What To Watch
16 Sitcoms That Are Always Great for a Good Laugh
Turn to any of these shows for an instant pick-me-up.
By Jessie Mooney
May 26, 2025
16 Best Sitcoms That Are Always Great For a Good Laugh - Netflix Tudum
Situation comedies are like the comfort food of television. Always hearty and dependable, they provide a sense of stability — even, or especially, when the world outside your preferred streaming device is out of control. Plus, as their name suggests, they’re funny! So when you need an episode (or three, or more) to make you laugh out loud, sitcoms are always there for you. Read on for 15 of our favorites, which are packed with family chaos, workplace nonsense, and everything in between. The only way to improve upon these shows is to eat actual comfort food while you watch them (which we highly recommend). Enjoy!
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Arrested Development
Here’s the story of a wealthy family that puts the “fun” in “dysfunctional.” When George Bluth Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor) winds up in prison for white collar crimes, his conscientious son, Michael (Jason Bateman), strives to keep everything and everyone together. That colorful cast of characters includes his competitive older brother, Gob (Will Arnett); materialistic twin sister, Lindsay (Portia de Rossi), plus her eccentric husband (David Cross) and opportunist daughter (Alia Shawkat); hapless younger brother, Buster (Tony Hale); sweet-tempered son, George Michael (Michael Cera); and his acerbic mother, Lucille (Jessica Walter). With off-the-wall humor and instantly quotable quips, you’ll be sure to love to hate and hate to love the Bluths in equal measure.
Big Mouth
This animated coming-of-age comedy follows a group of middle-schoolers navigating the biggest challenge of their short lives: puberty. Guiding (and misguiding) them are a group of Hormone Monsters — sexualized creatures who appear to dole out advice, both good and bad. (For much more from those guys, check out workplace spin-off Human Resources.) Big Mouth co-creator and star Nick Kroll leads a voice cast of big names including Fred Armisen, Ayo Edebiri, Jessi Klein, Jason Mantzoukas, John Mulaney, Jordan Peele, and Maya Rudolph. And then there’s the guest stars — Hugh Jackman, Tyler the Creator, Wanda Sykes, and Jeff Goldblum, just to name a few.
BoJack Horseman
Residing in Hollywoo (someone stole the d), the anthropomorphic horse BoJack (Will Arnett) is a former sitcom star who’s since been put out to pasture (sorry, we had to). He’s planning an epic comeback by way of a tell-all autobiography with the help of ghostwriter Diane Nguyen (Alison Brie), but his self-sabotaging tendencies keep getting in the way. They also interfere with his personal relationships, e.g. his agent Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris), archrival Mr. Peanutbutter (Paul F. Tompkins), and roommate Todd Chavez (Aaron Paul). Praised for its ability to tell sad stories in a funny way, no sitcoms list, animated or otherwise, is complete without BoJack.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Andy Samberg is “cool, cool, cool” Detective Jake Peralta in this police procedural about an outer-borough precinct full of lovable weirdos. In the pilot, Captain Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher) reports for his first day as commanding officer of the Nine-Nine with a stoic demeanor at odds with the eccentric personalities around him. As one might predict, shenanigans ensue. What you’re less likely to predict is just how absurd the situations in which Peralta and his team find themselves are, or how much you’ll laugh watching them catch criminals in their own, very unconventional ways.
Derry Girls
Set in ’90s Northern Ireland during the final years of the Troubles — a period of violent political conflict — Derry Girls is a teen sitcom that’s both hilarious and insightful. In it, Erin Quinn (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), her cousin Orla (Louisa Harland), Clare (Nicola Coughlan), Michelle (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell), and Michelle’s English cousin James (Dylan Llewellyn), face the trials of teendom during a time of cultural unrest — all while attending a Catholic girls’ secondary school (yes, even James) under dry-humored headmistress Sister George Michael (Siobhán McSweeney). The friends — and their families — frequently find themselves in absurd situations, only to come out of them closer than ever before.
A Different World
This spin-off of The Cosby Show initially focused on Denise (Lisa Bonet), the Huxtable family’s second-oldest child and a fan favorite, as she headed off to Hillman, a fictional historically Black college in Virginia. After Bonet’s departure at the end of Season 1, the show highlighted the stories of her classmates, like Southern belle Whitley Gilbert-Wayne (Jasmine Guy) and flirty genius Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison). Producer Debbie Allen, a Howard University alumna, ensured the depiction of life at an HBCU was as accurate (and entertaining) as possible.
Fuller House
In this sequel to the beloved late ’80s/early ’90s sitcom Full House, a grown-up D.J. Tanner (Candace Cameron Bure) and her three boys (Michael Campion, Elias Harger, and twins Dashiell and Fox Messitt sharing the role of the third) move back into D.J.’s childhood home following the death of her husband. When her father (Bob Saget), must relocate for work, D.J.’s sister Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) and bestie Kimmy (Andrea Barber) migrate their own families into the house to help D.J. and vice versa. Full of the same heart and humor as its predecessor (and delightful guest appearances from the original cast), Fuller House is a worthy family-friendly watch.
Grace and Frankie
Nothing brings people together like shared trauma. Lifelong enemies Grace (Jane Fonda) and Frankie (Lily Tomlin) learn their husbands (Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston) have been in love with each other for the past 20 years and plan to leave them in order to marry. As the two women’s lives unravel, they move into their shared beach house (which they now realize was their husbands’ love nest for a number of years). Soon after, former cosmetics mogul Grace and quirky bohemian Frankie begin down an unlikely road to best friendship — with plenty of drama, romance, hardships, and laughs along the way.
