We could all use a laugh nowadays – a good laugh; one that makes your abs sore. For just that, we've rounded up some of the best comedies streaming right now that may have slipped under your radar. From a fictionalized biopic on the first women-only baseball team to a mockumentary about life in rural Ohio hosted by the town 'disappointments,' there's something here for everyone. If you've ever wanted to watch ordinary people literally rehearse on an elaborate film set for the most emotional moments of their lives or see a grown woman become BFFs with an anthropomorphic doll (because why wouldn't you?) we got you covered.
Some of these shows are ones you might already be watching (and loving), and some are 'hidden' streaming gems. Either way, you're welcome.
Letterkenny (Hulu)
Initially conceived as a Youtube series in 2013, Letterkenny is one of the quickest, sharpest comedies ever to grace the small screen. Created by actor Jared Keeso, the show is set in a tiny, rural Ontario, CA town (based on the one Keeso grew up in) where siblings Wayne (Keeso) and Katy (Michelle Mylett) run a farm and produce stand with help from their best friends Daryl (Nathan Dales) and Squirrelly Dan (K. Trevor Wilson). This is the through-line for what is more of a situational comedy: every episode focuses on the different residents of Letterkenny and their problems, from bonehead hockey players (Dylan Playfair and Andrew Herr) and dancing goths (Tyler Johnston and Evan J. Stern) to closeted churchgoers (Jacob Tierney) and members of the nearby First Nation Reserve (Kaniehtilio Horn).
Described by cast member Andrew Herr as "Hillbilly Shakespeare," the dialogue is full of quick-witted comebacks, puns, and insanely clever wordplay that is almost always delivered with a kind of poetic cadence. The art is in the repetition: the everyday lingo used by Wayne and co. becomes something the viewer looks forward to in every single episode – and even ends up using their own everyday life.
Bar fights and chirping aside, Letterkenny is a show about community. It's about showing up for each other, standing up for what's right, and making sure no one gets left behind. If the dialogue doesn't grab you, the warmth and heart will.
The Rehearsal (HBO Max)
The Rehearsal is arguably the most unique show on television right now. It's more of a fucked up psychological experiment than anything else but it's still very much (Nathan Fielder's version of) a comedy. The quasi-reality series follows Nathan Fielder as he helps ordinary people rehearse for the most challenging events of their lives. Whether the situation involves admitting to a lie about having a master's degree or choosing what religion to raise your child, Fielder commissions an extravagantly detailed set and hires a cast of actors to play the client's real-life counterparts.
We'll leave it up to you to decide how well each "rehearsal" goes, but while the show is absolutely absurd and perhaps a bit unethical – it delivers some truly tender, heartwarming moments that seem completely unexpected by both Fielder and the participant.
Bonus: Nathan For You
Fielder's particular brand of comedy involves making people uncomfortable, and Nathan For You does just that – albeit without The Rehearsal's tender moments. The Comedy Central series saw Fielder using his business background to help struggling businesses and individuals – by offering completely sane advice such as pitching a 'legal' way to sell alcohol to underage customers or attempting to turn a pig at a petting zoo into a celebrity via fake viral video.
Reservation Dogs (Hulu)
Not enough people are talking about Hulu's Reservation Dogs – at least not enough for my liking. Created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, The series follows four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma who commit petty crimes, but still end up saving the day. After losing their friend Daniel prior to when the series begins, the gang is determined to follow Daniel's dream and leave Oklahoma for the magical, mystical land of California.
The show is laugh-out-loud funny, with Zach McClarnon taking an accidental psychedelic trip, Prey's Amber Midthunder asking kids at an Indigenous youth summit to remember and honor the "dinosaur nation," and Marc Maron's overall portrayal as the head of a foster home who really shouldn't be one. They also say "shit-ass" more times than you've probably ever heard in your life, so much so that it might accidentally find its way into your everyday vocabulary. The main ensemble cast, consisting of Devery Jacobs, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Lane Factor, and Paulina Alexis has an insane amount of chemistry – making the viewer wonder if the actors have known each other their whole lives.
Moreover, the series explores the wounds caused by generational trauma and the complex sadness that comes along with grief, all while celebrating Native life and culture.
