20 Funny Shows Like New Girl You Need To Watch

After a devastating breakup, Jess (Zooey Deschanel) moves into an awesome loft with three single guys — Nick (Jake Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield), and Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.) — in Los Angeles, California. Initially, the guys are a little put off by Jess' grieving process, which includes copious amounts of wine and "Dirty Dancing." But they soon discover that Jess' quirky personality is delightful and her best friend, Cece (Hannah Simone), is a model. What single guy doesn't want a model and her friends hanging around their apartment? Former roommate Winston Bishop (Lamorne Morris) moves back in after the first episode. He rounds out this crew as they quickly become a dysfunctional but funny family.

For many of us, "New Girl" is a happy, funny escape from reality. You can press play knowing that the quirky characters and their antics will make you laugh till your sides hurt. This hit sitcom follows the lives of a group of friends in their early 30s, as they struggle with adulting, relationships, career choices, and family. It proves that some of us are still figuring out who we are and how to shoulder the responsibilities of life even in our 30s. Like many sitcoms, most of the humor comes from the situations these characters find themselves in at work, home, and on dates. Jess' offbeat personality and her clear lack of boundaries get her into all kinds of trouble, making us laugh during each episode.

What started as an original web series about two young women's real-life friendship eventually became Comedy Central's "Broad City." It's a series about Ilana and Abbi, two friends trying to make it in New York as broke 20-something women. Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson created this series together after honing their comedy craft at the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York city (per EW). Over 50 episodes, we follow Abbi and Ilana as they stumble through their 20s, having the weirdest misadventures NYC can offer all while high on cannabis.

Abbi and Ilana are supported by a recurring cast of stone-cold weirdos, which guarantees a ton of laughs every time you press play. This series is about those crazy years in your 20s when you are technically an adult but still act like a teenager half of the time. It's about female friendship and trying to be creative in a world that wants to turn you into a cog in the capitalist machine. Entertainment Weekly has called the show "a deeply weird, weirdly sweet, and completely hilarious comedy." Rotten Tomatoes also thinks you should check it out too, since it's gotten an excellent rating from the critics.

The NBC police procedural "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" follows detective Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and his co-workers at the 99th precinct of the NYPD. Jake has the best arrest record in the precinct. In fact, he's so good at his job that he even takes over Jess' car for a high-speed chase in a "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" and "New Girl' crossover. For five seasons we could watch this hilarious award-winning series on Fox. After Fox canceled the series, NBC picked it up for the last three seasons. "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" has been critically acclaimed for its portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters like police chief Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher), who is openly gay.

Braugher told The Advocate, "This happens to be groundbreaking comedy, believe it or not. And I'm not sure anybody intended it to be groundbreaking comedy — it's respectful and humane, and that happens to be surprising." The police procedural genre has been plagued by homophobic representations, and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" is decidedly intolerant of homophobia. The humor comes instead from the daily activities of the people who make up the Nine-Nine. Who knew a police procedural could be so funny? 

When Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) can no longer practice law because his bachelor's degree was fraudulent, he is forced to go to Greendale Community College in Colorado. There, he starts a study-group for his Spanish class to get to know beautiful but snarky Britta (Gillian Jacobs). This group of eccentric students — who are at very different points in their lives — becomes a "Community" of sorts as they learn a lot about themselves and their unlikely friends over five seasons with NBC and a final season on Yahoo! Screen (per EW).

Troy (Donald Glover), Pierce (Chevy Chase), Abed (Danny Pudi), Annie (Alison Brie), Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) and their nutty Spanish professor, Ben (Ken Jeong), round out this diverse and hilarious cast. "Community" came out of the gate strong, with an excellent rating on Rotten Tomatoes for Season 1. It floundered during Season 4 but found its footing again in Season 5, only to then be canceled by NBC. Regardless of the cancellation, "Community" has taken on a cult status and even clinched No. 16 on Entertainment Weekly's 26 Best Cult TV Shows Ever.

Hulu's "Dollface," much like "New Girl," is about a young woman, Jules (Kat Dennings), who lives in Los Angeles. She doesn't know what to do with herself after her longtime boyfriend, Jeremy (Connor Hines), breaks up with her. Jules tries to reconnect with her college girlfriends, Madison (Brenda Song) and Stella (Shay Mitchell), whom she lost touch with during her relationship. Izzy (Esther Povitsky), Jules' new friend from work, and their boss Celeste (Malin Akerman) round out the central cast. Jules' job as a web designer at Woöm — a fictional, thinly veiled, tongue-in-cheek reference to Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop — is over-the-top LA, and Celeste is perfect as the CEO.

