Where to stream 50 of the best TV comedies of all time, from 'I Love Lucy' to 'Atlanta'
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When you're looking for a specific kind of laugh, only your favorite TV comedy will do.
Maybe you need some classic Americana yuks ("I Love Lucy"), some weird sketch humor ("Mr. Show"), the biggest comedy of 2021 ("Ted Lasso") or an easy family sitcom ("Modern Family"). And with more streaming services than you can keep track of, it's not always so easy to find which service has your favorite show.
So if you're looking for "The Office" or "Good Times" or "Atlanta," you don't have to scroll through endless menu screens of Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, Paramount+, Disney+ and Apple TV+, hoping to strike TV gold. We compiled a list of 50 of the greatest TV comedies of all time and exactly where they're streaming.
Hangout sitcoms
“The Big Bang Theory” (HBO Max) The CBS sitcom starring Jim Parsons and Kaley Cuoco was TV's most popular show for a reason – its big, broad humor and nerdy characters are comforting and familiar.
“Community” (Hulu, Netflix, Amazon) This slightly zany NBC comedy about a group of diverse friends attending a local community college has its ups and downs, but its funniest, most ambitious installments are among the best TV episodes ever made.
“Don’t Trust the B**** in Apt. 23” (Hulu) This quirky series about a nightmare roommate didn't last long on ABC, but made great comedy, with Krysten Ritter and James Van Der Beek, playing a fictional version of himself.
“Frasier” (Hulu, Paramount+) Although it's more cynical and mature than its forerunner, "Cheers," NBC's series about Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) became one of the most successful spinoffs of all time.
“Friends” (HBO Max) Nearly three decades after it premiered on NBC, "Friends" remains a cultural institution and a reliable source of delight and laughs. Its long afterlife in cable reruns and streaming (it was on Netflix for years before it moved to HBO Max) has introduced it to new generations. It may be a cliché, but it is nice to spend some time with our "Friends."
“Happy Endings (HBO Max, Hulu) One of the many "Friends"-like hangout sitcoms to emerge over the past two decades, ABC's "Endings" is on the quirkier, more heightened side, following five 30-somethings in Chicago.
“Seinfeld” (Netflix) If you've never seen Jerry Seinfeld's landmark NBC show about nothing, it's a great time to start. You might want to skip the disappointing series finale though.
More: The 50 best TV shows to watch on Netflix
Workplace sitcoms
“30 Rock” (Netflix, Hulu) Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan make an endlessly appealing trio in this award-winning NBC series about a "Saturday Night Live"-style sketch comedy series.
“Cheers” (Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock) You can still go where everybody knows your name in this classic NBC comedy starring Ted Danson.
“The Good Place” (Netflix) NBC's afterlife sitcom feels like a dose of palliative care with its bright colors, puns and visual gags. Underneath its appealing aesthetics, "Place" has great performances, great writing and some sincere thoughts about ethics and philosophy.
"Parks and Recreation" (Peacock) Nothing can stop Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler). NBC's workplace sitcom is an inspiring stalwart in this genre, full of generally good people trying to do good things.
“Party Down” (Hulu) Fans of "Party Down" creator Rob Thomas' “Veronica Mars” and “iZombie” will love this cynical Starz comedy about cater-waiters that stars Jane Lynch and Adam Scott.
“Scrubs” (Amazon, Hulu) The sweet, silly comedy of NBC's long-running “Scrubs,” starring Zach Braff, Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke, is what fans most often remember. But it's also a celebration of the doctors who work so hard to save lives, and often feels like a more realistic look at life in the hospital than high-drama soap operas.
“Superstore” (Hulu, Peacock) This NBC series set at a big-box retail store is something of a modern-day "Cheers," a workplace comedy set outside a traditional office in a place we all have wandered into at some point. (The blue vests of the fictional Cloud 9 store might remind you of a certain chain).
“Veep” (HBO Max) Some of the political satire's bite has faded as our world has become more absurd and shocking, but that doesn't dull the sharpness of star Julia Louis-Dreyfus' performance in the HBO Emmy-favorite.
