Comic Relief
Ten shows to relieve the pain of this world
Photo: Maya Robinson/Vulture
Rents have never been higher, incomes have never crept up slower, and all we have are the many overpriced streaming services that we all pay for in protest of the evil cable company that our parents complained about in the early 2000's.
Go ahead and UberEats that pint of ice cream, skip your workout, and alter your brain chemistry with some fantastic comedy.
Tina Fey built a joke-machine so dense it demands you rewatch it just to catch the background gags you missed while snorting at Jack Donaghy’s corporate fascism. This joke-a-second live-action cartoon about a head writer trying to control an unhinged late-night sketch show and her corporate boss while trying to have it all is perfection. 30 Rock treated total lowbrow absurdity with highbrow reverence. It’s vital because it proved modern network TV could move at a breakneck, surreal speed without abandoning top-tier political satire that makes you think. Watching it for the insane storylines, rewatch it to catch all of Jenna and Tracy's jokes, then watch it again for good measure.
It's no wonder the nation fell in love with four older women who spent most of their time sitting around a Miami kitchen table eating cheesecake, systematically shredding societal expectations about age, sex, and polite conversation. The New York Times famously wrote that the series was "a rare sitcom that treats older women not as eccentric relics, but as vibrant, sexually active, fiercely independent human beings." Its unique brillianc centering four women past their prime-time "expiration date" and making them the most savage, sharp-tongued crew on network television was pure genius and the comedy is golden! Beyond the endless laughs and touching moments, the gals tackled gay rights, HIV/AIDS, and female bodily autonomy in the mid-1980s, long before mainstream media thought those issues were safe to touch.
What if the least qualified people imaginable were entrusted with law enforcement? Well, that's the premise of this show. Every episode feels like someone left the cameras rolling during the making of a 'What-Not-To-Do' police training seminar, and somehow every cast member commits to the bit with Oscar-worthy sincerity. From too tight shorts, to fake lottery winnings, and nudity in all the wrong places, Reno 911 is a must watch.
The show about nothing that somehow became about everything. Entire generations now analyze social interactions through Larry David's neuroses, and it's hard to argue they're wrong. It's proof that if enough deeply unpleasant people complain about soup, waiting in line, and parking, eventually it becomes art. I know it's not for everyone, but if you can get past Jerry's dry delivery and focus on the joy that is Julia, the show takes on a whole new life.
A sitcom built like a Russian nesting doll of jokes, and the deeper you dive into each joke, the darker and funnier it becomes. It's the comedy equivalent of finding money in an old coat pocket, except the money is incest jokes and tiny blue handprints. Every cast member brings 100% of themselves to the part, taking you on a rollercoaster of love and hate where the only constant is your sore stomach from laughing. Remember, there is always money in the Banana Stand!
The closest television has ever come to accurately depicting what happens when your best friend is both your emotional support system and your biggest enabler. Two broke, weed-smoking best friends stumble through the chaotic jungle of twenty-something NYC life. It flipped the traditionally male stoner-comedy trope entirely on its head and it stands as a hilarious, radical celebration of female friendship that gave young women permission to be total disasters. I watched plenty of my friends live out similar experiences during the era this show aired live. Every episode begins with optimism and ends in complete chaos, which is also how most people in their twenties would summarize life.
Leslie Knope has enough optimism to power a small nation, Ron Swanson has enough skepticism to shut it down, and somehow together they created one of television's warmest, funniest worlds. Leslie, a ridiculously optimistic mid-level bureaucrat tries to improve her small Indiana town despite an office full of weirdos. Amy Poehler created a world so vivid and hilarious, its impossible to not get wrapped up in faux election drama, the loss of a miniature horse, and the rise and fall of Entertainment 720.
An aging Las Vegas comedy legend is forced to hire an entitled, canceled Gen-Z writer to refresh her dusty stand-up material. The show is a masterclass in proving that generational warfare is funniest when everyone involved is equally insufferable. Jean Smart doesn't just steal scenes, she repossesses them entirely. It's one of the few shows where emotional vulnerability and devastating insults coexist in perfect harmony. Paul W. Downs (also a part of Broad City) created a show that has firmly cemented itself in icon status.
Dedicated Philadelphia teachers try to keep an underfunded public school afloat while dealing with Janine’s exhausting over-optimism, Ava’s criminally negligent leadership, and Gregory’s deadpan camera stares. By throwing veteran hardliners like Barbara and Melissa into the mix with clueless administration, it miraculously breathed fresh life into the network mockumentary format. It proved network TV can still deliver a massive, culturally relevant hit anchored in real-world systemic issues.
Jerri Blank, a 46-year-old "boozer, user, and loser", heads back to Flatpoint High to start over, routinely guided into terrible decisions by her closeted art teacher Mr. Jellineck and self-absorbed civics teacher Mr. Noblet. Amy Sedaris gave a fearless performance, making Jerri repulsive and completely unrepentant alongside Principal Black's endless hypocrisy. Strangers with Candy torched the preachy "Afterschool Special" trope and paved the way for alt-comedy's darkest impulses.
Bonus, for those who can stomach politics at this time
Vice President Selina Meyer and her pathetic inner circle, from her codependent bag-boy Gary and sycophantic chief of staff Amy to the monumentally incompetent Jonah Ryan, do whatever it takes to hoard power in Washington. Its unique language (a lot of wearing) is a lightning-fast stream of creative, Shakespearean-level profanity weaponized by horrible people. Veep shatters the idealist fantasy of American politics, replacing noble speeches with the horrifying truth of beltway self-interest.
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