Last sitcoms standing?

Mark Twain said it best (didn’t he most of the time?), although he wasn’t talking about the sitcom: News of its death has been greatly exaggerated.

Of course, if Twain were writing television comedy, the form wouldn’t be hurting.

There’s no denying that the 30-minute comedy lost prestige when “Friends,” “Frasier” and “Sex and the City” stopped producing new episodes last season. The departure of “Everybody Loves Raymond” after this coming season won’t help.

And the broadcast networks are introducing only eight new sitcoms this fall – none of which announces itself as the next “All in the Family” or “The Cosby Show,” groundbreaking series that reinvigorated the medium in the 1970s and ‘80s.

Yet sharp comedy thrives on HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Fox’s “The Simpsons” and CBS’ “Raymond,” which bows out in May. Other sturdy comedies, such as NBC’s “Scrubs” and CBS’ “The King of Queens,” could gain notice in the new, weaker field.

A few Hollywood veterans dismiss the whole idea that the sitcom is expiring.

“I would be surprised if that was really true,” says Jean Smart of CBS’ new “Center of the Universe,” who also starred in “Designing Women,” a beloved hit that ran from 1986 to 1993.

“The problem (is) sometimes if something is put forth, it sort of becomes self-fulfilling prophecy. Especially in these times, I think people desperately want to see good comedy.”

“Raymond” creator Phil Rosenthal says his writing staff loves “The Simpsons,” Fox’s “Arrested Development” and Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”

“There’s comedy – it may not look like ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ or ‘Friends’ even,” he says. “But I bet you that there’ll be another sitcom, a traditional sitcom that will come along.”

Perhaps it already has. CBS’ “Two and a Half Men” debuted last season in the slot after “Raymond” and posted good ratings. Its summer performance suggests that the series about odd-couple brothers (Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer) could take off in its second season, which starts Sept. 20.

“Arrested Development,” about a stressed businessman (Jason Bateman) and his wildly dysfunctional family, earned the best reviews of any new series last season. It made a strong showing in the nominations for this year’s Emmys (to be awarded next Sunday), collecting seven, including top comedy series.

Neither is likely to become a phenomenon along the lines of “Seinfeld.” But what is?

“I think what happened with that TV show is a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” says Jason Alexander, who played George Costanza on that seminal hit.

He later starred as a motivational speaker in the flop “Bob Patterson” and will try again this fall, playing a sports-talk show host in CBS’ new “Listen Up.”

“What was unique about ‘Seinfeld’ is it was literally one voice commanding the vision of that piece,” Alexander says. “It refused to get diluted by multiple input. And sometimes multiple input can really do some damage if there is a singular voice driving a piece of comedy.”

That singular voice can come from a team. “Raymond” executive producer Steve Skrovan attributes that show’s success to the partnership of star Ray Romano and creator Rosenthal.

“That was a great symbiotic relationship, the same kind of relationship that happened with Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld,” Skrovan says. “It’s this confluence of the talent and the writer that comes together that’s impossible to predict.”

Sitcom veterans Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn are co-creators of “Two and a Half Men,” which weighs in on real topics ranging from divorce and bickering siblings to adult sons’ relationships with a difficult mother.

“We write a show we think is funny and stories that involve us as writers,” Lorre says. “You can’t presume to know what millions of people will like.”

Still, millions do like it. The series averaged 15.3 million viewers last season, placing No. 16 overall.

“Arrested Development” was way down the list at No. 122, but won a second season, starting Nov. 7, largely because of rave reviews. To make it more accessible in the new season, the show will shift from a serialized style to more self-contained episodes.

The weak era for sitcoms actually helped “Arrested Development,” says creator Mitch Hurwitz.

“Had there been a lot of successful sitcoms right now, the network might be less inclined to stay with one that’s been doing what we’ve been doing” in the ratings, he says.

One sign of a series’ creative health is the ability to attract big-name guests. Liza Minnelli and Henry Winkler visited “Arrested Development” last season, while Heather Locklear and Chris O’Donnell put in amusing appearances on “Two and a Half Men.”

This coming season, Oscar-winner Sean Penn will play himself on “Two and a Half Men.” The same episode will feature Elvis Costello and Harry Dean Stanton, also as themselves, playing members of a men’s group. Another episode will feature Roseanne Barr.

Even with that star power, “Two and a Half Men” will explore its regular characters in its second season.

“Nobody’s getting married, having a baby or dying,” Lorre says. “There are no special episodes coming. I think we just dig a little deeper.”

Networks are digging deeper, too, in search of sitcom success.

NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly says he’s looking for the next Larry David, the distinctive force behind “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” ABC is banking on family sitcoms, such as “According to Jim,” to help reverse the network’s slide. CBS has lined up “Dharma & Greg” star Jenna Elfman for a midseason comedy.

“There will always be room for the half-hour comedy,” says John Goodman, formerly of “Roseanne” (1988-1997), who appears in CBS’ upcoming “Center of the Universe” and lends his voice to NBC’s “Father of the Pride.”

“I just think it will always keep going on, like roaches after a nuclear war,” Goodman says. “When I started in the business, there were a plethora of shows about rich people killing each other off that were extremely good-looking, and then they got us. It’s all cyclical.”