10 Best Netflix Comedy Shows

With summer in full swing and time a-plenty, what better alternative could compete with holing yourself up in the duvet and searing your eyeballs with this masterfully curated list of the most rib-tickling, sidesplitting, and downright masterpieces of comedy currently available to watch on UK Netflix.

10 - The Good Place

I often think that for comedy to work properly, there must be a coherent plot occurring with the humour interspersed throughout, and none does this better than NBC's The Good Place. The show follows Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell), a newly-found resident of the titular realm, who is adamant she does not truly belong in paradise and seeks to have her questions answered about the nature of The Good Place and her role in it's operation. Much of the laughs ensue as Eleanor is a rude and selfish person having to interact with saintly do-gooders, to whom she simply cannot resist subjecting them to ridicule. With help from other insufferable and pretentious neighbours Chidi, Jianyu, and Tahani, she learns how to be a good person in order to secure her place in heaven. Taking inspiration from typical notions of afterlife in the major religions and renowned philosophical ideas, the lore and logic of the show is very clearly well researched without being introduced too heavily into the script. With a show set in a bliss afterlife, one might assume it impossible to maintain freshness, but with every episode comes a new plot development and each finale flips the show's format on it's head.

9 - How I Met Your Mother

I know, I know, even the mere mention of this Friends/The Big Bang Theory relative sparks ire and eye-rolls. However, corny as the jokes may be and the outrage associated with that ending, I believe How I Met Your Mother deserves a place on this list for it's robust cast of characters that remain believable but still undergo important development over the course of 10 seasons. Ted Mosby, the main character, tells his and his partner's love story to his children whilst consistently featuring his friends Marshall, Lily, Robin, and Barney in his tales. The series regularly introduces new love interests, leaving viewers speculating the true identity of the mother - a fact not revealed until the final seasons. With the incorporation of dramatic storylines, when paired with expertly permeated running gags and wacky scenarios, the show will likely stand the test of time as one of the best sitcoms of the millennia.

8 - The Job Lot

Workplace settings lend themselves to comedy gold, as evidenced with ITV's The Job Lot. The short series captures a West Midlands job centre managed by a frazzled Trish (Sarah Hadland), trying to keep her challenging employees in check, while simultaneously dealing with the reluctant job-seekers. The laughs in this really stem from the workers, such as jobsworth Angela (Jo Enright), or laid back security guards Paul and Janette. Even with mentally unstable Trish and a somewhat incompetent workforce, the show accurately depicts the working class English while sprinkling the awkward and subtle British humour throughout.

7 - Miranda

Among Brits, there is a love-it-or-hate-it relationship with the BBC sitcom Miranda, but the nuanced humour and relatable set of characters secures its place on this list. The comedy observes the titular character in her quest for love as a socially awkward, clumsy, tall, manly mid-thirties woman. Although the slapstick sometimes goes amiss, the surprisingly accurate commentary on relatable mother-child dynamics is certainly welcome. Miranda's ineptitude is painful to watch and allows us to indulge in chuckling at her cringes whilst trying not to recall our own.

6 - Friday Night Dinner

Life is hectic as a Jewish English family, as demonstrated convincingly by Channel 4's Friday Night Dinner. Each episode is set on a Friday night, where two sons Adam (Simon Bird) and Jonny (Tom Rosenthal) return to their childhood home for a meal with their parents, played by the brilliant Tamsin Greig and Paul Ritter. With regular interruptions from disturbing neighbour Jim (Mark Heap), or visits from Grandma, the family never seem to catch a moment of peace, much to mother Jackie's frustration. The audience can empathise fully with the way in which the boys are constantly playing pranks on each other and their parents perpetually mortifying them. While it may be hard to get into, after the first few episodes you'll understand the flow of the show pretty well and find fun in the cringes and harsh banter.

5 - Big Mouth

Although it is the only animated comedy on the list, Netflix's own Big Mouth certainly provides adequate shenanigans and holds its own against any other live action (sit)competitor. The crude series follows adolescents Nick and Andrew in their journey through puberty, sexuality, masturbation, and sex. The series introduces 'Hormone Monsters' as somewhat unreliable advisors to the teens that act as an interesting take on the confusing and unpredictable mood swings of teenagers. The comedy in the show is dark and lewd (think a teenager's Family Guy), in accordance with the juvenile sense of humour of real teens, and spares no details with the awkward realities of puberty, unearthing memories of our own youth that we perhaps would rather forget.

