Top 13 Best American Comedy Show of All Time

Updated on July 25, 2022 11:19 AM by Anthony Christian

There is a little bit of everything on this list, from the nostalgic classic comedy, comedy shows to theme-driven dramas that use humor to address serious social issues to the classic comedies we all love to binge because they feel like visiting an old friend and help us cope with the harsh realities of modern life—the greatest comedy shows of all time, without further hesitation.

You get to know the characters, and you feel as if you can flee into their world—and, most notably, you can binge them for full days (or weekends) of constant positive vibrations.

Kudos to Netflix heaven (and Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney +, Peacock, and HBO Max—basically any streaming platform we can get our fingers on a scroll for). Comedy programs are the verbal equivalent of delicious meals: a visual feast that always boosts your spirits.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Larry David's second show about nothing, which has 11 seasons under its hood, keeps getting stronger. David plays a fictionalized version of himself who, by imposing his fears and anxieties and misanthropy on everyone around him, has destroyed virtually every bridge in Los Angeles, leading to hilarious gaffes and miscommunications of all sizes. Come sit near David if you don't have anything pleasant to say; Curb Your Enthusiasm was built for people like you. Adrienne Westfield

Nathan For You

Is it the most complex practical comedy show ever? Is there a genuine desire to assist company owners? Is it a film concerning the state of the human race? Is it a story about a man's search for love? All of these peculiar and incredible elements are combined in Nathan For You to create a postmodern comedy series that has never been seen before. Matthew Miller

Cheers

One of the greatest comedy shows of all time isn't only because everyone recognizes the theme music. An all-star ensemble, a crude comedy that (mostly) held up over time, and a country's never-ending search for a bar to call their own all contribute to a program that is much too simple to get lost in during the Age of Binge Watching.

This is worth seeing again as an adult if you just recall seeing glimpses of it when you were little as your parents watched it. B. Boskovich

The Simpsons

The Simpsons, the yellow dynasty that has for years held a mirror up against American pop society and culture, is the longest-running scripted television series of all time. The Simpsons have been on television for an amazing 22 further seasons, despite purists' claims that the program lost its appeal before the 10th season.

Atlanta

After a successful career as an actor and singer, Donald Glover adds showrunner for the hit TV series Atlanta to his strong portfolio. Atlanta addresses race in America, unlike any other TV program, with a vision that is incredibly clear and characters that are expertly constructed and profoundly relatable. Additionally, it helped Brian Tyree Henry, Lakeith Stanfield, and Zazie Beetz, three of the most promising young character performers, achieve mainstream fame.

Seinfeld

What television humor would seem like without Seinfeld makes me cringe. Seinfeld is The Show About Anything it Takes to Be a Trendy, Anxious Person in America, even though we label it The Show About Nothing.

The Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld humor engine amplifies and twists all those little annoyances, social faux pas, awkward situations, miscommunications, blunders, and foibles to produce most of what comedy is today.

Frasier

Cheers were so well-liked that it even inspired its spinoff series focused on Dr. Frasier Crane, one of the regulars at the bar. Why not Woody, Cliff, or Norm instead? Well, Frasier's life after leaving Boston ended up being rather intriguing.

Come for a taste of high society in the tower above Seattle; stay for the classic one-liners of the late John Mahoney, who portrays Frasier's father and who ultimately became one of the greatest television characters of all time.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

It's difficult to think this comedy show was the first to do so many things, like focussing on a single female in a major city, treating the office like a family room, and confronting social concerns with heart and comedy. Although Ted, the buffoonish newscaster, and Phyllis, the sarcastic landlady, are secondary characters, you care about them because they are so well-defined and real.

Moore is endearing and wonderfully untidy. It introduced new characters like Betty White's cheerily lusty Sue Ann without skipping a beat, spun off two into their series during its run, and a third—Lou Grant in a drama!—after it had ended. In addition, the greatest theme music in TV history

Schitt's Creek

In this Canadian sitcom starring Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara, an affluent family is compelled to scale back their luxurious lifestyle with comic repercussions. Levy portrays Johnny Rose, a wealthy owner of a video store who loses everything when his business manager doesn't pay his taxes.

O'Hara portrays his wife Moira, a former soap opera star who must relocate to a place named Schitt's Creek with her husband and their two spoiled kids. When the family had more money than they could spend, Johnny bought the town as a joke, but now the town and its citizens serve as a comic wake-up call for the family.

The comedy show has given us memorable characters throughout six seasons, with Dan Levy's David and Annie Murphy's Alexis standing out, as well as memorable situations that, oddly enough, made us care for this dysfunctional family. On this list, there isn't a feel-good watch that compares. Or even a more memorable one.

New Girl

From a very simple premise, Fox's comedy about a quirky lady who moves in with three male roommates soon developed into one of the finest series on television. Zooey Deschanel plays Jess, a teacher who, after learning that her partner had been cheating on her, is made to share a room with three other men:

Nick (Jake Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield), and Winston (Lamorne Morris). The gang becomes close friends throughout the following seven seasons, going through several unfortunate events such as getting married, having children, getting sympathy for PMS, getting lost in Mexico, and more. Nevertheless, the connection between the four main characters is what propels each bizarre episode forward.

Arrested Development

A screwball farce posing as a mockumentary about a naturally unlikable family of wealthy people who are as dysfunctional as they are out of touch (how much could a banana cost, ten dollars? ), Arrested Development is a modern comedy classic (Motherboy XXX).

The ignorant Bluth family is sent into a tailspin when patriarch George Sr. is arrested for fraud, desperately trying to hang onto their remaining money and the last remnants of their opulent lifestyle, maintaining the illusion (tricks are something a whore does for money) in increasingly absurd ways.

Family may be the most essential point, but can you blame Michael for always threatening to leave his when it's filled with hop-on, never nudes who blue themselves, and Franklin the puppet? Luckily, you won't have any hesitations about continuing with the Bluths, particularly because the first three seasons - with their complex, meticulously thought-out humor - reward repeated viewings.

Bojack Horseman

Due to its absurdity, BoJack Horseman's initial few episodes can turn off viewers. However, it delves deeper than a program about a horseman and other animals people should, at times becoming quite serious and downright tragic. But its complex narratives always have a depth of humor, which the tragedy only serves to emphasize.

After all, there is a figure called "Vincent Adultman" who appears frequently and who is several small children packed inside of a trench coat. We're dealing with a show of that nature here. There is a gloomy undercurrent to the series despite the smart writing, multilayered gags, and entertaining situations. Bojack is one of the most human characters despite being a horse.

Sex Education

This British teem comedy is dedicated to examining all of the uncomfortable, taboo themes related to sex, but not in animated form, in the tradition of Nick Kroll's Big Mouth. The show follows a mother and son team as they negotiate those awkward "talks."

Naturally, the mother in this story is a sex therapist by the name of Dr. Jean Milburn (a fantastic Gillian Anderson), and her son Otis (Asa Butterfield) is the young man who must deal with her domineering tendencies at home while also dispensing his sex advice in an unofficial sex therapy network among his friends.

Although the program enjoys playing off '80s high-school clichés, there is actual subtlety and effort that goes into how these adolescents are presented, and Sex is a comic goldmine.