Girls 5eva (Peacock)
Have you ever wondered why boy bands of the late '90s and girl groups of the early 2000s get back together some ten or twenty years past their prime? Girls5eva, created by Meredith Scardino, aims to answer that question. The series stars Busy Philipps, real-life pop singer Sara Bareilles, Emmy-winning SNL writer Paula Pell, and Broadway-turned-She-Hulk-star Renee Elise Goldsberry as four washed-up pop stars whose group had one hit back in 2000. Unsatisfied with their present-day lives, the four women reunite and decide to find that musical success yet again – all thanks to a rapper who decided to sample one of their songs.
It goes about just as well as you'd think. The girls run into a plethora of issues, from TikTok to copyright laws to actually having to write their own songs – all while hoping fans will remember and love them again. But it's not just for the money or fame: there's an unbridled joy, a spark in their hearts every single time they perform – this is what they were made to do, what they want to be doing, and it makes it all the more fun to root for them on their journey.
Ghosts (Paramount Plus)
Husband-and-wife duo Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) Arondekar believe they've hit the jackpot when they suddenly inherit an old mansion from a distant relative, allowing them to move out of their small New York apartment and begin a dreamy life in the country. There's just one problem: the mansion already has residents... and all of them are dead.
Created by Joe Wiseman and Joe Port, the CBS series is an American remake of the BBC series of the same name – and it might just be one of the most delightful ghost stories ever told, in a way that can best be described as What We Do in the Shadows meets Community. Though the ghosts first try to scare Sam into leaving the house, the dead and the living eventually learn to coexist – and become friends. Despite being dead, each ghost is lively and eccentric – including a viking who died by lightning strike (Devan Chandler Long) and a hippie who died while trying to befriend a bear (Sheils Carrasco) and has a death story that's just as ridiculous as they are. Plus, there's a ghost who never wears pants... because he died without his pants on. What more could you want, really?
Bonus: Ghosts BBC
The original series, created by Matthew Bayoton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, and Ben Willibond for BBC. It follows a similar premise, but the ghosts are different, and the show is set in Surrey, England. It's just as funny as its American counterpart.
Sort Of (HBO Max)
Sort Of, created by Bilal Baig and Fab Filippo, follows Sabi Mehboob (Baig), a non-binary millennial based in Toronto, CA trying to navigate life as a bartender at an LGBTQ+ bookstore/bar and a nanny to the kids of an artist named Bessy (Grace Lynn Kung) and her narcissistic husband Paul (Gray Powell), all while being the youngest child in a big family of Pakistani immigrants.
Sabi battles Paul, her own non-accepting mother (Ellora Patnaik), and the decision of whether to start a new life in Berlin with her best friend or stay behind to take care of the kids after their mother falls ill. It's a lot, but Sabi's strong enough to take on all of it – and with dry, witty humor at that. The show takes issues like queerness, interracial relationships, and gender identity and presents them the way they should be presented: not as hot-button topics, but as part of everyday life.
A League of Their Own (Prime Video)
If you’re into feel-good sports shows like Ted Lasso and Cobra Kai, then Prime Video’s A League of Their Own is a must-watch. Taking inspiration from the Geena Davis and Tom Hanks-starring movie of the same name, which was released in 1992 and directed by Penny Marshall, it invites characters who are typically sidelined up to bat – and the results are refreshing, charming, and laugh-out-loud funny. And that’s not to say it doesn’t have its fair share of drama, too.
Created by Will Graham and Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson, it centers on the latter’s Carson Shaw, a baseball-loving married woman who leaves her Idaho home to try out for the Illinois-based Rockford Peaches in 1943 – and winds up becoming coach. Simultaneously, it follows Max Chapman (Chanté Adams), a gifted Black pitcher who’s shut out from the all-white team, as she struggles to find her own sense of community. Somewhere along the way, the two leads’ paths meet and they strike up a bond over their love of the game and their blossoming queer identities.
But this is no simple two-hander; each member of the hugely likable ensemble cast, which is almost entirely female-led, gets their time to shine, from Roberta Colindrez’s surly "Spanish Striker" (it goes down better than admitting she’s from Mexico, apparently) and Max’s superhero-obsessed bestie Clance (Gbemisola Ikumelo).
