If you’re anything like me going outdoors and doing something active or social has absolutely no appeal after spending a long, tiresome week at school or work. However, there is one thing that is always appealing: spending your weekend indoors, binge-watching an entire Netflix series,while eating pizza and chugging soda (or “fizzy drink” as I hear the Brits like to call it). Now, not to brag, but I’m somewhat of a MASTER Netflix binger. I won’t even bother telling you how many shows I’ve binged on this week alone because it would just depress you and I’m here to make you laugh—not cry. So, as the self-proclaimed Master of Netflix Binging, I thought I’d share with you guys some of my very favorite comedy shows that you can stream right this minute (or any minute…but you know…the sooner the better)! Enjoy, pals!
5. New Girl
New Girl follows the hilarious misadventures of four adult roommates living together in downtown Los Angeles. Zoey Deschanel plays Jess, an elementary school teacher, who moves in with Nick (Jake Johnson), Winston (Lamorne Morris), and Schmidt (Max Greenfield). The three guys struggle to adapt to Jess’ slightly neurotic presence in the apartment all while suppressing their romantic feelings for Jess and her best friend CeCe (Hannah Simone) who just happens to be a model. This show will have you laughing at just how ridiculous life is and it will help you to treasure the friendships you hold dearest.
4. Parks and Recreation
Amy Poehler steals the show as Leslie Knope: a relentlessly optimistic government parks agent. Set in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana, Knope attempts to work her way up the government ladder and bring about hope and change to her town. However, she has many hysterical missteps along the way, which comes as no surprise seeing that her fellow officemates are a bit irresponsible and klutzy. Parks and Recreation will have you laughing at the absurdity of local government and the absurdity of Pawnee itself. This show has a stellar cast (Amy Poehler, Chris Pratt, Nick Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, Aziz Ansari, Adam Scott, Rob Lowe, Rashida Jones, Retta , Jim O’Heir) and the characters are each well-developed and extremely lovable. Trust me: this show will have you laughing from the second you hit play.
3. Arrested Development
There aren’t too many shows that are as eccentric as Arrested Development. This show tells the story of an extremely wealthy family full of complete idiots (and believe me, that’s putting it nicely). The only person who has any common sense is the eldest son, Michael (Jason Bateman). In an attempt to keep his family afloat, Michael takes over the family business. Whether it be teaching his son how to run the family’s frozen banana stand or trying to get his father out of prison for building homes for terrorists, Michael does everything in his power to help his family remain intact. This show highlights just how crazy life can get when you’re raised in an extremely wealthy home with no desire to work hard or to grow up. This show has an incredibly diverse cast (Jason Bateman, Jeffrey Tambor, David Cross, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Portia de Rossi, Alia Shawkat, Jessica Walter) that will have you laughing so hard that you might come close to peeing your pants. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself online shopping for t-shirts with the show’s ridiculous quotes on them or quoting lines to your friends all day every day. Those are pretty typical side effects of this show.
2. How I Met Your Mother
If you like laughing and crying, and doing both of those things simultaneously, this is the show for you. How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) brilliantly weaves together the lives and stories of five best friends living in New York City. Hopeless romantic Ted (Josh Radnor) sets out to tell his children the story of how he met their mother. Of course, finding the love of your life isn’t always easy, and in this case, it takes nine full seasons of detours and crazy blunders for Ted to finally tell his whole story. This show has one of the best casts of any comedy show ever (Josh Radnor, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders) and the characters they portray are extremely unique, relatable, and inspirational. This is a show for anyone who has given up hope of finding true love. This show will inspire you to never stop searching. And if you’ve already found your true love? This show will help you to remember and cherish the journey that led you to where you are today. HIMYM has that rare mix of insanely funny moments and insanely poignant, inspirational moments. Just give this show a chance and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly you fall in love with it.
1. The Office
This show sits atop my list because it has everything you could want from a comedy series. A ridiculous boss with no self-awareness? Check. A will-they/won’t-they love story? Check. A cute girl? Check. A cute guy? Check, check, check (several checks for several cuties). Hilarious pranks? Check. Amusing one-liners to tell your friends? Check. This list could go on and on. The Office, based on its British counterpart, shadows the lives of the employees of Dunder Mifflin, a small paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The boss, Michael Scott (Steve Carell), is probably the least-qualified person in the office to be running the branch, and you know how that goes: when you have a bad leader, you’re bound to have a malfunctioning staff. The cast of this show (Steve Carell, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Rainn Wilson, B.J. Novak, Mindy Kaling, Ed Helms, Angela Kinsey, Brian Baumgartner, Ellie Kemper, Phyllis Smith) is truly, truly fantastic. Each character is well-rounded and has an extremely funny/quirky trait that makes him/her exceptionally entertaining to watch. This show is one of the best because it takes ordinary people in ordinary situations and makes extraordinarily funny things happen. If I had to tell you to only watch one show on this list, this would be the one. The characters are funny, the dialogue is witty, the interactions between characters are sensational. It’s an absolutely fantastic show and I am really hoping that you’ll check it out!
So, how does my list hold up? Anything you’d like to add? Anything you’d replace? Feel free to comment below or tweet @CelebMix! We’d love to hear what your favorite shows are!