Ah, sitcoms. Sometimes, they may seem like the junk food of the television world (especially by certain TV snobs!), and they may not be as hard-hitting as traditional dramas... but that doesn't mean we don't love 'em! These are the shows that are easy to watch, fun to laugh at, and yet still able to deal with some more serious situations.
From the classic tropes of a bunch of attractive 20-year-olds living in apartments they could never afford, to working mothers, animated princesses, and even mental health musicals, these are the sitcoms of the past ten years that you may not have seen... but that still deserve a watch.
10 Friends With Better Lives
Sometimes, it's not necessary to really go far from the standard formula to come up with something fun. Friends With Better Lives is a pretty straightforward setup about a group of incredibly attractive friends, and their ups and downs when it comes to love, career, and family. This show is a little more balanced than the traditional '20-somethings in a New York apartment' format, though, thanks to the fact that they are in their 30s, and all at different life stages. One couple is married with kids, one is newly engaged, one character is recently divorced, and one is permanently single thanks to her brilliant career. Sadly, the show was canceled far too soon, but it's definitely worth a watch.
9 Workin' Moms
This ongoing series is available on Netflix, and it's incredibly bingeable whether you are a parent or not. Workin' Moms is all about a group of women trying to balance motherhood with... everything else. Expect hilariously relatable commentary on bodies after giving birth, career expectations, breastfeeding (and pumping), and maintaining a marriage with a baby in the house. Sometimes tough, Workin' Moms doesn't shy away from serious subjects (divorce, cheating, loneliness, mental health), but does it in an incredibly fun and accessible way.
8 Grace & Frankie
One of the better-known shows on this list, Grace and Frankie takes the classic odd-couple format, and updates it by making the core characters two women whose husbands (or ex-husbands) left them to be with each other. The two women move in together, despite one being a total hippie, while the other is driven by career and looks.
Of course, they build a real bond, in this charming show. However, the series is also brilliant at showing that life doesn't end at 60 (or even at 35, where most sitcoms cut off!), and bringing up issues that are specific to older women and grown children in a truly hilarious way.
7 Lovesick
Fans of British comedy will love the series, which originally aired as 'Scrotal Recall'. The show's premise is that a young man discovers he has an STD, and has to contact all his old flames to let them know to get checked - which means lots of flashbacks, funny stories about love and dating, and a modern day love triangle as well. Expect plenty of raunchy humor, because there really isn't anywhere this show won't go, but it's so much more than just sex jokes.
6 Kim's Convenience
This sitcom is relatively well-known in Canada, but hasn't got a whole lot of traction outside the Great White North. Set in Toronto, the series is about the trials and tribulations of a Korean-Canadian family running a convenience store. The cultural commentary makes for some brilliant jokes that will resonate with anyone - whether their family looks anything like the Kims or not! The show is also based on a play that is just as hilarious.
5 Don't Trust The B In Apartment 23
Another sitcom starring James Van Der Beek (who is also in Friends With Better Lives), Don't Trust The B is a different take on the odd couple formula. This time, the pair-up is between a kind and naive smalltown girl named June, and her new roommate... Chloe, a party girl who will do whatever it takes to live her life the way she wants. Originally intending to just take the rent and then make June's life so difficult that she would leave, Chloe soon realizes that the two may be better matched than they first thought, and New York sitcom hilarity ensues.
4 Disenchantment
The only animation on this list, some might argue that Disenchantment isn't quite a sitcom... but it's certainly underrated, and it's got all the elements of a great sitcom too. Created by Matt Groening (of The Simpsons fame), Disenchantment is set in a high fantasy world, where a Princess is living in a castle.
But unlike most Disney movies, this Princess has no intention of getting married. Instead, she just wants to drink, fight, and have fun! Instead, she ends up on a series of magical adventures, and alongside Elfo and a particularly funny demon, she's ready to try and save the kingdom.
3 Good Girls
Good Girls isn't pure comedy, and may be a little more of a drama than many of the entries on this list, but don't let a little bit of darkness make you think that it isn't absolutely hilarious at the same time. Good Girls is about a group of three women, struggling to make ends meet... until they decide that robbing a grocery story could be the answer to all their problems. Of course, nothing goes quite according to plan, and the women get drawn into a much bigger life of crime than they expected - with darkly funny results.
2 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Not just any sitcom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is also a musical, packed with great comedy numbers that you'll be singing along to for a long time to come. Starting when a New York lawyer makes a spur-of-the-moment decision to move to West Covina, California, when she meets her first love... who lives there. While at first, it seems like this is a sitcom that makes light of 'crazy women' and mental health, on reality it is one of the most sensitive (and still hilarious) looks at mental health that has been on the small screen. It's funny, but it's also sensitive, dealing with a wide range of complex topics in a brilliantly light way - and of course, everybody loves the songs!
1 Superstore
Finally, we've got a series that should have a special place in the hearts of anyone who has worked retail. Superstore is based on the adventures (or lack thereof) of a group of friends working at a big box store. It's funny, it's fresh, and it's often compared to The Office, just looking at the aisles, not the cubicles. Even if you've never worked in a store like this, the dynamics of the friends is worth watching.
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