There was no critical consensus on Season 1, and Season 2 was delayed because of the pandemic (per Deadline). It was worth the wait as it presently has a great user score on Rotten Tomatoes. "Dollface" is about the importance of female friendship, especially during those unstable years in your late 20s, where everything in your life is constantly shifting. You might feel like you should have accomplished more by this age. Seeing old friends from college who have the house, marriage, and child can make you feel like you aren't really measuring up. Guys and jobs might come and go, but if you prioritize your girls, they can carry you through the tough times.

If you are a fan of "New Girl," then this classic sitcom about a group of friends navigating their late 20s and 30s while living in New York City might appeal to you. For 10 seasons, millions tuned into NBC's "Friends" to see what antics the group would be up to that week. "Friends" was a cultural phenomenon, catapulting the cast into super stardom. For many, Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Monica (Courteney Cox), Joey (Matt LeBlanc), Chandler (Matthew Perry), and Ross (David Schwimmer) felt like friends we had plans with every Thursday night. Although there are times "Friends" feels dated, it is about the kinds of friendships that feel like family, which carry you through the breakups, bad jobs, and life changes that come with this turbulent phase of life.

For a decade, we watched this crew of six friends and the people who drifted in and out of their lives, while they figured out who they were and what they wanted in life. If you are a fan of sitcoms, "Friends" is the classic that carried many through the second half of the '90s and into the new millennium. Empire rated "Friends" as No. 5 on their list The 100 Best TV Shows Of All Time, calling the show "as perfect a sitcom as you will find." All these years after the end of the series, "Friends" still has an exceptional audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and you can stream all the seasons on HBO Max.

HBO's "Girls" is a story about a group of female friends, who are recently out of college and living in NYC. While every character on "New Girl" is likable in their own flawed way, this HBO series is distinctly different because the women in "Girls" are selfish, self-centered, and narcissistic. Despite their awful personalities, the series is funny, sharp, and engaging. The show was created by Lena Dunham, who stars as Hannah, an aspiring writer. Hannah's housemate and best friend Marnie (Allison Williams) begins the series as an overachiever working at an art gallery, only to go in another direction while trying to find herself. Hannah's sometimes-boyfriend Adam (Adam Driver) plays a major role throughout "Girls," as do Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) and her free-spirited cousin Jessa (Jemima Kirke).

"Girls" was heavily criticized for its lack of ethnic diversity, especially considering its setting of NYC. In an interview on Fresh Air, Dunham responded by saying: "I wrote the first season primarily by myself, and I co-wrote a few episodes. But I am a half-Jew, half-WASP, and I wrote two Jews and two WASPs. Something I wanted to avoid was tokenism in casting. ... I did write something that was super-specific to my experience, and I always want to avoid rendering an experience I can't speak to accurately." Despite these criticisms, the series continues to be popular with critics and audiences alike.

"Happy Endings" follows the misadventures of six friends after their group dynamic changes when Alex (Elisha Cuthbert) leaves Dave (Zachary Knighton) at the altar. Set in Chicago, this series follows the lives of a group of friends in their late 20s and early 30s as they struggle to establish themselves. Although there are challenges to staying friends with an ex, Alex and Dave decide to make it work despite the hurt feelings because their group has been tight for over a decade. 

The series has been compared to "New Girl" and even stars Damon Wayans Jr. as Brad. Wayans actually had to leave "New Girl" because of his "Happy Endings" commitment. Brad's wife Jane (Eliza Coupe) is Alex's older sister, while eternally single and looking for her dream man Penny (Casey Wilson) and underachieving gay guy Max (Adam Pally) complete the cast. The series was canceled by ABC after just three seasons, but the show has gone on to have a solid following and currently has a high score on Rotten Tomatoes. If you haven't seen it yet, you can stream it on Netflix.

Following on the heels of the super successful "How I Met Your Mother," Hilary Duff stars as Sophie in the spinoff series, "How I Met Your Father." Kim Cattrall plays the older version of Sophie, who tells her son all about how she met his dad. Season 1 dropped exclusively on Hulu in January 2022 and a longer Season 2 has already been approved. The story begins when hopeless romantic Sophie — a photographer living in New York City — calls an Uber so she can meet her 88th Tinder date of the year. Her Uber driver is Jesse (Christopher Lowell), an aspiring musician and music teacher, who introduces her to Sid (Suraj Sharma), a med student turned bar owner.

