Sitcoms seem to be a dying breed on television, but the genre lives on thanks to Netflix in the form of original shows, as well as series from the past that have found a home at the streamer. This month’s top new addition to the sitcom lineup is Young Sheldon, which was most recently streaming on Max. We’re also putting a spotlight on two Netflix original sitcoms, Merry Happy Whatever and Blockbuster, as well as a former NBC sitcom, Great News.
Netflix is also the home for all-time great sitcoms like Seinfeld, Arrested Development, and Community, all of which you can find on our list of the best sitcoms on Netflix right now. And more sitcoms are coming in 2024 because Netflix is constantly adding new shows. So keep checking back as we update this list every month.
We’ve also rounded up all the best movies on Netflix, the best shows on Hulu, the best shows on Amazon Prime, and the best shows on Disney+ because we take our streaming seriously. Watching while traveling abroad? Use a Netflix VPN to access your country’s catalog from anywhere in the world.
Young Sheldon (2017-present)
Young Sheldon was one of the top streaming hits for Max, and it’s quickly climbed the charts now that it’s on Netflix. This spinoff from The Big Bang Theory is actually a prequel that follows the world’s most annoying man, Sheldon Lee Cooper, when he was just a child, as played by Iain Armitage.
Even at this early age, Sheldon is the genius of the Cooper family, which includes his parents, Mary (Zoe Perry) and George Cooper Sr. (Lance Barber), as well as their other children, George Jr. (Montana Jordan) and Missy (Raegan Revord). Sheldon does his best to learn how to relate to his family and demonstrate his love, but most of these lessons must not have extended to Sheldon’s adult self on The Big Bang Theory. In some ways, this seems like an alternate timeline.
Watch Young Sheldon on Netflix.
Merry Happy Whatever (2019)
Merry Happy Whatever may be the first Christmastime sitcom, which also may account for the reason why it didn’t last beyond its first and only season. Dennis Quaid leads the cast as Don Quinn, the deputy sheriff of his small town, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Don is also the father of Emmy (Bridgit Mendler), Kayla (Ashley Tisdale), Patsy (Siobhan Murphy), and Sean (Hayes MacArthur).
Emmy has come home for the holidays with her boyfriend, Matt (Brent Morin), both of whom want Don to give his blessing so they can get married. What they don’t realize is that Don is already trying to break up the couple by securing Emmy a job in town, and by driving off Matt in any way that he can.
Watch Merry Happy Whatever on Netflix.
Blockbuster (2022)
Netflix played a big role in the downfall of Blockbuster Video, so it’s ironic that Netflix itself was behind Blockbuster, a short-lived sitcom about the very last Blockbuster store in existence. WandaVision‘s Randall Park leads the cast as Timmy Yoon, the man who keeps his Blockbuster store alive after the rest of the corporation has closed down.
Timmy’s employees at the store include would-be director, Carlos Herrera (Tyler Alvarez), as well as Hannah Hadman (Madeline Arthur), Connie Serrano (Olga Merediz), and Eliza Walker (Melissa Fumero). Timmy is also secretly in love with Eliza, who has separated from her husband. Whether Timmy can confess his feelings for Eliza is one of the central conflicts of the show.
Watch Blockbuster on Netflix.
Great News (2017-2018)
Great News is one of those shows that only had a brief shelf life on television. But since Netflix is essentially the afterlife for discarded TV sitcoms, it has a second chance to get an audience. This show takes place behind the scenes of a fictional news series called The Breakdown, which is anchored by Chuck Pierce (John Michael Higgins) and Portia Scott-Griffith (Nicole Richie).
However, the primary focus of this sitcom is on Katherine “Katie” Wendelson (Briga Heelan), a producer on The Breakdown who reluctantly works alongside her mother, Carol Wendelson (Andrea Martin), an older woman who has gotten herself hired to be an intern on the show. Now, Katie has to navigate her relationship with Carol while also dealing with the romantic tension she has with her boss, Greg Walsh (Adam Campbell).
Watch Great News on Netflix.
Lopez vs. Lopez (2022-present)
Because Lopez vs. Lopez is an NBC series, Peacock seems like it would be the more natural streaming home for it than Netflix. Regardless, the first season of Lopez vs. Lopez is now on Netflix, and season 2 will presumably begin filming after the actor’s strike ends. For now, viewers can get reacquainted with sitcom veteran George Lopez as he co-stars in this new series with his real-life daughter, Mayan Lopez.
The setup for the show is that George and Mayan have been estranged for years until George went bankrupt and hit rock bottom. Now, George is living with Mayan and her boyfriend, Quinten Van Bryan (Matt Shively), as well as their son, Chance Lopez-Van Bryan (Brice Gonzalez). George and Mayan are also working on repairing their relationship, but not always successfully.