4 - Outnumbered

Beloved by parents across Britain, the BBC's Outnumbered portrays exhausted parents Sue and Pete in London trying to control their children Jake, Ben, and Karen. We watch the family grow over the course of seven years (in real time) and see each of the children remain true to their character as they develop: Jake starts as an angsty eleven-year-old with a newfound interest in girls, and ends as a relaxed and sarcastic young man; Ben begins as an excitable seven-year-old prone to exaggeration and lies, and matures into an extroverted and intelligent teen; while Karen is introduced as a critical and bossy five-year-old and evolves into a spacey and confident adolescent. This sense of progression contributes to the level of attachment we establish with the Brockmans, as well as the improvised one-liners from the actors that accurately illustrate both the ire and fondness felt towards the collective sense of humour within real families. No one character is given the short end of the stick in terms of jokes, as each of the Brockmans have a unique set of strengths and weaknesses that allows the writing to pick its target naturally.

3 - Still Game

As a Scot, this pick may be a little biased, however I believe the expert incorporation of Scottish culture that BBC's Still Game has used is reason enough for its success. Successor to Chewin' The Fat, the sitcom tells the tales of lifelong friends Jack and Victor as they navigate modern society as pensioners. The script is developed by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who perform as the two main characters, allowing for the banter between them to have that much greater of an impact due to the on-screen chemistry of Kiernan and Hemphill. While some references and slang may go over the head of non-Scots, there are enough running gags and bizarre confrontations that anyone with an old person in their life will appreciate.

2 - The IT Crowd

Some sitcoms that insist on being absurd in their humour simply come off as a bit strange, but for The IT Crowd it really works. Reminiscent of Edgar Wright's Asylum or Spaced, the Channel 4 comedy boasts a cast of eccentric characters who are arguably caricatures of themselves. Set in the neglected IT Department of a fictitious 'Reynholm Industries', the show includes childish Irishman Roy, socially-blind geek Moss, and technologically clueless head of department Jen. Always under threat of the axe from sleazy boss Douglas Reynholm, the department must quickly resolve their frequent disasters before he finds out. The laughs come flying in from all directions; from creative yet ludicrous TV adverts featured, to traditional but original skits that go down a treat. The writers are not afraid to set up a joke for it only to pay off in the final seconds, in which instances the build-up is paced masterfully. While the comedic beats may seem experimental and jarring, the giggle inducing show knows exactly how to leave viewers longing for more.

1 - Brooklyn Nine-Nine

With recent media uproar, I had assumed that the Golden Globe winning police sitcom was most likely overrated. I was wrong. The hit is set in the 99th police precinct in Brooklyn, and focuses on Detective Jake Peralta's shenanigans with his job and colleagues. Never before have I witnessed the triumph of a show that balances its jokes, characters, and plot so delicately. The jokes are hilarious and tasteful without being offensive, as expected with the involvement of Andy Samberg. The plot is engaging and thrilling, an attribute not unsurprising of a police comedy. But the deserved reason for it's acclaim must be due to the admirable portrayal of each character. Every single character battles with their own stereotypes brilliantly: the hulking sergeant is tentative to go back into conflict due to his importance of being a family man; the immature male detective is feminist and inoffensive to marginalised groups; the gay captain is seemingly emotionless and by-the-book; while the two latina women, who are not sexualised and are distinct from each other, both have their own way of fighting expectations (one is career-driven and independent, while the other is fierce and mysterious). Alongside the mischievous seasonal Halloween mission episodes, the show tackles important topics such as police brutality, racial profiling, and government corruption. Once again, the characters are all strong of their own accord and bounce off each other nicely. After perhaps two episodes, you will be hooked on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, laughing and grinning your way to the newest season, while rooting for Jake, Amy, Boyle, Rosa, Gina, Terry, Holt, Scully, and Hitchcock in their escapades.