Sophie, her housemate Valentina (Francia Raisa), and Charlie (Tom Ainsley) — the Brit Valentina brought home from London fashion week — go to Sid's bar. There, they meet Jesse's sister, Ellen (Tien Tran), who has moved to Manhattan following her divorce. The six quickly become friends and get meshed in each other's lives. "How I Met Your Father" is about these six friends in their late 20s and early 30s braving those in-between years where some of their peers have everything together, while others are still trying to figure it all out. The laugh track is awful (hopefully they do away with it in Season 2) but the characters are fun and the cast shows promise. It's also nice to see a more diverse cast than its predecessor.

In "How I Met Your Mother," Ted Mosby — with a voiceover by Bob Saget — tells his teenage children the story of him and his four best friends. Through flashbacks, he reminisces about when they were in their late 20s and early 30s in the years leading up to meeting his kids' mother. Ted (Josh Radnor) is happily living with his best friend Marshall (Jason Segel) and Marshall's girlfriend Lily (Alyson Hannigan). But after Marshall proposes to Lily, Ted realizes he might want to start looking for his soulmate.

When he meets Robin (Cobie Smulders), he thinks she might be the one, but they wind up as friends instead. Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) is a self-affirmed ladies' man. He has plenty of advice for how Ted should meet girls, but Ted is a much nicer guy than Barney. For nine seasons, we can watch Ted fumble his way through awful dates, relationships, unrequited love, and cold streaks, all with his friends by his side. The series was loved by critics and audiences alike, getting high ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. During its run, the series took home 10 Emmys (per IMDb), and has been in syndication for years.

HBO's "Insecure" was co-created and co-written by its star Issa Rae and was loosely based on her web series, "Awkward Black Girl." The HBO series centers on the friendship of Issa (Rae) and her best friend Molly (Yvonne Orji), who met while attending Stanford, and explores the many awkward experiences they have while living in their hometown of Los Angeles. The series is about female friendship, figuring out who you are in your late 20s and early 30s, careers, relationships, and the Black experience in America.

This series is funny, fresh, and witty. All five seasons have been a hit, as seen by its stellar ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. When "Insecure" began back in 2016, Rae was the first Black woman to create and star in an HBO series. But Rae didn't want the series to always have to be about being Black, despite being steeped in Black culture (per Refinery29). NPR has said about the series, "It's also an example of how something that's culturally specific can also tell a universal story." If you always think you are the most awkward person in the room, you will enjoy and relate to this hilarious show about the searching and struggle of being 30-something.

For 15 seasons, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" has been sharing its own brand of truly inappropriate but hilarious humor with audiences. The series focuses on five underachieving friends who run an Irish pub in Philadelphia. Season 1 centers on twins Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Deandra "Dee" Reynolds (Kaitlin Olson), Charlie Kelly (Charlie Day), and Ronald "Mac" McDonald (Rob McElhenney), who own and run Paddy's Pub together. This group of deranged misfits is always up to something nefarious, scamming others for financial gain and amusement. The series doesn't shy away from any subject, even building stories around hot-button issues like abortion and racism. It risks offense but somehow pulls off the satirical humor time and time again.

Variety gave the first season a positive review, calling the series "invariably clever and occasionally a laugh-out-loud riot, all while lampooning taboo topics." In Season 2, Frank Reynolds (Danny DeVito) joined the cast as Dennis and Dee's father. DeVito is a perfect addition to the cast as his own personal brand of humor is quite dark. In 2020, the series was renewed for four more seasons, which makes it the longest-running live-action comedy ever (per The Hollywood Reporter). After all these years, the half-hour comedy maintains its popularity, getting a rave reviews with both critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.

When 23-year-old Jane Villanueva (Gina Rodriguez) is accidentally artificially inseminated instead of another patient, her life is flipped upside down. When Jane discovers she's pregnant, she doesn't believe it because she's a virgin. Jane had resolved to wait until marriage because her mother, Xiomara (Andrea Navedo), got pregnant with Jane as a teenager. Jane is finishing school to become a teacher and is about to get engaged to her boyfriend, Michael (Brett Dier). But when Jane learns she is pregnant with the baby of her boss, Rafael (Justin Baldoni), her life plan goes out the window. Despite the wild premise of "Jane the Virgin," it is a funny satire of the telenovelas Jane watches with her mom and her abuela, Alba (Ivonne Coll). 