Shoresy (Hulu)
From Letterkenny creator Jared Keeso comes a hockey comedy about everyone's favorite foul-mouthed, chirp-serving, mother-loving athlete who joins a Triple A-level Northern Ontario Senior Hockey team in Sudbury on a quest to never lose again. Armed with a new coach and five new imported players (including three guys named Jim), Shoresy (Keeso) sets out to prove – not just to Nat (Tasya Teles), the team's owner and his sports journalist crush Laura Mohr (Camille Sullivan) – but to all of Sudbury that the Bulldogs can get bums in seats and win big.
Unlike its flagship show, Shoresy is less of a situational comedy and follows more of a cohesive storyline. The spin-off show is a love letter to the character, putting an actual face to the infamous name and giving us a look at who he really is beyond the muscles and 'Your Mom' jokes. Plus, It's about unity, sportsmanship, and hockey – with a whole lot of raunchy comedy in between. If you didn't know what an 'aqua dump' was before, you will now.
Welcome to Flatch (Hulu)
It's a mockumentary about a rural town in Ohio where Steve Stifler from American Pie plays a priest. We're not kidding.
Developed by screenwriter Jenny Bicks and directed by Paul Feig, Welcome to Flatch is an American reimagining of the British series This Country, which ran for three seasons on BBC Three. A little bit Parks and Rec and a little bit Napoleon Dynamite, the series follows cousin and BFF duo Kelly (Chelsea Holmes) and Shrub (Sam Straley) who take the unseen camera crew through their day-to-day lives, schemes, crushes, and everything in between. Season 2 sees Barb Flatch (Jamie Pressly) return to her hometown for a fresh start, but it's Big Mandy (Krystal Smith) and Beth (Erin Bowles) who steal every scene and bring the weirdness that makes this show truly one of a kind.
It's good, silly fun packed with quick heartfelt moments that make you want to reach out and hug every character – and also get them the hell out of Flatch, even just for a day.
The Kids in the Hall (Prime Video)
The Kids are back and better than ever. After 27 years the Canadian comedy troupe consisting of Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson has returned for a sixth season to their 1989 hit sketch show The Kids in the Hall – and they've still got it.
Widely regarded as the pioneers of sketch comedy, The Kids in the Hall ran for five seasons on CBC TV and HBO and put some of the most outrageous and strangest skits on television – and would go on to inspire the styles of numerous famous comedians and push the boundaries of what a comedy sketch can and can't be. Though it was executive-produced by Saturday Night Live helmer Lorne Michaels, the series stayed away from making commentary about current political and pop culture topics and instead invented numerous characters of their own. Rather than follow a predictable or formulaic format, many of the skits start out with a seemingly ordinary premise and venture off in a direction you couldn't have possibly seen coming.
Billed as the first Canadian Amazon Original series, season 6 pokes fun at their 1996 box office bomb Brain Candy; brings back beloved original characters like The Eradicator, McKinney's Head Crusher, office pals Cathy and Kathy, Foley's bald and mustached AT & Love Boss, and even good ol' Paul Bellini (clad only in his signature towel); introduces new characters like SuperDrunk, McCulloch's masked hero who gets his powers from booze; and stays true to their off-kilter, sometimes outright unsettling style of comedy. There's (a little) less gratuitous blood in this season, but a lot more nudity and plenty of men in wigs. Skeptic fans of the flagship show will be delighted to see that not only have the Kids maintained their strange sense of humor, but have become absolute masters of their craft – reminding everyone who the true kings of comedy really are.
Plus, the stacked list of cameos includes Catherine O'Hara, Kenan Thompson, Mark Hamill, Will Forte, Fred Armisen, Tracee Ellis Ross, Samantha Bee, Catherine Reitman, and Pete Davidson.
Dummy (The Roku Channel)
Though Quibi didn’t quite work out, some pretty great shows still came out of it - like Cody Heller’s Dummy. The series stars Anna Kendrick as a fictionalized version of Cody who develops an unlikely friendship and writing partnership with Barbara (Meredith Hagner), her boyfriend Dan Harmon's sex doll (based on her real-life fiance and Rick and Morty creator). Barbara's not so much an antagonist as she is a reflection of Cody's insecurities – and the two make one hell of pair.
At the beginning of the relationship, Heller felt both intimidated by Harmon's career and envious of his sex doll – and wrote this into the show. The result is a raw, but funny, depiction of anxiety, internal truths, and facing all of the things about ourselves that we don't like – in order to heal.
For more laughs, be sure to check out our list of the best Netflix comedies that you can stream right now.