Family sitcoms
“Black-ish” (Hulu) The series, which ended its ABC run this spring, follows an upper-middle-class Black family navigating social issues in a predominantly white Los Angeles neighborhood. With great performances by Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross, it's one of the best sitcoms on TV.
“Everybody Loves Raymond” (Peacock) If you want guaranteed laughs and guaranteed comfort, look no further than CBS' touchstone sitcom, which remains one of the greatest entries in the genre. For nine seasons, Ray (Ray Romano), Debra (Patricia Heaton), Robert (Brad Garrett), Marie (Doris Roberts) and Frank (Peter Boyle) were like a second family.
“Fresh Off the Boat (Hulu) From the creator of “Don’t Trust the B***,” this is another hall of fame entry in the ABC family sitcom genre. Especially in the first four seasons, this story of a Taiwanese-American family in 1990s Orlando, Florida, was full of great, specific humor and a talented cast, including Constance Wu and Randall Park.
“Modern Family” (Hulu, Peacock) The multiple-Emmy-winning ABC series has an incredible cast and relatable laughs for families and married couples.
“Mom” (Hulu) Anna Faris and Allison Janney deliver smart comedy about family and addiction in producer Chuck Lorre's ("The Big Bang Theory") best (but most underrated) former CBS sitcom.
“One Day at a Time” (Netflix) Like the Norman Lear original, this sitcom, about a Cuban-American family in Los Angeles, is an expert at combining a frank discussion of social issues with hilarity.
"Schitt's Creek" (Netflix) Full of beautiful romance, sunny settings and plenty of humor, the Canadian sitcom about a rich family that loses it all but gains a little perspective is always a mood booster.
“Speechless” (Hulu) Gone too soon after just three seasons, ABC's comedy about a family in which one son has cerebral palsy is a representation of disability like you've never seen before, with searing satire and riotous laughs.
More: The 50 best TV shows on Amazon Prime right now
TV classics
“The Brady Bunch” (Paramount+) There’s an undeniable appeal to ABC's family sitcom about a lovely lady and a man named Brady (that’s the way they all became the Brady bunch!) that extends far beyond its 1969-74 run.
"The Carol Burnett Show" (Amazon, Peacock) Several series from the mid-20th century, when TV was a jolly affair across the board, are available to stream. We're partial to CBS' timeless sketch comedy from Burnett, an American treasure.
“Designing Women” (Hulu) A hallmark of 1980s fashion and hair, CBS' “Designing” is one of the great ensemble workplace shows. The interior design firm in Atlanta will always have our hearts, if not our aesthetic.
“The Golden Girls” (Hulu) They don't make them like they used to, right? A visit from Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia is always funny and calming, no matter whether you're just discovering the beloved NBC sitcom or rewatching it.
"Good Times" (Peacock) This Norman Lear series from the 1970s about the Evanses, a Black family getting by in Chicago, is a television classic and a welcome addition to the streaming landscape. John Amos, Esther Rolle and Janet Jackson are among the wonderful cast of the "Maude" spinoff (which itself was an "All in the Family" spinoff) that aired for six seasons on CBS.
“I Love Lucy” (Paramount+) Lucille Ball and her husband, Desi Arnaz, were the innovators of one of TV’s great formats in this iconic CBS sitcom that ran from 1951-57. The episodes are pockets of history that still offer plenty of laughs in 2022, “Vitameatavegamin” among them.
More: The 50 best TV shows to watch on Hulu
Sketch comedy
"A Black Lady Sketch Show" (HBO Max) Created by Robin Thede and produced by Issa Rae, HBO’s tiny-but-mighty sketch comedy series is knee-slappingly hilarious. Its talented Black lady comedians excel in sketches that are unique to their experiences and universal in their humor.
“Chappelle’s Show” (HBO Max, Netflix, Paramount+) Although it aired on Comedy Central for only two seasons in 2003-04, Dave Chappelle’s landmark sketch-comedy show had a deep impact on the comedy scene of the 2000s.
