If you read TV Fanatic regularly, you know that we lean toward dramas and genre shows much more than comedies, so you’ll probably feel the need to supplement the list of our favorite comedies with some of your own!
Please remember that with have almost two dozen favorites lists that we couldn’t showcase every show on every list, so we parsed them out a bit to make it more fun.
And these lists are not in any particular order. They’re in the order the entries were received by TV Fanatic staff, so don’t read into them!
To qualify, a show that began in another decade had to be airing during the decade, run a larger number of seasons from 2010 through 2019 if it started before 2010 or run the entire decade. Here we go!
Roseanne Season 10 – ABC (2017-2018)
Very few sitcoms can be grouped into the all-time best category. We think of I Love Lucy, The Golden Girls, Seinfeld, and, of course, Roseanne.
When it premiered in 1988, it immediately became controversial and worked towards gathering acceptance for the LGBTQ community and broached many hot button taboo topics for its time. But in 2017, the legendary show came back for a 10th season and maintained it’s controversiality.
Now, a whole new list of issues began facing our nation, the most pressing being political division. And who else but Roseanne could attempt to bridge that gap so successfully and with such brilliant comedic delivery.
Roseanne would have been the show to help bring more people together, and that is exactly why it was a huge hit upon its return. Nobody else in Hollywood would touch it. The warring sisters, Roseanne and Jackie, represented the strife planting itself among American families all over.
And most of Hollywood wants to continue pushing an agenda that is not about bridging the divide. Sure, The Conners is still funny. But it can never be Roseanne.
It’s a shame the network felt a need to kill the title character off. Because if any teaching moments could have been had in Hollywood, it was the one surrounding her sudden exit.
Young Sheldon (2017-present)
Amazingly enough, Young Sheldon turned out to be even funnier than its parent show, Big Bang Theory.
Every episode, Sheldon struggles to interact with a world he finds as alien as everyone else finds him, and the results are hilarious.
Plus his parents and grandmother are fully-formed and funny characters in their own right.
Happy Endings – ABC (2011-2013)
We’ll never be over the end of Happy Endings. Consistently hilarious, it was full of likable characters and relatable storylines that were laugh out loud funny. Though it was only on the air for three seasons, there are still lines and phrases from the show people use to this day. That’s the sign of a comedy that was fresh and reverent and its premature cancellation is one of the biggest travesties of the decade.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine – NBC (2013-present)
As a Mike Schur show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine was almost guaranteed to produce many laughs.
But the Andy Samberg lead comedy not only proved to be one of the funniest shows of the decade, it also gave its viewers relatable characters, thoughtful storylines, and relationships that will stay with us forever.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine has touched on subjects such as police brutality, racial profiling and so much more while also making us laugh.
It has earned its praise and will hopefully live on for many more seasons.
black-ish – ABC (2014-present)
Black-ish took the old-sitcom vibe and modernized it bringing it to life with a diverse cast that focused exclusively on an upper-middle-class African-American family and what that means in the present.
It’s a thought-provoking comedy that unabashedly explored black culture in a mainstream format making it accessible to those who may not have otherwise understood or experienced it.
It deeply explores race, identity, socio-economic class, and so much more and has sparked two spin-offs that continue to do the same.
Louie – FX (2010-2015)
Louis C.K. created Louie, a semi-autobiographical look at the life and times of a stand-up comedian. He also wrote, directed, and produced every episode. It was his baby from start to finish.
It didn’t fit any particular genre, and it aired on FX when Louie damned well felt like making it.
It was a simple story about a man and father filled to the brim with pathos. Louie wasn’t a good man, and he wasn’t a bad man, either.
But he rode a wave of faults that made him undeniably human. Louis’ self-depricating human played to it very well, and if his faults weren’t so eggregious in real life, we’d probably still be loving every minute of Louie whenever Louis C.K. wanted to create them.
Catastrophe – Amazon Prime (2015-2019)
The circumstances of Sharon and Rob’s relationship were, shall we say, unique (one-night-stand resulting in marriage and an unplanned family).
The circumstances were ripe with comedic opportunities, but Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney also wrote comedy for which they were so well suited that it never seemed like they were acting no matter how drop-dead funny the situations became.
Think of two adults considering their slow walk down the sidewalk a bit of a race who actually break into a full run in dress clothes when the possibility they might “lose” presents itself.
Catastrophe was built around the absurdities of real life but still offered a significant emotional investment.
Watch it as many times as you can because every time you do, you’ll find something new that tickles your funny bone.
Parks & Recreation – NBC (2009-2015)
When Parks and Rec aired, it seemed to be The Office 2.0. But, after a season or two, it found its footing and quickly became a comedic success in its own right.
Every single character with few exceptions (sorry Mark!) was funny and stood out from all the rest.
With all the characters’ severely different personalities and comedic styles, Parks and Rec shouldn’t have worked.
But it did, and it was magical. Parks and Recreation Season 3 Episode 2, “Flu Season,” alone would guarantee the show a spot on this list, but thankfully, there are plentiful hilarious episodes that will go down as the decade’s best.
Veep – HBO (2012-2019)
Politics is funny all the time these days, but Veep’s Vice President turned President turned presidential candidate Selina Meyer was a dream character for Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
She delivered tart dialogue like she was cracking a whip and every character who surrounded Selina matched her step and was as equally delusional about what America needs continually pushed her to do more audacious and hilarious things in her quest for the White House.
Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, Matt Walsh, Reid Scott, Timothy Simons, Gary Cole, Kevin Dunn, and Hugh Laurie made Veep consistently funny with what seemed like minimal effort.
The Good Place – NBC (2016-2020)
The Good Place aired its first season as a likable sitcom with a unique universe, creative humor, and a diverse and talented cast.
Then the season ended. After completely blowing up its premise, there was no telling as to how the show would continue to function, and yet the series proved that it was capable of keeping its soul intact while keeping us guessing.
Every three or four episodes, the series reinvented itself with a new setting, new characters, and new storylines. Even if you claim you saw its season one twist coming, no one could have predicted the wild places the plot would go.
With only a few episodes remaining in the series, The Good Place is still taking us to new places, and it never forgets to bring its wonderful characters along for the wild ride.
Better Things – FX (2016-present)
In a similar vein as Louie, Pamela Adlon’s Better Things bridges the divide between comedy and drama as she stars as a single mother of three girls while she tries to maintain a successful career as an actress.
Created and written by Adlon, she tackles issues from childhood to motherhood without pulling punches, and her thoughts on aging are some of the best to air.
It’s a uniquely personal comedy that bears Adlon’s signature stamp.
She has a way with the mundane and successfully pokes fun at the banalities of life so that everyone can find a part of themselves in Better Things.
What is YOUR favorite comedy of the decade?