What does a comedy show need??

starting off, personally i loved this show, everyone was well cast and the characters were very likable. i laughed out loud on a lot of episodes which is something i rarely do when watching comedy shows, usually i would give a slight chuckle but this really made me laugh even when watching it alone. So i was very disappointed to hear it was cancelled. this was one show i had seen in the last few years i could have grown attached to. so i am wondering does a sitcom need a gimmick these days to be successful. with HIMYM (which i rarely even chuckled at) it was the who was the mother-storyline and most sitcoms these days are usually mocumentary style or single camera without laugh track. I know in this show the humour was sometimes silly and childish but it was f**cking funny which is all i look for in a sitcom. So have audiences become a too snobbish when it comes to TV comedy these days or does a sitcom require a gimmick to stay on tv????