Kim's Convenience
Based on Ins Choi’s award-winning stage play of the same name, this savvy social-commentary series introduces us to the Kims, a lovable Korean Canadian family who run a convenience store in a residential neighborhood of Toronto. Mr. Sang-il (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), or “Appa” (the Korean word for “dad”) to his fam, is always ready with a hot take on something. Ms. Yong-mi (Jean Yoon), aka “Umma” (Korean for “mom”), loves her store, church, and, most of all, children: Janet (Andrea Bang), a student photographer, and Jung (Simu Liu), who works at a rental car company and is estranged from his father.
Reba
Sing it with us, because you’ll certainly be doing it while watching all six seasons of this sweet family sitcom: “A single mom who works too hard, who loves her kids and never stops…” The catchy theme song is just one of Reba’s charms, along with the woman herself — country star Reba McEntire stars as determined mom Reba Hart, whose life is upended after her husband, Brock (Christopher Rich), leaves her for his dental hygienist (Melissa Peterman). If the divorce wasn’t enough of a curveball, Reba must also adapt to being a single parent to their three children, including 17-year-old Cheyenne (JoAnna Garcia Swisher), who’s pregnant. There’s lots of humor and heart in all those highs and lows, and the show’s Reba faces it all with (yes, we’re going back to the theme song again) “gentle hands and the heart of a fighter,” because she’s… well, you know.
Seinfeld
One of the most popular and influential sitcoms of all time, Seinfeld bills itself as a “show about nothing.” In actuality, it focuses on stand-up comic Jerry Seinfeld (played by who else?) and his professional-slash-personal pursuits alongside his three best friends: George Costanza (Jason Alexander), Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards). Most episodes volley between scenes from Jerry’s stand-up sets and day-to-day life in and around his Upper West Side apartment in New York City. Endearingly memorable and endlessly quotable, there’s a reason (or countless reasons) why this show ran for nine seasons.
That '90s Show
Remember That ’70s Show? The one about a bunch of teenagers looking for love and finding lots of amusing situations? This series is the 1995 version of that — featuring lots of familiar faces. Leia Forman (Callie Haverda) — the teenage daughter of Eric (Topher Grace) and Donna (Laura Prepon), and the granddaughter of Red (Kurtwood Smith) and Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp), from the OG series — spends the summer with her grandparents in Point Place, Wisconsin. While there, she makes friends: Gwen (Ashley Aufderheide), Nate (Maxwell Acee Donovan), Nikki (Sam Morelos), Ozzie (Reyn Doi), and a charming videographer named Jay Kelso (Mace Coronel) — the son of That ’70s Show’s Michael Kelso (Ashton Kutcher) and Jackie (Mila Kunis), of course.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Another incredible theme song! This wacky, clever series from Tina Fey and Robert Carlock stars Ellie Kemper as Kimmy Schmidt. After escaping an underground cult (literally, she and three other kidnapped women were trapped in a bunker for 15 years), Kimmy is ready to reclaim her life. In New York City, she moves in with a struggling actor named Titus (Tituss Burgess) and soon befriends him, her tough-as-nails landlady Lillian (Carol Kane), and Jacqueline (Jane Krakowski), a self-absorbed socialite. Will Kimmy be able to escape her past and find her purpose? It’s lots of fun to watch and find out.
The Upshaws
From the minds of Regina Y. Hicks and Wanda Sykes comes this Emmy-nominated story about the ups and downs of a Black working-class family in Indiana. Mike Epps plays Bernard “Bennie” Upshaw, the owner of Bennie’s Garage and husband to his childhood sweetheart, Regina (Kim Fields). Together, they’re raising Bernard Upshaw Jr. (Jermelle Simon), Aaliyah (Khali Spraggins), and Maya (Journey Christine). Heavily involved in their lives is Lucretia (Sykes), Regina’s mouthy older sister who’s not the biggest Bennie fan. There’s also Bennie’s son Kelvin (Diamond Lyons) and his mother Tasha (Gabrielle Dennis) in the mix, the outcome of what Bennie swears was a break early on in his relationship with Regina. Expect nonstop jokes and a nostalgic laugh track from an old-school-style sitcom that still feels fresh.
Younger
Reeling from a divorce and eager to get back to work after taking time off to raise her daughter, 40-year-old Liza Miller (Sutton Foster) has a life-changing encounter with a tattoo artist named Josh (Nico Tortorella). After Josh assumes she’s in her late 20s, Liza decides to see if she can fool anyone else — namely the people in the publishing industry who keep dismissing her in job interviews for being too “overqualified.” She lands a gig as assistant to Empirical Press’ marketing bigwig Diana Trout (Miriam Shor) — but how long until Liza is found out and her age proves more than just a number?
Young Sheldon
Before Sheldon (Jim Parsons), everyone’s favorite curmudgeonly super-genius on The Big Bang Theory, there was Young Sheldon. Iain Armitage portrays Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper’s early years as a child prodigy growing up in East Texas in this spin-off prequel series, with Parsons returning to narrate. There’s also a whole new cast of characters to love, many of whom were mentioned or featured on TBBT, including Sheldon’s earnestly religious mama (Zoe Perry), football-devoted father (Lance Barber), and smack-talking siblings (Montana Jordan and Raegan Revord). Fans can count on Sheldon’s signature sass, smarts, and social mishaps — just in a smaller frame.
Additional reporting by Jean Bentley.
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