(Photo by NBC)
200 Best Comedy Series of All Time
You’ve had your say in our Fall TV Survey, crowning Seinfeld your favorite comedy of all time. Now it’s our turn.
To choose the top 200 best comedy TV series of all time, we put funny to the test, looking at Tomatometer data culled from critics’ reviews, consulting some reputable “best of” lists, and exercising some editorial discretion, asking ourselves which classic comedy shows still hold up, which have been the most influential in the realm of comedy, and which have created comedy superstars.
Turns out, all of those factors led to some of the very same classic TV comedy shows and beloved sitcoms Rotten Tomatoes readers chose as their favorites.
We’ve also included international English-language comedy shows that made a big impression on U.S. audiences through broadcast, cable, or streaming — look for some top titles from the U.K., Canada, and Australia.
Read on to review our ranking of the best comedy series and sitcoms, and perhaps discover some new shows you may not have seen yet. And before you ask, we made a separate list for the “Best Sketch Comedies of All Time.”
Is your favorite comedy series missing? Tell us in the comments.
Best Comedy Series
200-151 | 150-101 | 100-51 | 50-1
#200
Synopsis: Chiropractor and single father Alan Harper lives in a beachfront house with divorced Internet billionaire Walden Schmidt, who bought the
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#199
Synopsis: Series creator and writer Chris Lilley portrays three characters -- high-strung drama teacher Mr. G., exchange student Ja'mie and break-dancing
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#198
Synopsis: For young Sheldon Cooper, it isn't easy growing up in East Texas. Being a once-in-a-generation mind capable of advanced mathematics
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#197
Synopsis: "Jonny Quest" gets an irreverent but affectionate spoofing in this animated series chronicling the sometimes hair-raising adventures of Hank and
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#196
Synopsis: Lovable schemer Zack Morris leads his pals on adventures at California's Bayside High School. The friends navigate relationships, final exams,
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#195
Synopsis: For years, perfect couple Dave and Alex were the core of their group of friends, holding them all together. But
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#194
Synopsis: "Eastbound & Down" creators Danny McBride and Jody Hill team again for a dark comedy series -- no surprise there!
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#193
Synopsis: Tracey Gordon, a religious, Beyoncé-obsessed 24-year-old, is fast to find out that the more she learns about the world, the
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#192
Synopsis: True-crime series are gaining popularity on TV so, of course, there was bound to be a satire of the genre.
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#191
Synopsis: Two black kids from Harlem, Arnold Jackson and older brother Willis, are welcomed into the family of wealthy New York
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#190
Synopsis: "You take the good, you take the bad ... ." Originally set at the prestigious Eastland School for Young Women,
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#189
Synopsis: Series creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason uses the fictional Atlanta design firm of Sugarbaker and Associates as a witty bully pulpit for
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#188
Synopsis: The daily life and adventures of four students sharing a house.
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#187
Synopsis: New York lawyer Oliver Wendell Douglas longs for a simpler way of life. So he buys a farm, sight unseen,
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#186
Synopsis: While their men try to hone their gridiron talents on the field, the wives and girlfriends of pro football players
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#185
Synopsis: June's (Dreama Walker) plans of moving to Manhattan for her dream job and perfect apartment are ruined when the company
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#184
Synopsis: Three friends struggle with the responsibilities and inevitable changes that come with being a modern woman of a certain age.
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#182
Synopsis: Comedians Dylan Moran and Bill Bailey star in the much-loved offbeat sitcom about bad-tempered, eccentric bookshop owner Bernard Black and
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#181
Synopsis: In this space spoof, Dave Lister (a chicken-soup-machine repairman) is a survivor of a radiation leak on his mining space
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#180
Synopsis: Jerrod and his therapist-in-training girlfriend, Maxine, are intelligent, ambitious and ready to take the next step to building a fulfilling
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#179
Synopsis: Jean Pargetter and Lionel Hardcastle are former lovers whose lives intersect again 40 years after they lost touch with each
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#178
Synopsis: Dr. Joel Fleischman graduates from Columbia University medical school and is assigned to work in the tiny Alaskan town of
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#177
Synopsis: Three best friends living in San Francisco share the nuances and complexities of contemporary gay relationships as they explore a
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#176
Synopsis: When she appears on the doorstep of wealthy widower Maxwell Sheffield's New York home, cosmetics saleswoman Fran Fine unexpectedly gets
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#175
Synopsis: This ensemble comedy is about the inner workings of a high-style magazine owned by Jack Gallo, who has hired his
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#174
Synopsis: A widower and former pro baseball player, Tony Micelli takes a job as a housekeeper for a high-powered divorced businesswoman,
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#173
Synopsis: The family at 1313 Mockingbird Lane is a little... different. Dad Herman looks like Frankenstein's monster; mom Lily and her
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#172
Synopsis: Rescued from a bottle (and a deserted island) by a U.S. astronaut, a scantily clad genie named Jeannie becomes his
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#171
Synopsis: Here's the story ... of a man named Brady, an architect widower with three sons: oldest Greg, middle son Peter
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#170
Synopsis: Policeman Carl Winslow has enough to deal with on the job. But when he gets home, he still has to
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#169
Synopsis: The spark in parents Brett and Michelle Pierson's marriage is all but extinguished. When his best friend, out-of-work actor Alex,
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#168
Synopsis: Chip Baskets has always dreamed of being a classically trained clown. After flunking out of French clown college -- probably
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#167
Synopsis: Based on the BBC series of the same name, "Getting On" follows the daily lives of overworked nurses and doctors
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#166
Synopsis: Morticia and Gomez Addams head a perplexingly macabre family whose members include a giant named Lurch, who acts as doorman,
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#165
Synopsis: "The Comeback" tells the story of a B-list sitcom star so desperate to revive her career that she agrees to
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#164
Synopsis: This heartfelt comedy follows Sam, a teenager on the autism spectrum, who has decided he is ready for romance. In
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#163
Synopsis: In 2022, a cataclysm strikes Earth, seemingly wiping out the population save for former family man and bank employee Phil
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#162
Synopsis: Brainy, sardonic Daria Morgendorffer tries to fly under the radar at Lawndale High School, and she's doing a pretty good
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#161
Synopsis: Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi head the cast of this studio sitcom, centered around aging partners Freddie and Stuart, who
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#160
Synopsis: This British comedy series focuses on three priests living on Craggy Island -- a remote isle off the coast of
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#159
Synopsis: In the Heck family, middle-age, middle-class, middle-America mom Frankie Heck (two-time Emmy winner Patricia Heaton) uses a sense of humor
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#157
Synopsis: Denise Huxtable is in "a different world" -- predominantly black Hillman College -- in this popular "Cosby Show" spinoff. A
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#156
Synopsis: Perhaps the funniest show ever made about fictional hilarity in a Nazi P.O.W. prison, this series focuses on Stalag 13,
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#155
Synopsis: When Danny Tanner's wife dies, the San Francisco sportscaster gets support in the form of two new roommates: brother-in-law and
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#154
Synopsis: Six black 20-somethings -- four women and two men -- share their lives and loves in a Brooklyn brownstone. A
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#153
Synopsis: With the help of true love Topanga, best friend Shawn and teacher Mr. Feeny, Cory Matthews juggles school, friends and
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#152
Synopsis: Jim Jefferies stars in this comedy series as Jim, an edgy, foul-mouthed comic from Australia -- essentially a fictionalized version
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#151
Critics Consensus: Boasting an expanded storyline and broader focus, Masters of Sex's second season improves on its already outstanding predecessor.
Best Comedy Series
200-151 | 150-101 | 100-51 | 50-1
65%
66%
- -
59%
98%