“Key & Peele” (Hulu, Paramount+) If you're more interested in morsels of comedy than long narratives, Comedy Central's sketch show, which jump-started the careers of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, is perfect and requires very little commitment to get a laugh.
“Saturday Night Live” (Hulu, Peacock) You can dive into previous seasons of NBC's late-night institution for some quick laughs and topical (well, at the time) parodies.
More: The 25 best TV shows on Disney+ to watch
Adult animation
“Archer” (Hulu) Spy games are never funnier (or sillier) than in this FXX series, which features the voices of Judy Greer, H. Jon Benjamin and Chris Parnell.
“Bob’s Burgers” (Hulu) Heartfelt, offbeat and full of visual humor, Fox's series about a family and its burger joint is the model of modern adult animation.
“BoJack Horseman” (Netflix) Not the cheeriest comedy, but one of the most affecting, Netflix’s showbiz satire found unexpected depths by juxtaposing animated, bipedal animals dealing with serious contemporary issues.
“The Simpsons” (Disney+) Disney+ isn't all princesses and Pixar – the entire library of this seminal Fox Sunday night comedy is ready for you to stream at a time in which the quirks of Springfield feel less odd than real life.
More: The 50 best TV shows on HBO Max
From across the pond
“Catastrophe” (Amazon) For fans of dry British humor who feel stable in their marriages, this sitcom from Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan is a beautiful portrait of a relationship that begins with an unplanned pregnancy but becomes so much more.
“Derry Girls” (Netflix) This Irish series, best watched with subtitles, follows a group of Catholic teens in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, a period of religious violence in the region. The series is a great comedy about trying to live a daily life amid social unrest and upheaval.
“Fleabag” (Amazon) Hilarious, emotional and utterly surprising, the British comedy from Phoebe Waller-Bridge, in which she stars as a struggling young woman, deserves the hype (and all those Emmys).
"Ted Lasso" (Apple TV+) The comedy, about an American football coach drafted to lead a British soccer team, was a warm light of positivity in 2020, a deeply funny and meaningful show with lovable characters. In its second season, the tone turned serious as the writers explored a deeper story about mental health and trauma.
More: The 35 best TV shows to watch on Peacock
Dramedies
“Atlanta” (Hulu) Donald Glover’s audacious FX series about a college-dropout father trying to climb the economic ladder as a manager for his rapper cousin (Brian Tyree Henry) is proof of the multitalented artist's creative prowess.
"Gilmore Girls" (Netflix) Although the Gilmore family had plenty of trials and tribulations on the WB in the early 2000s, the world of quaint small-town Stars Hollow is a delight to revisit time and time again.
“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (Netflix) CW's poignant musical comedy about one woman's (Rachel Bloom) mental-health struggles has a tune for every emotion, and you'll be happy to hum them for weeks after finishing all four seasons.
“Insecure” (HBO Max) Issa Rae crafts a distinctly millennial series in this HBO comedy about a black woman in Los Angeles who questions her life decisions, including her long-term boyfriend.
More: The 40 best TV shows to watch on Paramount+
Cringe comedy
“American Vandal” (Netflix) The rare series in which teen problems are taken seriously, "Vandal" is also a hilarious mockumentary that pokes fun at overly serious true-crime documentaries like "Making a Murderer."
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO Max) Larry David’s dry meta-comedy, in which he plays a fictionalized version of himself, is a reliable source of humor for his fans. Whenever he returns to HBO for a new season, David is ready to poke fun at his peculiarities and neurosis.
“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (Hulu) If you like crass comedy, more than 150 episodes of this FXX series have fun in Philly, with a lot of mishaps along the way.
“PEN15” (Hulu) Not for the faint of heart, this comedy, set in a middle school in 2000 with adult actresses playing preteens, is the pinnacle of cringe-humor series. But along with embarrassment, there is humor and warmth (mostly embarrassment, though).
“What We Do in the Shadows” (Hulu) This absurdist FX comedy, about vampires sharing a house in Staten Island, New York, never fails to make us guffaw.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where the best sitcoms of all time stream, from 'Lucy' to 'Atlanta'
