From the No Shit Sherlock school of research

Sitcoms cheer you up, according to new research advancing the frontiers of human knowledge.

A new survey claims that watching TV comedies is the British people’s favourite way to give themselves a lift.

Conducted by the television channel Gold – which just happens to show a lot of old sitcoms – the poll found that 84 per cent of people felt happier after watching a favourite episode.

And more than two thirds of the 2,000 adults polled preferred watching a sitcom to drinking a glass of wine or chatting to their mother.

The survey also found that 42 per cent of the respondents preferred to watch sitcoms alone, rather than with families or friends.

Paul Moreton, general manager of Gold, said: ‘Sitcoms truly are the social fabric of this country.’

Published: 21 Nov 2011