Cheers to Friday night! It’s the weekend, which means it’s time to decompress. Pour yourself a drink, pick a show to binge watch, and have a party with your quarantine crew.
Almost through your Netflix playlist? No worries- I got you! Check out my list of the 9 most binge-worthy comedy TV shows to watch during quarantine.
9. How I Met Your Mother
Architect Ted Mosby is unlucky in love, but doesn’t mind until his roommate Marshall proposes to his long-time girlfriend Lily. In that moment, Ted decides that he too needs to find a partner, and falls in love with the first woman he sees after making that decision: Robin. Robin does not reciprocate, but quickly becomes one of his closest friends. The series tells the tale of how Ted (after many years and many failed relationships) comes to meet the woman he does eventually marry.
Pros: HIMYM is 100% hilarious. Few shows have made me laugh this hard.
Cons: The characters are all terrible people. Granted, many shows on this list begin their runs with a cast of terrible characters, but all of their characters manage to grow and change over time. The characters in How I Met Your Mother consistently suck throughout the show’s duration.
Best Episode: Season 5, Episode 8 – “The Playbook”
There’s no denying that the womanizing Barney Stinson is horrible, but this episode shows exactly how horrible he can be when you learn of all the calculated “plays” he wrote, bound, and published detailing how exactly he manipulates women into climbing into his bed.
Where to Watch: Hulu
8. Community
Community is a sitcom that takes place at Greendale Community College. The show focuses on 7 students from a wide variety of age groups and backgrounds that come together to form a Spanish study group.
Pros: This show is very, very over the top- and it works! Nothing from god to politics is off-limit for this show, and it satirizes everything quite well. As silly as the show can be, it still has sentimental moments and great character development.
Cons: Community is inconsistent. While many episodes are phenomenal, others fall a bit flat. Also, I’m not the most “with-it” person when it comes to pop culture, so I don’t get some of the jokes and references. Despite that, it’s still an awesome show!
Best Episode: Season 2, Episode 14 – “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons”
To help cheer up depressed classmate Fat Neil, the gang decides to play an epic game of Dungeons & Dragons. However, they intentionally leave out insensitive Pierce Hawthorne in order to protect the feelings of Fat Neil. Pierce finds out and makes it his goal to dominate the game. Not only is this the best episode of Community, its one of the best episodes I’ve ever seen on television.
Where to Watch: Hulu and Netflix
7. Arrested Development
Arrested Development introduces us to a wealthy family called the Bluths. What the Bluths don’t know is that they’re one episode away from losing their vast fortune. Almost all of the Bluths are woefully incapable of functioning in the real world, and the series documents their attempts to regain their money and family stature.
Arrested Development is what you get when you mix misunderstandings, miscommunications, and remarkably self-absorbed characters. Despite their extreme dysfunction, they love each other quite a lot.
Pros: Fast-paced, intelligent, and has an incredibly talented cast and writing staff. Because the jokes are so rapid-fire, you’ll likely have to rewatch the series at least once to make sure you catch everything- which adds extra bingeability points!
Cons: The Bluth family is so self-absorbed it almost pushes the limits of what’s watchable. At times, I’ve had to pause an episode, walk away, and cringe before pressing play again.
Best Episode: Season 3, Episode 6 – “The Ocean Walker”
Michael Bluth announces his intent to marry girlfriend Rita. Unfortunately, his self-involved nature cause him to be entirely unaware that Rita has the mental capacity of a 6-year-old.
Where to Watch: Netflix
6. Schitt’s Creek
Much like Arrested Development, Schitt’s Creek is about a wealthy family who lose their fortune. Luckily, the family patriarch Johnny Rose bought a town called Schitt’s Creek as a joke for his son’s birthday. Because they have literally nowhere else to go, he moves his entire family to the town in the show’s first episode. The series follows the Rose family as they attempt to sell the town, and eventually integrate with the town’s normal inhabitants.
Pros: Despite starting the series as awful, the characters experience an enormous amount of growth.
Cons: The first few episodes are slow, but by the end of the first season the show really picks up steam!
Best Episode: Season 2, Episode 9 – “Moira’s Nudes”
This episode is amazing for many reasons, but mainly for this line: “The Top Eleven Photographs of Moira Rose With Future Murder Suspects.”
Where to Watch: Netflix
5. Parks and Recreation
Similar to The Office, Parks and Rec is a mockumentary about the employees of a local government office. The series follows the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana, a town known for fast food, obesity, and a general lack of giving a shit.
Enter Leslie Knope. Leslie is enthusiastic, ambitious, and cares too much. Throughout the series, she manages to transform the rest of the cast from apathetic to caring and respectful. While many of the characters in Parks and Rec begin the series as fairly selfish individuals, they experience a lot of growth and develop inspirational relationships in the process.
Pros: Parks and Rec does a great job of satirizing modern politics and government inefficiencies. Plus, its characters are some of the most lovable of any TV series I’ve seen.
Cons: Season 1. Let’s pretend it never happened.