Watch Lopez vs. Lopez on Netflix.
The Upshaws (2021-present)
The Upshaws may be the most conventional Netflix original sitcom that is still an ongoing show. Mike Epps and Kim Fields co-headline the series as Bennie and Regina Upshaw, respectively. Bennie owns his own business, Bennie’s Garage, but he sometimes struggles to be there for his kids with Regina, including Aaliyah (Khali Spraggins), Maya (Journey Christine), and Bernard Jr. (Jermelle Simon), as well as Kelvin Upshaw (Diamond Lyons), Bernie’s son with another woman.
Wanda Sykes co-created the series which also co-stars as Lucretia Turner, Bennie’s sister-in-law, who really doesn’t like him very much. But recurring conflict like that is at the heart of every successful sitcom.
Watch The Upshaws on Netflix.
Fuller House (2016-2020)
Fuller House was an updated revival of the classic ABC sitcom, Full House, which suggests that an eventual sequel series should be called Fullest House. Unlike some revivals, Fuller House got most of the original cast back in either starring or supporting roles.
Candace Cameron Bure headlines the show as D.J. Tanner-Fuller, a widowed mother who desperately needs help raising her three sons. That’s why D.J.’s sister, Stephanie Tanner (Jodie Sweetin), and her best friend, Kimmy Gibbler (Andrea Barber), drop everything in their lives in order to move in with D.J.’s family in the classic Tanner home. The late comedy legend, Bob Saget, recurred on the series, alongside his former Full House co-stars, including John Stamos, Dave Coulier, and Lori Loughlin.
Watch Fuller House on Netflix.
iCarly (2007-2012)
It seems like such a long time since iCarly debuted on Nickelodeon, especially since the revival series was only recently canceled by Paramount+. Regardless, this was a sitcom that was created for younger audiences, and it still plays well for fans who may not be ready for some of the more adult-oriented shows.
Miranda Cosgrove headlines the series as Carly Shay, a teenage girl who launches her own web show, iCarly, which she co-hosts with her best friend, Sam Puckett (Jennette McCurdy), and produces with Freddie Benson (Nathan Kress). At Freddie’s suggestion, the girls continued making the show because it was fun. But they didn’t count on the ways that their new online popularity would complicate their lives.
Watch iCarly on Netflix.
Seinfeld (1989-1998)
Seinfeld, the series described as “a show about nothing,” was the defining comedy of the 1990s. And it got a lot of mileage out of “nothing” as Jerry Seinfeld (playing a version of himself) spent time hanging out with his friends, George Costanza (Jason Alexander), Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards).
The show was chock-full of outlandish situations, incredibly bizarre one-off characters, and some of the most consistently witty and hilarious quips on TV. It’s been 25 years since this show went off the air, and it remains an all-time classic.
Watch Seinfeld on Netflix.
Community (2009-2015)
Years before co-creating Rick and Morty, Dan Harmon’s Community was perhaps the most inventive comedy writer on TV. This series about a study group at a small community college may not have been a ratings juggernaut, but it had a cast that most shows would love to have, including Joel McHale, Donald Glover, Alison Brie, Danny Pudi, Gillian Jacobs, and Chevy Chase. More importantly, it has a strong following that still wants Harmon to finish that Community TV movie he’s working on for Peacock.
The secret to this show’s success was the wild swings that it took, the hilarious parody episodes, and most of all, an abundance of heart when it counted, especially in the stop-motion animated Christmas episode. Future MCU directors Anthony and Joe Russo also earned their chance to helm Marvel’s movies thanks to their work on Community‘s unforgettable paintball episodes. How many other shows can say that?
Watch Community on Netflix.
The Good Place (2016-2020)
It’s not necessarily a wonderful afterlife for Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) and Jason Mendoza (Manny Jacinto) in The Good Place. Despite being sent to their eternal paradise, Eleanor and Jason know that they don’t deserve it and that they were probably meant to end up in the Bad Place. That’s why their guide, Michael (Ted Danson), pairs Eleanor up with her soulmate, Chidi Anagonye (William Jackson Harper), and assigns Tahani Al-Jamil (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law‘s Jameela Jamil) to Jason — to help them become better people.
But the Good Place isn’t necessarily what it seems, and the quartet will eventually have reasons to question their afterlife, even during hilarious circumstances.
Watch The Good Place on Netflix.
Arrested Development (2003-2006, 2013-2019)
The Russo brothers were also among the primary directors on Arrested Development, Mitchell Hurwitz’s cult comedy series that briefly ran on Fox nearly two decades ago. Netflix revived the series for two additional seasons in 2013, which helped solidify the streamer’s original programming. The show follows Michael Bluth (Air‘s Jason Bateman), the seemingly ordinary guy in a dysfunctional family. But he just can’t stay out of their orbit.
