I’ll bite on this a bit. My patience for sitcoms is perhaps a little higher than average because I have a fondness for stuff like Cheers.
The Good Place - While the politics never get truly revolutionary, this sitcom does a very good job with pop philosophy and some decent twists along with good performances.
Baskets - Mostly the vision of Zach Galifianakis, this one kind of fell under the radar because it also had Louie CK on the creative team during his exposure as a creep. He never shows up in front of the camera, so your milage may vary on this sadcom and whether you can deal with him being involved.
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp - David Wain and basically of the State alums can do no wrong. Absurdist humor played straight or melodramatic has a good sheen of satire at its heart. The follow-up series, 10 Years Later, doesn’t hit quite as hard, but for fans it’s still a must watch.
Bob’s Burgers - Don’t know if you allow for animated shows to be true sitcoms, but I think it qualifies. Family comedy that constantly errs on the side of embracing being weird and an outcast. Occasionally too saccharine, but not that bad. If you want something a little different, but in the same vein, many of the creatives behind this one worked The Great North, which is also pretty good.
Broad City - Despite the Hillary episode, this is genuinely a really funny slice of life show. In fact, I tend to view the Hillary episode in the lens of both of these women have been established as absolute messes that can do nothing right, so of course they are completely in the bag for Hillary Clinton.
Catastrophe - Just the first season. It was clear Hogan and Delaney had something to say, said it and then found they had more success with it than they thought and came back for a bit of a mess for the second season. But if you like romcoms, you owe yourself a viewing of this one.
The Righteous Gemstones - Almost more of a prestige TV series than a sitcom, you can’t talk about comedy in TV in the last ten years without mentioning Danny McBride. I think this is his best work, but Vice Principals, which also meets the criteria of being in the last ten years, is also an incredible work.
Party Down - Technically the third season came out in the last ten years. I’m stretching here a bit, but I think this show deserves all the accolades The Office gets.
Sadly, this form really peaked with Arrested Development and 30 Rock. I feel like as more people turn to short form video for laughs, the sitcom dies with that. There’s also been a real drain on TV shows having consequences or friction, which is usually the most fertile ground for comedy. Look at shows like Ted Lasso that cannot allow a single character to be antagonistic for any long period of time. Ted eventually wins everyone over (even himself). There’s a lot of that in TV across the board, but it’s a death knell for the sitcom.
Oh, of course I hit post and then immediately remember Veep. Veep one of the most prescient and funniest shows of the last ten years.
And while I’m typing more. Anything by Nathan Fielder, while not a sitcom, has been hilarious. Likewise, the sort of reverse Nathan For You, Jury Duty, was also incredibly funny despite being more of a reality show than a sitcom.
This show was actually great. I didn’t think I’d like it, but it worked well. Funny, but also quite endearing.
Your other recs are good too. Veep may be one of my favorite shows.
Anything Nathan touches is good. Even that weird show he did with Emma Stone. I can’t wait for the second season of the Rehearsal. Covid seemed to really fuck up his plan for it, so I’m curious what it will be like now.
I’ll bite on this a bit. My patience for sitcoms is perhaps a little higher than average because I have a fondness for stuff like Cheers.
Sadly, this form really peaked with Arrested Development and 30 Rock. I feel like as more people turn to short form video for laughs, the sitcom dies with that. There’s also been a real drain on TV shows having consequences or friction, which is usually the most fertile ground for comedy. Look at shows like Ted Lasso that cannot allow a single character to be antagonistic for any long period of time. Ted eventually wins everyone over (even himself). There’s a lot of that in TV across the board, but it’s a death knell for the sitcom.
Oh, of course I hit post and then immediately remember Veep. Veep one of the most prescient and funniest shows of the last ten years.
And while I’m typing more. Anything by Nathan Fielder, while not a sitcom, has been hilarious. Likewise, the sort of reverse Nathan For You, Jury Duty, was also incredibly funny despite being more of a reality show than a sitcom.
This show was actually great. I didn’t think I’d like it, but it worked well. Funny, but also quite endearing.
Your other recs are good too. Veep may be one of my favorite shows.
Anything Nathan touches is good. Even that weird show he did with Emma Stone. I can’t wait for the second season of the Rehearsal. Covid seemed to really fuck up his plan for it, so I’m curious what it will be like now.
For sure. The Curse was really good. Definitely not a sitcom, but had incredibly funny moments (and moments of other incredibleness).
The Rehearsal is such a great concept. You can almost see like Rehearsal season 0 at the end of Nathan For You and he was already cooking then.
Jury Duty had a surprising amount of heart. If I think someone may find Fielder’s humor too mean spirited, I will still recommend Jury Duty for sure.
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