Best Episode: Season 4, Episode 11 – “The Comeback Kid”
In her first foray into politics, Leslie decides to run for mayor of Pawnee. Despite being a perfect candidate, she ranks very low in preliminary polls, causing her campaign manager to quit. Her friends in the Parks department come together to help throw a rally to revitalize her campaign. Their attempt results in one of the all-time funniest episodes of comedy TV.
Where to Watch: Netflix or Hulu
4. Nailed It!
Nailed It! is a Netflix Original show that brings together three random contestants with limited baking experience and challenges them to replicate cakes, cookies, and other yummy treats created by a professional pastry chef. As expected, every contestant does a horrible (but entertaining) job, and we get to laugh at their monstrosities. It’s all in good faith though; the contestant that creates the least offensive cake gets to take home a $10,000 cash prize!
I love baking. My baked goods taste delicious, but they usually end up looking like someone sat on them- so this show really resonates with me. In fact, one of Stephen’s favorite birthday traditions is to ask me to make a well-decorated cake. He gets to feel really loved by how hard I try to make a cake that isn’t terrifying, and we both get a lot of entertainment by how pathetic the end result looks (and how delicious it tastes!)
Pros: Nailed It! does not take itself seriously AT ALL. If you’re looking for a show that is 100% lighthearted and upbeat, then this is the show for you!
Cons: None!
Best Episode: Holiday, Season 1, Episode 6 – “3… 2… 1, Ya Done!”
This episode of Nailed It! stars guest judge Jason Mantzoukas, who is one of my favorite comedic actors of all time. (In fact, he has roles on 3 other shows on this list!) His sarcasm and reactions to the monstrosities created by the episode’s unfortunate contestants are comedy gold and worth watching at least twice!
Where to Watch: Netflix
3. Friends
Friends tells the tale of 6 young adults in New York City trying to come to terms with how disappointing it is to be an adult. The series covers the trials and tribulations of hating your job, being broke, disappointing your parents, and attempting to date in a big city- all with a lot of sarcasm, humor, and love.
Pros: Friends is iconic. It is the bar to which every young-adult sitcom since has tried to reach. If I was into making memes, I could find years of content from Friends alone- it’s that funny!
Cons: Friends first debuted in 1994. A lot of jokes are characteristic of that era and, consequently, have not aged well. Also, it’s a little unnerving how unrealistic some aspects of the show are. No offense to Rachel and Monica, but how on earth are we supposed to believe that a waitress and entry-level chef can afford a giant apartment in Greenwich Village??
Best Episode: Season 5, Episode 14 – “The One Where Everyone Finds Out”
Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, friends Chandler and Monica have been secretly dating for months. In this episode, the rest of the friends discover their secret- and thoroughly enjoy messing with them in the process!
Where to Watch: Unfortunately, Netflix broke our hearts by removing Friends from their lineup last December. However, you can purchase each season on Amazon or wait until the release of HBO Max in May 2020.
2. The Good Place
Eleanor Shellstrop has just learned that she’s dead. Luckily, she made it into the Good Place due to her selflessness and generosity on earth. She introduced to her soulmate Chidi, a philosophy professor, as well as her neighbors Tahani and Jianyu, a philanthropist and monk. Thing is- Eleanor Shellstrop is a terrible person, and only got into the Good Place because of a horrible mistake.
The Good Place explores ethics, love, and friendship while managing to be both poignant and hilarious. I’ve never had more respect and affection for fictional characters before watching this show. Actually, I’ve never had to pause a series finale 5 times because I was crying too hard to see through my glasses.
Best Episode: Season 1, Episode 13 – “Michael’s Gambit”
I can’t give away too much about this episode without spoiling the entire series, but damn. It’s amazing. Just trust me and watch it already!
Where to Watch: Seasons 1-3 on Netflix, last half of Season 4 on Hulu
1. Brooklyn 99
Brooklyn 99 is a workplace comedy about cops- all who have very different personalities. Here’s the rundown:
Amy: A very pretty, type-A overachiever with a huge heart- and personality
Charles: A man who accidentally says something uncomfortably sexual almost every time he moves his tongue
Rosa: The last leather wearing, motorcycle riding, hard-ass cop you’d want to be locked in an interrogation room with
Jake: A phenomenal detective/genius with the personality and sense of humor of a 12-year-old boy
Terry: A man whose obsession with yogurt is almost as large as his biceps
Captain Holt: A very serious man who takes his job very seriously- but is also the funniest character on the show (even though none of the other characters seem to recognize that)
Gina: Yikes…
Pros: Every episode is freaking hilarious. Seriously, they’re all fantastic. I only discovered this show a year and a half ago, and I’ve already seen every episode at least 3 times. Also, the show tackles emotionally-charged topics like sexuality and racism with both humor and respect. Also, Captain Holt’s sassiness is iconic. Also, the Halloween Heist. Also, Doug Judy.
Best Episode: Who am I kidding- they’re all the best episode. Seriously, I can’t choose just one. I spent about 2 hours going through the episode list on Wikipedia, consulted my boyfriend, and even searched Google, and I still couldn’t pick one.
Where to Watch: Hulu
Note: This post was originally published on Ciao by Shay on April 10, 2020. It was migrated to Happy Health Stylish upon my blog’s rebranding.