When Michael’s father, George Bluth (Jeffrey Tambor), is sent to prison, Michael is roped into helping run the family company while dealing with his acerbic mother, Lucille Bluth (Jessica Walter), as well as his eccentric siblings: Gob (Will Arnett), Lindsay (Portia de Rossi), and Buster (Tony Hale). This job just might drive Michael out of his mind, if his family doesn’t do it first.
Watch Arrested Development on Netflix.
Kim’s Convenience (2016-2021)
Before he was cast in the lead of Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Simu Liu had a starring role on Kim’s Convenience as Jung Kim, the estranged son of Yong-mi Kim (Jean Yoon) and Sang-il Kim (The Mandalorian‘s Paul Sun-Hyung Lee). Most of the show focused on the Kims and their convenience store, as wll as their daughter, Janet Kim (Andrea Bang). But Jung carried his own storylines and subplots even when kept at a distance.
Although Janet and Yong-mi maintain ties with Jung, getting the father and son to patch up their differences is no easy task. There are definitely some dramatic and heartfelt moments in this comedy, and that’s what makes it a great show.
Watch Kim’s Convenience on Netflix.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015-2020)
Netflix rescued Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt from an inevitable cancellation by NBC by picking up the show before it ever premiered on network television. That turned out to be a great pickup because this is by far one of the most acclaimed sitcoms on Netflix. The show is about Kimmy Schmidt (Ellie Kemper), a woman who spent 15 years of her life trapped in a cult run by Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne (Confess, Fletch‘s Jon Hamm).
But rather than let this define her life, Kimmy decides to completely reinvent herself by moving to New York City and moving in with an eccentric actor, Titus Andromedon (Tituss Burgess). She also befriends her landlord, Lillian Kaushtupper (Carol Kane), and finds a real job working for Jacqueline Voorhees (Jane Krakowski). There are four seasons of this series, but we don’t recommend a binge. This is a show that’s meant to be savored, so take your time.
Watch Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix.
The Game (2006-2008)
Only the first three seasons of The Game‘s nine-season run are on Netflix, but it’s still a sitcom that’s worthy of your time. The show follows Melanie Barnett (Tia Mowry), a young medical school student who turns down a chance to study at a prestigious school to accompany her boyfriend, Derwin Davis (Pooch Hall), to San Diego after he is drafted to play pro football.
Once Melanie arrives in San Diego, she befriends Kelly Pitts (Brittany Daniel), another significant other from Derwin’s team, as well as Tasha Mack (Wendy Raquel Robinson), the mother of the team’s starting quarterback. Through Kelly and Tasha, Melanie learns how to navigate life in the spotlight alongside Derwin.
Watch The Game on Netflix.
Girlfriends (2000-2008)
The Game was actually spun off of Girlfriends, which was one of the most popular sitcoms on UPN/The CW. The show focuses on the friendship and bond between four women: Joan Carol Clayton (Tracee Ellis Ross), Maya Denise Wilkes (Golden Brooks), Lynn Ann Searcy (Persia White), and Antoinette “Toni” Marie Childs-Garrett (Jill Marie Jones).
Each of these women is at very different places in their lives, and they don’t always see eye-to-eye. But for the most part, they support each other and maintain the bonds between them … with one exception that happens late in the series’ run.
Watch Girlfriends on Netflix.
Crashing (2016)
Before she made a name for herself with Fleabag and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Phoebe Waller-Bridge had a leading role on the short-lived British sitcom Crashing. The show is so named because Waller-Bridge’s character, Lulu, is the latest roommate to move into an abandoned hospital alongside one of her best friends, Anthony (Damien Molony), Anthony’s fiancée Kate (Louise Ford), Melody (Julie Dray), Sam (Jonathan Bailey), and Fred (Amit Shah).
Lulu’s arrival almost instantly causes problems for Anthony and Kate, especially when Lulu and Anthony start feeling a romantic attraction toward each other. Meanwhile, the entire group dynamic is so dysfunctional that it may bring their living arrangements to an abrupt end.
Watch Crashing on Netflix.
Ugly Betty (2006-2010)
Barbie‘s America Ferrera had her first breakout role as the star of Ugly Betty. The title character, Betty Suarez (Ferrera), is admittedly awkward and fashion-challenged. But Betty soon finds a life-altering career opportunity when she is hired to be a personal assistant at Mode, one of the top fashion magazines in the world.
Betty doesn’t waste much time making friends with her boss, Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius). And it’s a good thing too, because this workplace has a viper, Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams), who is dismissive of Betty and eager to displace Daniel so she can run Mode by herself. Regardless, it’s Betty’s innate goodness that makes the show so enjoyable.
Watch Ugly Betty on Netflix.
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