious household.

Other than long-in-the-tooth (but still solid) legacy nominee Modern Family, it was the only network show to earn an Outstanding Series nomination in Comedy or Drama at this year's Emmys.