The Best Comedy Shows to Watch Right Now

Are you tired of streaming TV marathons of comedy series with over 100 episodes, and ready instead for a streaming TV sprint? May we suggest some comedy shows you can quickly, easily binge in their entirety in one day -- or at least over the course of a weekend, if you want to get off the couch a little bit? All the shows on this list have only a couple of seasons at most, and less than a dozen episodes in those seasons. They pack a lot of laughs into short periods of time.   

Looking for more recommendations of what to watch next? We have a ton of them! We also have recommendations for the best stand-up specials on Netflix and the best shows to watch if you like The Office.

American Vandal (Netflix)

Two seasons, 16 episodes
The special thing about American Vandal is that it's so much better than it needs to be. The premise could have been a forgettable sketch in the middle of a Saturday Night Live episode, but instead it got expanded into a hilarious, shockingly well-written, brilliantly acted show. Describing what it is -- a parody of true crime docuseries like Making a Murderer where high school students investigate who was responsible for juvenile pranks -- doesn't really express how good it is. The parody is comprehensive and dead-on, and the performances are star-making, especially Jimmy Tatro as goofball prankster Dylan Maxwell in Season 1 and Melvin Gregg as alienated basketball phenom DeMarcus Tillman in Season 2, who were both so good they didn't feel like they were acting. You'll come for the silly premise, and stay because the characters are so specifically rendered. Netflix canceled it, but hopefully someone else picks it up for Season 3.

Astronomy Club (Netflix)

One season, six episodes
Netflix's second sketch show after I Think You Should Leave keeps that show's easy, breezy format of a short seasons with short episodes. The whole season is two hours long. This show is from Upright Citizens Brigade's first all-black sketch team, and a lot of the sketches are incisive commentaries on racial politics, like a sketch where white Robin Hood tries to rob a rich black couple. It's executive-produced by black-ish's Kenya Barris.

Derry Girls (Netflix)

Two seasons, 12 episodes
This delightful import comes from Northern Ireland. It's set in the Northern Irish city of Derry in the mid-'90s, when the Troubles were winding down but still very much a part of life in the disputed territory. As such, there's a wonderful sense of gallows humor in the coming-of-age comedy, as the Catholic schoolgirls the show follows have their day-to-day lives inconvenienced by bombings. You may have to turn your closed captioning on to understand their accents, but you'll be glad you did, because the foul-mouthed dialogue is hilarious.

Enlisted (Crackle)

One season, 13 episodes
Enlisted, Fox's gone-too-soon sitcom about three very different brothers at a fictional Army base in Florida, never got a fair shake from its network, which aired most of the episodes out of order. But it's never too late to stream the series (in the right order) and enjoy it for the gem that it was. The brotherly chemistry of the show's main trio -- super-soldier Pete (Geoff Stults), cynical Derrick (Chris Lowell), and big-hearted Randy (Parker Young) -- gave the show both its heart and its comedic engine, and a cast of reliably scene-stealing side players like Michelle Buteau and Mort Burke kept things unpredictable. Plus, Keith David played a senior officer who just couldn't stop bringing up his fake foot. By the emotional series finale, Enlisted had found its groove as a weird show that was also capable of great sensitivity. Imagine what it could have done with a second season. -Kelly Connolly

Feel Good (Netflix)

One season, six episodes
Comedian Mae Martin co-created and stars in this semi-autobiographical series about addiction of all kinds. Martin plays a Canadian comic living in London who's a recovering drug addict. She's been clean for years, but when she enters into a relationship with George (Charlotte Ritchie), a new addiction flares up: Love. Meanwhile, George has her own relationship problems stemming from the fact that she's never been in a relationship with another woman before. Its themes, droll sense of humor, and London setting may put you in mind of Fleabag, but Martin is Canadian, so she's much more polite than Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

Fleabag (Amazon Prime Video)

Two seasons, 12 episodes
Speaking of Fleabag, if you haven't watched Phoebe Waller-Bridge's opus of self-destruction yet, now is the time. The creator-writer-star plays the titular Fleabag, a caustically funny, self-loathing sex addict whose pathological selfishness ruins every relationship in her life. You'll like her, though, because she has a great sense of humor and raises her eyebrow in a jaunty way and is trying her best. She's a female anti-heroine in a way that only a woman could be, which is different than how female anti-heroines are usually written, who mostly have the same power-hungry problems as male anti-heroes. No one would ever describe Fleabag as "badass." The first season is very good, but the main event is the transcendent second season, so binge all the way through that.

Great News (Netflix)

Two seasons, 23 episodes
This has the most episodes of any of the shows on this list, but since it's written in the rat-a-tat, six jokes a minute style of 30 Rock, it goes by in a blur. Created by 30 Rock alum Tracey Wigfield and executive-produced by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, the series follows a young TV news producer (Briga Heelan) whose job and personal life get complicated when her mother (Andrea Martin) gets hired as an intern at the studio. The real star of the show, though, is Nicole Richie as an anchor whose life is a panopticon. It ran for two seasons on NBC in 2017-18, and hopefully its cult following continues to grow on Netflix.

I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (Netflix)

One season, six episodes
Netflix wasn't known at all for sketch comedy before last year, but now it has the biggest sketch show since Key & Peele went off the air in I Think You Should Leave, Tim Robinson's brainworm-inflicting show about male humiliation. Meet unforgettable characters like Chunky, Howie, the motorcycle aliens, and Tiny Dinky Daffy and get the phrase "You have no good car ideas" stuck in your head forever. Fun fact: a lot of these sketches started life as rejected pitches from when Robinson was a writer on Saturday Night Live.

