30 Comedies To Stream on Netflix When You Could Use a Good Laugh (2024)

Produced by Tina Fey, this musical comedy follows a ’90s girl group staging a major comeback. After their one-hit wonder is sampled in a new rap song, the four members of Girls5eva—played by Paula Pell, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Busy Phillips, and Sara Bareilles—attempt to recapture the magic of their early pop-star days, all while dealing with their own very middle-age problems. The first two seasons of Girls5eva aired on Peaco*ck, but for its third outing, the delightfully nostalgic series made the move to Netflix—where all three seasons are now available to stream.

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There’s nothing quite like a good black comedy—and Dead to Me is one of the best out there. The series follows newly widowed Jen (Christina Appelgate), who’s on an anger-fueled mission to solve the mystery of her husband’s hit-and-run death. When she meets the quirky, carefree Judy (Linda Cardellini) in a grief support group, the polar-opposite pair develops a strong bond. The only problem? Judy is harboring a major secret that threatens to ruin everything. Twists and turns abound throughout the show’s three seasons.

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An awkward high school student named Otis (Asa Butterfield) teams up with troubled teen Maeve (Emma Mackey) to launch a secret sex therapy clinic for his peers in this British comedy, which stars Gillian Anderson as Otis’ mom Jean, a renowned sex therapist. There are four refreshingly realistic seasons of the intimacy-focused, heartfelt comedy to enjoy—and hey, you just might even learn a thing or two yourself.

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You can’t go wrong with a Mindy Kaling-created coming-of-age comedy like Never Have I Ever. The series’ breakout star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan plays Devi, a first-generation Indian-American teenager trying to navigate the hell of high school while grieving the loss of her father. Over the course of four seasons, Devi and her friends experience all of life’s (often hilarious) growing pains, from awkward sexual encounters and crushes to college acceptance letters.

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With a highly absurd but very original plot, The Good Place ran for four glorious seasons on NBC. The fantasy-fueled series takes place in the titular afterlife, a heaven-like setting where one resident is zanier than the next. Kristen Bell plays the recently deceased Eleanor, who, given her past moral discretions, believes that she was erroneously sent to the utopia (which is run by Ted Danson’s architect character, Michael). As she tries to make up for her sins on Earth to avoid eternal torture in The Bad Place, the show only gets wackier—in the best way possible.

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Keir Gilchrist stars Sam, an 18 year old on the autism spectrum, in Atypical. The series follows the Antarctica-obsessed teen’s everyday highs and lows, from therapy sessions to shifts at Tech-tropolis, as he makes an effort to become more independent from his parents (Michael Rappaport and Jennifer Jason Leigh) and his sister ( Brigette Lundy-Paine) in order to get a girlfriend. Four funny yet endearing seasons explore how each family member grapples with their understanding of “normalcy.”

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A surreal comedy unlike any other, Russian Doll brings the laughs—and a bit of stress—throughout its two seasons. Natasha Lyonne plays Nadia, a New York City woman who dies repeatedly on the night of her 36th birthday party. Stuck in a time loop that only she can find a way to break, Nadia relives the same events over and over again; and no matter what she does differently each time, the doomed software engineer continues to reawaken at the exact same moment.

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At first glance, Wednesday may not give off “comedy” vibes. But fear not: The supernatural series is, in fact, funny. In her role as the emotionless Wednesday Addams, Jenna Ortega delivers a sarcastic performance that is as cold as it is compelling, and her meme-worthy character is finally in her element as she begins classes at Nevermore Academy following a string of past expulsions. Whip-smart and twisted, season one follows the gothic teen as she leans into her psychic abilities and helps solve a 25-year-old murder mystery—one for which her father Gomez had been accused. Season 2 is already in the works.

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All five seasons of Issa Rae’s HBO hit, Insecure, are available to stream on Netflix. Based on Rae’s web series, Awkward Black Girl, the comedy chronicles the Black female experience through the eyes of two twenty-something best friends—Issa Dee (Rae) and Molly Carter (Yvonne Orji)—as they awkwardly navigate life in Los Angeles. Insightful, frank, and downright hilarious, it’s a series that’s not to be missed.

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When it originally aired on Hulu, The Mindy Project was considered appointment-viewing TV. Now, all six seasons are available on Netflix—and a rewatch proves the series to be as sharp as ever. Mindy Kaling plays Mindy Lahiri, an OB/GYN struggling to balance work and romance. Surrounded by a true cast of characters that include her colleagues and college BFF, Mindy is as wonderfully relatable—and messy—as they come.

