Some people love Comic Sans. Some people hate Comic Sans. And some people really, really hate Comic Sans.
I’m solidly in the latter group (which may make me a snob) but I can nonetheless understand the appeal of this typeface: it’s casual, unpretentious and friendly. (Note: that’s not why I hate it. For some reason I just have this visceral disgust when I see it. If I could turn it off so that I wouldn’t care, I would.)
Anyway, instead of adding another voice to the chorus of Comic-Sans hate (maybe I’m too late for that), I present you with some fonts that combine casual, unpretentious and friendly traits. Not all of these are script-y, but I think they would perform quite well on, say, a lemonade stand, sale rack or passive-aggressive break-room note. And all have the benefit of coming standard with most Mac and PC operating systems. I’m no fan of options 1, 4, and 5, but they pass one important test: they’re better than Comic Sans.
Note to my mom: Papyrus is NOT an alternative to Comic Sans.
Related: Clipart Covers (album covers remade with clip art and Comic Sans) via Kottke.org