Comedy TV · 2010s Ranked
Best Comedy TV Shows of the 2010s, Ranked by IQ Score
The decade that redefined what 'comedy' could mean in long-form TV. Ranked by IQ Score.
The 2010s in TV comedy is the decade the genre stopped being defined by network sitcom conventions and started operating across registers, animated philosophy (BoJack Horseman, The Good Place), Black-American auteur work (Atlanta, Insecure, Master of None), British-import register (Fleabag), and political satire (Veep). The rubric reads the decade's actual experimental range.
Anchor picks: Atlanta (Donald Glover, 2016-22) is the decade's most-formally-ambitious entry, anthology-level genre experiments within a sitcom framework. Veep (2012-19) is the political-comedy canonical entry. Fleabag (2016-19) is the catalog's most-emotionally-direct entry, Phoebe Waller-Bridge's two-season British comedy. BoJack Horseman (2014-20) is the decade's animated-philosophy entry. The Good Place (2016-20) committed to letting ethics-as-actual-material be the show's structural subject.
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Questions about this ranking
What is the best comedy of the 2010s?
By IQ Score on TV Intelligentsia, Atlanta, Veep, Fleabag, Master of None, and BoJack Horseman anchor the decade's Masterclass tier. The Good Place rounds out the structurally-experimental work.
How does TVI rank 2010s comedies?
Every 2010s comedy is scored on the same rubric: Cognitive Stimulation (40%), Educational Value (35%), Craft & Quality (25%). The rubric reads the decade as the period comedy stopped being defined by network sitcom conventions, auteur work, animated philosophy, and British-import register all expanded the genre's structural range.
Which 2010s comedy is most underrated?
Catastrophe (Sharon Horgan / Rob Delaney, 2015-19), Detectorists (Mackenzie Crook, 2014-22), and Search Party (2016-22) are the three most-underrated 2010s comedies by IQ Score relative to their reputational reach. Each operates at a register the genre's mainstream coverage rarely amplifies.
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