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With a cast led by Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, it would be hard not to laugh at Grace and Frankie. The pair portrays the titular frenemies—makeup mogul Grace (Fonda) and free-spirited artist Frankie (Tomlin)—who are all but forced to bond when they learn that their husbands are leaving them…for each other. With their lives upended, the women lean on one another to cope throughout seven seasons of the sitcom that reunited the beloved 9 to 5 costars.

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As its title suggests, Kim’s Convenience centers on a Korean-Canadian family of four that runs a convenience store in Toronto. The charming sitcom seamlessly touches on very real themes of immigration as it follows the trials and tribulations of parents Appa (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) and Umma (Jean Yoon) and their kids, Janet (Andrea Bang) and Jung (Simu Liu). Navigating their relationships with each other as well as their customers, the show has a sketch-comedy feel to it—and it works.

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A quick-witted riches-to-rags story, Arrested Development centers on the family of corrupt real estate developer George Bluth St. (Jeffrey Tambor). After George is arrested for his crimes in the series premiere, his son Michael (Jason Bateman) does his best to keep the family business—and the spoiled, dysfunctional family itself—afloat. The first three seasons of the critically-acclaimed comedy aired on Fox from 2003 to 2006, and a 2013 Netflix revival delivered two additional seasons.

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One of the buzziest shows of 2023, Beef stars Ali Wong and Steven Yeun as a pair of strangers whose paths cross during a road rage incident. Their characters, Amy and Danny, can’t seem to let go of the situation, which evolves into an all-out feud that turns both of their lives upside down. Pettiness is off the charts in the limited series, which makes for an outrageously amusing—albeit intense—watch.

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If you missed the Gallagher family’s original 11-season run on Showtime, now is the time to catch up. Set on Chicago’s South Side, Shameless stars William H. Macy as patriarch Frank, an absent alcoholic father who’s left his eldest daughter, Fiona (Emmy Rossum) to raise her five younger siblings in his stead. Although darker themes and scenes abound, the characters deliver biting comedic performances as they continue to find themselves in one ridiculous situation after the next. (Fans of The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White will especially enjoy his turn as Fiona’s scrappy street-smart brother, Lip).

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Seinfeld, of course, needs no introduction. The iconic “show about nothing” stars Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards as the neurotic foursome best known as Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer. It’s hailed as one of the best sitcoms of all time for a reason—and with all nine seasons streaming on Netflix, it’s easier than ever to live out those rerun dreams.

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After they hold up a local supermarket to fix their financial problems, a trio of suburban Michigan moms quickly realize that they’re in over their heads. The successful heist leads Beth, Ruby, and Annie—played by Christina Hendricks, Retta, and Mae Whitman, respectively—deeper down the criminal path with only each other to turn to. Originally airing on NBC, the dramedy ran for four funny, action-packed seasons.

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Based on Piper Kerman’s 2010 memoir about her experiences at a minimum-security federal prison, Orange Is The New Black takes place at the fictional Litchfield Penitentiary in Upstate New York. When Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) is sentenced to 15 months for a drug-smuggling conviction, she encounters an unforgettable ensemble of inmates played by Laura Prepon, Uzo Aduba, Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne, and Kate Mulgrew. Nuanced and unexpected, the series was Netflix’s second-ever original show—and it’ll definitely make you laugh (and cry, too).

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Set in Derry, Northern Ireland, in the ’90s, Derry Girls is inspired by the real-life upbringing of its creator, Lisa McGee. The show follows five students at the fictional Catholic girls school Our Lady Immaculate College, with 16-year-old Erin Quinn (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) and her pals—played by Louisa Harland, Nicola Coughlan, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, and Dylan Llewellyn, whose character serves as the school’s first-ever male student—navigating teendom amid the rife political climate of The Troubles. Unpredictable and irreverent, the dark comedy’s three seasons first brought laughs to the U.K. when it initially aired on Channel 4.

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Michelle Yeoh, Justin Chien, and Sam Song Li lead the cast of this action comedy, which was canceled after only one season but still deserves a watch. Chien stars as Charles Sun, a Taipei gangster who, after an assassination attempt on his Taiwanese crime boss father, moves to Los Angeles to protect his estranged mother Eileen (Yeoh) and younger brother Bruce (Song Li). As complicated as it is, each episode of the soapy family saga brings the jokes.

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