2 days ago
You're wasting your money on Netflix if you've not laughed at these 7 comedies
Steve Charnock Published August 18, 2025 3:57pm Link is copied Comments We know them as titans of streaming, but back in 1997, Netflix started out as a DVD postal rental company. Customers would pay to get sent movies in physical form, sending them back when they'd watched them. A decade later, they launched their video-on-demand service. They quickly started streaming TV shows alongside cinematic offerings. Within a few years it became one of the majors ways people watch television content. Chances are, a lot of you reading this will have a subscription. But - ask us? - plenty of you won't be getting your money's worth. Unless you're devotees of the following seven comedy shows, you're just not Netflixing properly. Here are our top funny shows currently streaming in the UK... (Picture: Netflix/Everett/REX/Shutterstock) Shane Gillis is something of a divisive figure in US comedy circles. Loved by some as an everyman comedy hero with no filter, he's dismissed by others as offensive and part of a 'bro' scene in comedy that ignores political correctness purely for cheap yuks. Whatever your view, it's hard to deny that the man's got funny bones. The former Saturday Night Live comedian is the star here in this lo-fi workplace comedy, but there's more to it that just his simultaneously objectionable-but-loveable schtick. The super short first series is funny but feels a bit like a bunch of YouTube Shorts. But by the second season of Tires, everyone has grown into it and the 12 half-hour episodes are as hilarious as they are assured. Gillis is great, co-star Steve Gerben is a revelation and the cameos are all beautifully cast (Picture: Netflix) Modern audiences are, by now, very familiar and happy with the concept of the 'adult animation'. The '90s saw them go mainstream with the likes of Beavis and Butthead, and South Park. Shows like Family Guy then firmly established the premise of a grown-up laughing at a cartoon as perfectly normal. All of those had somewhat crossover audiences, with older kids and teens also enjoying them. Netflix's BoJack Horseman - about a washed-up former Hollywood star who also happens to be equine - has no aspirations to capture a younger audience. This is firmly for adults. And it's all the better for it. The writing is superb, but it's the voice cast where the true talent lies. Will Arnett, Aaron Paul, Alison Brie and Paul F. Tompkins are all perfect here (Picture: Netflix) Fans of slightly more leftfield US comedy like Tim & Eric will already know about the work of Tim Robinson. There are currently three seasons of his excellent, surreal sketch comedy show I Think You Should Leave up on Netflix at the moment. The show currently holds a 96% approval rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, meaning it's almost universally adored by critics, even if Robinson's mildly demented personas will always make him a hard sell to a wider audience. It's weird, but it's funny. Open your mind and let Tim and his pals jump in and slosh about the place a bit (Picture: Netflix) Another slightly off-the-wall pick for you here. And another workplace sitcom. This time a BAFTA award-winning one, no less. If you think estate agents, letting agents and real estate staff are a little strange, wait until you see the ragtag bunch imagined up by comedian Jamie Demetriou in his breakout TV comedy. Him and his real-life sister Natasha Demetriou play siblings working for their dad's ropey property company. Stath's desperate to impress dad Vasos, but his incompetence makes it tricky. Stath Lets Flats is daft, but very, very funny (Picture: Adam Lawrence) Okay, so true comedy aficionados don't need It's Always Sunny explaining to them. This FX comedy has been a firm favourite of devotees of truly funny stuff for two decades now. In fact, it's been running now for more seasons than any other American live-action sitcom in US TV history. The gang are all older but - crucially - no wiser as the 17th season looms. It's not for everyone. Sunny is far from sunny: it's crass, it's loud and it's jam-packed full of narcissists behaving appallingly. Which will either leave you cold, or shaking with laughter (Picture: FX Networks/Everett/Shutterstock) The 1980s were transformational for comedy. Especially in the UK. After decades of staid, safe and boring comedy, an 'alternative' scene exploded. Chief among the movement were the members of 'The Comic Strip' (Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson, Alexei Sayle, Keith Allen, Robbie Coltrane and a few others). They came out of London's newly-opened Comedy Store in 1980 and British TV producers - looking for fresh comedy talent - were only to happy to take a chance on them. From that decision came The Comic Strip Presents… Eight series of the highly-influential show ran, with four theatrical films being released between 1985 and 2004. In total there were 42 television episodes (each with different characters and stories), four films, and one short film (Picture: Mick McGurk) Widely regarded as one of the smartest sitcoms ever made, Arrested Development blends sharp writing with a fearless disregard for traditional TV formulas. Created by Mitchell Hurwitz and produced with Ron Howard's backing (he also narrates the show), this modern comedy classic debuted on Fox back in 2003 and quickly built a devoted following. Its ensemble cast - Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, Jessica Walter, Jeffrey Tambor, Will Arnett, Tony Hale, David Cross, Alia Shawkat and Portia de Rossi - combine to deliver staggeringly perfectly-timed performances. It's all about the cleverly layered jokes, running gags and callbacks here. All designed to reward attentive viewers, making the series endlessly rewatchable (Picture: Saeed Adyani/Netflix)
