We live in a golden age of television with more shows than ever before. Limiting a list to just the 10 best TV shows of the year does a disservice to the hundreds of programs out there.
So instead, I’ve broken it down to Comedy and Drama. On the Comedy side, 2016 was a banner year for network television, with many great sitcoms on the major networks like ABC and NBC. And with political comedies in an election year and Netflix’s endless supply of new content, there’s plenty to be excited about.
From family comedies to hour-long dramedies to political satire and more, here is my list of the 10 best TV comedies from 2016.
#10 Shameless
With Fiona finding her independence, Debbie getting married, and Ian settling into his job and new love interest, the crazy Gallagher family stayed fresh and funny in their seventh season.
#9 Silicon Valley
Success comes at a price, and the tech nerds struggled to keep it all together in the funniest way possible.
#8 The Good Place
An inventive concept set in the afterlife combined with the charm of Kristen Bell and the whimsy of Ted Danson made this a surprise gem among new sitcoms this year.
#7 Superstore
Like some of the great NBC workplace sitcoms of the past (including The Office and Newsradio), this comedy set in a big box store features an interesting cast of zany characters that help make it a fun show every week.
#6 The Carmichael Show
Simultaneously topical and universal, this traditional family sitcom feels like Everybody Loves Raymond, only with a distinct point of view that finds comedy in everything, from death and depression to porn and President Trump.
#5 Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
This miniseries was six hours of pure comfort and joy, bringing back everything we loved from the original series. An endless parade of familiar faces, serious family melodrama, and Emily using a curse word made this everything you could hope for and more.
#4 You’re the Worst
With the death of Jimmy’s father, season 3 of this underappreciated FXX comedy continued to delve into the disturbing and hilarious psychology of its characters, leading to a truly brilliant and subversive ending that took the most romantic moment and turned it into a nightmare.
#3 Veep
With a new showrunner, the fifth season of this HBO comedy was its best yet, dealing with a fierce political battle, an unexpected outcome, and truly outrageous moments, including the death of Selina’s mother and Jonah getting elected to Congress.
#2 Black-ish
The best-scripted comedy on TV, this ABC sitcom has a stellar cast from top to bottom, truly funny writing, and a lot of heart. Unafraid to tackle issues like Black Lives Matter and protesting against the police, not only is this show extremely funny, but it’s also deeply relevant.
#1 Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
2016 has a fiercely contested presidential election, so it’s no surprise that the best TV of the year came from political satire. Picking up where Jon Stewart left off, the one-two punch of former Daily Show correspondents John Oliver and Samantha Bee offered some of the funniest, raunchiest, and the most incisive commentary of the year. From Oliver’s deep investigations to Bee’s unapologetically biased crusade for women’s rights, having these two on the air is the next best thing to the glorious decade we spent with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central.
What was your favorite TV comedy from 2016?
For More of BuddyTV’s 2016 End of Year Coverage:
- 10 Sexiest Male Characters of 2016
- 10 Sexiest Female TV Characters of 2016
- The 10 Best TV Dramas from 2016
- 19 Major TV Deaths of 2016
- 25 Best TV Episodes of 2016
- 11 TV Couples Who Had No Happily Ever After
- 10 TV Characters We Fell in Love with
- [WATCH] 5 Great Musical TV Performances
- 5 Show Cancellations that Broke Our Hearts
- 7 Characters We’ll Miss in 2017
(Images courtesy of ABC, Showtime, HBO, NBC, FXX, Netflix, and TBS)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