The show is a fresh perspective on what it means to be a young Latina woman, who is trying to figure out who she is and what she wants from life, all with her friends and family by her side. Jane struggles with career choices: Should she follow her dreams or play it safe? And she considers relationship questions: Should she stick with Michael or consider a future with Rafael, the father of her child? "Jane the Virgin" was an instant critical hit and has an exceptional rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Vulture went as far as calling it "the best show on TV" in 2018. In 2015, Gina Rodriguez won a Golden Globe for her performance and the series won a Peabody Award that same year (per IMDb).

If you haven't seen Netflix's series "Lovesick," you've gotta check it out! This U.K. comedy is about a group of 20-something friends — Dylan (Johnny Flynn), Luke (Daniel Ings), and Evie (Antonia Thomas) — who live together in a flat in Glasgow, Scotland. When Dylan finds out he has contracted chlamydia, his doctor instructs him to make a list of his past lovers to contact. Every episode flashes back to a poignant experience with each of these women. Season 1 was originally released in the UK as "Scrotal Recall" on Channel 4 and Netflix picked up the series for Seasons 2 and 3.

Dylan is romantic and sensitive, while Luke is a crass ladies' man. Artist Evie once carried a torch for Dylan, but has since moved on and is engaged in the later timeframe of the series. Their friend Angus (Joshua McGuire) also plays a recurring role. "Lovesick" is funny, a bit twisted, and cheeky. The series has been a huge hit with critics and audiences alike, getting a near-perfect score with critics on Rotten Tomatoes (note that the series is listed under its original name, "Scrotal Recall" on the platform). The Guardian said, "Love triangles and banter play out against personal tragedy in this laugh-out-loud comedy full of genuine chemistry." Don't let the premise fool you. This series is a rom-com with heart.

"Seinfeld" is the quintessential sitcom of a group of single friends hanging out, which gets its observational humor from the absurdity of their daily lives in New York City. Jerry Seinfeld plays a fictionalized version of himself, with Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), George (Jason Alexander), and Jerry's eccentric neighbor, Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards), rounding out their foursome. The group hangs out mostly in Jerry's apartment — much like the gang in "New Girl" or "Friends" — with occasional lunches at the diner, and maybe a trip to the Soup Nazi if they are feeling brave.

The series has famously been called "the show about nothing," but it is also famous for the many ways it changed sitcoms, as explored on Vox. From implementing different story structure techniques to focusing on largely self-involved, unlikable people, "Seinfeld" showed America that characters didn't have to be nice to be entertaining. We wouldn't have shows like "It's Always Sunny" or "Girls" without "Seinfeld" paving the path for funny narcissists to take over our televisions. Despite its lack of diversity and aged look, the series still has an impressive audience score on Rotten Tomatoes plus 10 Emmys, proving it's funny and absolutely worth your time.

For three seasons of "Shrill," we follow Annie (Aidy Bryant), a young journalist living in Portland, Oregon, with her housemate and best friend Fran (Lolly Adefope). After an unplanned pregnancy pulls the rug out from under Annie's feet, she resolves to change her life. Annie is overweight, and she's sick and tired of people (including herself) treating her badly and like she's less than, just because she's big. Her boss is a jerk, a personal trainer keeps body-shaming her at the coffee shop, and the guy she's been dating (okay, just sleeping with) makes her leave through the back door so he doesn't have to introduce her to his housemates.

On top of that, her dad has cancer, and while her mom means well, she is completely fixated on Annie's weight. But once Annie finds her voice, she isn't going to let anyone tell her to shut up again! Kelly Lawler from USA Today praised the series as "an unflinchingly authentic depiction of life as a fat woman in the modern world ... Its thoughtful balance of ups and downs makes 'Shrill' the single best and most realistic TV show ever to include a fat woman." This show is funny and fresh, with a charm all its own. "Shrill" has an excellent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, and you can check it out for yourself on Hulu.

For six seasons, audiences tuned in to watch the wacky employees at a big-box store in NBC's "Superstore." America Ferrera leads this ensemble cast as Amelia "Amy" Sosa, the floor manager of Cloud 9. The cast's regulars include Jonah (Ben Feldman), assistant manager Dina (Lauren Ash), general manager Glenn (Mark McKinney), Garrett (Colton Dunn), Mateo (Nico Santos), and Cheyenne (Nichole Sakura). Rather than living together, this group of hilarious weirdos are brought together by their jobs. The humor of the series centers on the interactions of the employees of Cloud 9 and the strange customers they deal with every day.

