The Best Comedy TV Shows of the Last Decade, Ranked

Most comedy shows age badly because they chase the joke of the moment. The best ones survive because they understand something simpler: people will always want to watch deeply flawed adults make terrible decisions. After ten years of streaming wars, algorithm-driven recommendations, and more content than anyone can realistically finish, a handful of comedies have clearly separated themselves from the pack.

And right now feels like the right moment to rank them. Because several of the biggest shows of the 2010s are already entering that dangerous phase where nostalgia starts rewriting history.

The Shows That Actually Changed Your Watchlist

Ranking comedy used to be easier. You watched what your cable package gave you. Now you've got six streaming subscriptions, three unfinished watchlists, and a vague sense that everyone else already saw the good stuff.

So here's the rule: this ranking isn't about influence alone, awards alone, or which fandom yells the loudest online. It's about consistency, rewatchability, cultural impact, and one important question: would you recommend it to someone who's somehow never seen it?

10. Ted Lasso (2020-2023) Yes, the later seasons split viewers. Doesn't matter. The first season landed during lockdowns and gave audiences something TV had largely stopped offering: optimism without feeling childish.

9. Abbott Elementary (2021-present) Network sitcoms were supposed to be dying. Then this arrived and reminded everyone that sharp writing still beats expensive production budgets.

8. What We Do in the Shadows (2019-2024) A mockumentary about incompetent vampires sounds like a joke stretched too far. Instead, it became one of the funniest ensemble comedies of the streaming era.

7. Barry (2018-2023) Half comedy, half psychological breakdown, somehow both at once. By its final season, it barely looked like the show it started as. That's part of why it worked.

But once you reach the top half of this list, things get difficult.

The Heavyweights Still Winning Arguments

6. Hacks (2021-present) This show quietly became one of TV's sharpest observations about ambition, aging, and creative jealousy. Also, it has one of the strongest joke-per-minute rates on television.

5. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013-2021) Police comedies became a difficult sell by the end of its run. Yet people still rewatch this constantly because the cast chemistry never collapsed. Eight seasons and the characters still felt like people you'd want to spend time with.

4. The Bear (2022-present) Yes, people argue whether this is actually comedy. And yes, the fact that award shows keep putting it in comedy categories has become its own running joke. But FX submitted it as comedy, it won comedy awards, and its mix of panic attacks and punchlines still counts. Approximately 13 Emmy wins in 2024 alone made ignoring it impossible.

3. Schitt's Creek (2015-2020) Few shows have improved their reputation more dramatically. It started small, finished huge, and completed one of television's cleanest award sweeps when it won all seven major comedy categories at the 2020 Emmy Awards, approximately seven wins in a single night.

The Top Two Were Probably Inevitable

You've probably guessed them already.

2. The Good Place (2016-2020) High-concept comedies usually burn out because writers run out of road. This somehow kept reinventing itself every season while staying funny. Also, any sitcom that gets millions of viewers discussing moral philosophy deserves extra points.

1. Succession (2018-2023) Yes, it's officially a drama. No, that doesn't matter.

Because if you've watched four rich siblings destroy each other's lives while arguing about theme parks, private jets, and billion-dollar mergers, you already know this is one of the funniest shows made in the last decade.

The insults alone secured its place. And the numbers back it up: approximately 19 Emmy wins across its run, massive streaming numbers, endless memes, and a vocabulary expansion project for anyone who didn't previously know the phrase "boar on the floor."

Some rankings put this lower because it isn't traditionally structured comedy. Fair argument. Still wrong.

Why You Should Care Even If You Barely Watch TV

Comedy ages faster than almost anything else. A drama from 2014 can still feel current. A comedy from 2014 often feels like opening an old Twitter account.

That's why these shows matter. They survived changing viewing habits, fragmented audiences, and an entertainment industry that keeps insisting shorter attention spans mean viewers want less substance. Turns out people still like strong characters and good jokes.

What To Watch Next

Finished these already? Start here:

Watch Party Down if you want workplace chaos with more desperation and worse decisions.

Try Reservation Dogs if you want something warmer, stranger, and consistently underrated.

Queue up Peep Show if you're ready for maximum second-hand embarrassment.

Because eventually you'll finish your watchlist. The problem is that somebody always makes another great comedy before you do.