Little America (Apple TV+)

One season, eight episodes
Apple TV+'s best series (so far) is also one of TV's easiest binges. Little America can be watched in a single afternoon because its uplifting stories of immigrants coming to America are as addictive as they are heartwarming. The anthology format keeps things fresh from one half-hour episode to the next, and the writing, from a host of people of color, is all based on true stories, adding even more realism to these seemingly far-fetched tales. But the best part of Little America is that there's no pity party for the struggles of foreigners looking for a better life in the U.S.A.; all the energy comes from the relatable determination of these brave folks, not from them enduring racism from small-minded idiots. -Tim Surette

Los Espookys (HBO)

One season, six episodes
This charming Spanish-language series from creators Fred Armisen, Ana Fabrega and Julio Torres has goth whimsy. It's like if The Nightmare Before Christmas had a dry sense of humor. It tells the story of the titular crew of friends who turn their love of horror movies into a peculiar business where they create creEeEepy installations for people who need to be spooked. Armisen has a supporting role as Uncle Tico, the world's best parking attendant. Fun fact: Julio Torres also writes for Saturday Night Live, and his voice is so strong that his sketches are easily identifiable as his own, which doesn't usually happen. He wrote "Wells for Boys," the best SNL sketch of the past five years.

Medical Police (Netflix)

One season, 10 episodes
If laughter is the best medicine, then get ready to overdose. This spin-off of Rob Corddry's Childrens Hospital follows Dr. Lola Spratt (Erinn Hayes) and Dr. Owen Maestro (Rob Huebel) as they try to save the world from a viral outbreak let loose by terrorists, and if you've ever seen Childrens Hospital before then you know the actual plot doesn't really matter. What really matters are the goofy gags, which can be so dumb that they're hilarious, and the bizarre characters they run into as the doctors scurry from one spot on the globe to another (or at least sets that sort of look like international locales). It's basically Blindspotwith the comedy-action equation flipped. -Tim Surette

Never Have I Ever (Netflix)

One season, 10 episodes
There is a lot to love about Never Have I Ever, Netflix's latest coming-of-age series. Inspired by creator Mindy Kaling's own childhood, and with Lang Fisher serving as executive producer, showrunner, and writer, the charming 10-episode series follows Devi (breakout star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), a first generation Indian American teen with a bit of a short fuse. Constantly butting heads with her mother after the shocking and sudden death of her father, Devi is an overachieving sophomore from Sherman Oaks, California, who is obsessed with besting her nemesis and finding herself (and her friends!) a boyfriend. The series is narrated by John McEnroe for reasons I will not explain because there aren't really any explanations that will suffice, but know that this might be Netflix's next great coming-of-age series. -Kaitlin Thomas

New Girl: The Reagan Episodes (Netflix)

15 episodes
If you're in the mood to tap into New Girl's chaotic energy but don't have time for seven seasons of a network sitcom, stick to the Reagan years. Megan Fox's underrated turn as a straightforward pharmaceutical rep who moved into the loft when Jess (Zooey Deschanel) was out on jury duty (and Deschanel was on maternity leave) gave New Girl the reset it needed coming off a rocky fourth season. Reagan's introduction in early Season 5 was a refreshing detour for the loft gang; Fox was game to get weird, and her unexpected chemistry with Nick (Jake Johnson) added a sweet touch. She returned at the end of Season 5 and again in the second half of Season 6, which integrated her more with the bigger story, but Reagan never stopped feeling like a wild card. Plus, she got one of the best lines of the show when she cut Schmidt (Max Greenfield) down to size: "Schmidt's deal is he had to Shazam 'Stairway to Heaven.'" I don't know a better insult. -Kelly Connolly

Ramy (Hulu)

Two seasons, 20 episodes 
Golden Globe winner Ramy Youssef's series about sex and faith is one of the smartest, funniest shows on TV. It's about a twentysomething Egyptian American man from New Jersey trying to reconcile his spiritual desire to be a good Muslim with his physical desire to have sex with beautiful women, one of whom is his cousin (it's like that, but it's not like that, watch the show before you judge). The show intersperses Ramy's misadventures with standalone episodes about his family members (Hiam Abbas, who plays his mother Maysa, is the show's not-so-secret weapon) and one flashback to 9/11, an important day in Ramy's life, but not just for what happened in the world. If you're really pressed for time and only want to watch one episode, watch that one, Season 1's "Strawberries." 

Russian Doll(Netflix) 

One season, eight episodes
If you didn't catch this when it came out early last year -- or if you don't remember it well, because early last year was seven years ago -- Natasha Lyonne's whip-smart dramedy is ready for you now. It's just as fresh as it was the day it came out, because the day it came out keeps happening over and over again. Russian Doll is Groundhog Day, is what I'm saying. Lyonne plays Nadia Vulvokov, Manhattan's youngest person with an old-school New York accent, who's caught in a loop of dying and reliving the same night until she figures out how to connect with another person going through the same thing. It's an effectively unsubtle metaphor for addiction and recovery. 

Vice Principals (HBO)

Two seasons, 18 episodes
Vice Principals kind of got overlooked when it came out, because it wasn't as fun as star Danny McBride's previous HBO comedy Eastbound & Down. It's darker and more desperate, telling the story of two high school vice principals, temperamental Neal Gamby (McBride) and slimy Lee Russell (Walton Goggins), who hate each other but team up to bring down the new principal when they feel like they've been passed over for the job. No comedy producer is better at understanding white male rage and entitlement from the inside than McBride. If you watched his more popular shows Eastbound & Down and The Righteous Gemstones and want more, this one will satisfy you. It's two seasons that were shot concurrently and tell a single closed-ended story.