"Superstore" floundered a bit in Season 1, but found its stride in Season 2 and gained an overall stellar rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Variety said the show is "a sharp yet warm workplace comedy, and it manages to be both nimble and incisive about an array of issues a lot of comedies artfully avoid." NBC's "Superstore" is charming and goofy, but as Vox noted, the series doesn't shy away from taking on contemporary "social issues, from sexual harassment to cultural appropriation. But it never feels like an 'issue of the week' show — tough to do. The writers are careful to make sure that the social issues arise from the storytelling."

What started as a story about two socially awkward but brilliant scientists and the super-babe who lives across the hall developed into a fan favorite that made its cast very rich and famous. "The Big Bang Theory" is about a group of friends brought together by work and apartment proximity in LA. These characters experience those crazy years in your 20s when your entire life changes as you take on more responsibility in your career and romantic relationships. It's a story about friendship and how sometimes friends become family.

The cast's ages range from early 20s to early 30s at the beginning of the series, and we watch them evolve as people by the show's end. Over 12 seasons, we watch Penny (Kaley Cuoco), Leonard (Johnny Galecki), Sheldon (Jim Parsons), Howard (Simon Helberg), Raj (Kunal Nayyar), Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), and Amy (Mayim Bialik) grow in their careers and as individuals. Like "New Girl," this cast of characters is kooky, wacky, and funny. Much of the humor comes from Penny trying to explain human behavior to scientifically adept but socially inept Leonard and Sheldon, who are more comfortable in a lab than at a party. "The Big Bang Theory" is a definite must-watch if you loved "New Girl."

Created by and starring Mindy Kaling, "The Mindy Project" is about the life and work of quirky Mindy Lahiri, a South Asian-American doctor living in New York City. Mindy is an OB/GYN and partner in a medical practice, who has a rom-com obsession. Like Jess in "New Girl," Mindy might be in her early 30s and have her career figured out, but her love life is chaotic and she feels like she struggles with adulting. The other doctors and support staff in her medical practice are just as neurotic and eccentric as Mindy, which leads to plenty of laughs and awkward situations.

The first three seasons of the series were on Fox, and then Hulu took over for the last three. "The Mindy Project" has been praised by IndieWire, which said the show "has always existed in a fantastical plane of reality in which nothing terribly wretched can happen, which makes it easy to embrace these well-meaning, imperfect weirdos." But the series has also faced its fair share of criticism for sidestepping serious women's issues like abortion and for the lack of diversity in the casting of Mindy's love interests (per Jezebel). If you want to decide for yourself, you can stream every episode on Hulu.

Caroline (Beth Behrs), a rich society girl, falls on hard times after her father is arrested for a financial scheme. Her family assets are frozen, so she gets a waitressing job at a Brooklyn diner with the sarcastic and streetwise Max (Kat Dennings). The two form an unlikely friendship and agree to start a business using Max's baking skills and Caroline's business acumen, which sets the stage for "Two Broke Girls." Season 1 revolves around the two friends and their co-workers at the diner, including the new owner Han (Matthew Moy), the cook Oleg (Jonathan Kite), the cashier Earl (Garrett Morris), and Caroline's horse, Chestnut, who lives in their Brooklyn backyard.

Over the next five seasons, the story branches out to include a cast of recurring characters who play pivotal roles in Max and Caroline's lives. There was a polarized reaction from both critics and audiences, with publications like The Hollywood Reporter criticizing the series' reliance on gratuitous sex jokes as well as characters that are presented as racial caricatures. Despite the criticism, others, like Entertainment Weekly, praised the chemistry between Behrs and Dennings. But can chemistry carry a sitcom? It carried this one for six seasons. We encourage you to make your own opinion about this "Laverne and Shirley" for millennials.

Set in the start-up tech culture of San Francisco, "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" centers on Zoey Clarke (Jane Levy), a talented computer programmer, who has a strange experience in an MRI during an earthquake. She suddenly gets the ability to understand people's emotions through musical numbers that only she witnesses. Initially, she questions her sanity, but after consulting with her neighbor Mo (Alex Newell), Zoey begins to think of these distracting musical numbers as heart songs that can give her personal insight into those around her.

Of course, this new gift causes many humorous situations, including Zoey realizing her best friend and coworker Max (Skylar Astin) just might be in love with her. These heart songs lead to Zoey having a complete lack of boundaries, as she inserts herself into the lives of those around her, which is a personality trait Zoey shares with Jess. Like "New Girl," this series offers the quirky, irreverent, and surreal break from reality so many of us have needed over the last couple years. Liked by audiences and critics alike as seen by its high rating on Rotten Tomatoes, "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" is a delightfully wacky series you must check out.