Best comedy shows to make you laugh

From Kate Winslet unleashing her inner dictator to a television adaption of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, here are some of the funniest shows available now or coming soon.

The Regime

"Nothing compares to a Kate Winslet HBO series," said Harper's Bazaar, with the Oscar winner following up her success from the "Mare of Easttown", with an altogether more comedic turn as the dictator of a fictional Central European autocracy on the brink of collapse. Created by "Succession" veteran Will Tracy, with a stellar cast that includes Hugh Grant, Martha Plimpton and Andrea Riseborough, this dark comedy tells the story of a year inside the walls of the palace of a modern regime as it begins to unravel. "We're more used to seeing Winslet play plucky, hard-bitten characters who must struggle with what life dumps upon them," said Empire, "so it's somewhat refreshing to see her unleash a much steelier, dangerous type upon a fictional world." Coming to Now TV and Sky Atlantic on 3 March.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine – in place of Phoebe Waller-Bridge who dropped out due to "creative differences" – this TV remake of the 2005 film is a "subversive, seductive, slow burn", said Esquire. The eponymous couple are thrown together by a secretive spy agency and forced to live as a married couple carrying out missions around the world. It is "a great demonstration of the charm and intelligence that infuses the whole that they pivot from strangers to colleagues to lovers so seamlessly", said The Guardian, in what is ultimately a "fast, fun and witty" show. The way the eight-part series "wrestles with the idea of compatibility makes this feel like a show about dating first and spying second", said Vox, but it is also genuinely laugh out loud at times. It boasts the "sort of lived-in, daring jokes we need more of in television: not quippy, not a Succession-style insult, just funny", said Esquire. Available to watch now on Amazon Prime.

The Curse

This is the sort of show that "makes you cringe so hard you hope to disappear into the void", said Mashable. The "surreal comedy" stars Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder, the "madman" behind "Nathan For You" and "The Rehearsal". The couple are attempting to get their "house-flipping series off the ground, only to be thwarted at every turn". It's a "tale of an HGTV show gone terribly wrong", which delves into "everything from the ethics of reality TV to gentrification to the tokenization of Native Americans". There is "a fascinating method to this cringe-inducing madness". Watch on Paramount+ 

Beef

"Beef" is the "best show Netflix has had in recent memory", said Vox. This dark comedy follows two protagonists – played by Ali Wong and Steven Yeun – who meet in a "screeching episode of Southern California road rage". The chance encounter "changes their lives forever", as the characters embark on "an escalating war of terror" against one another. It is "anxiety-inducing", "gripping" and "commanding" – and the pair's story is seen through to a "perfect, satisfying end". Watch on Netflix

Colin from Accounts

This "textured and inviting romantic comedy" is a "real find", said The Times. Two "slightly daft" people, Ashley and Gordon, meet when Gordon – "distracted after Ashley flashed him her breast as a reward for giving her right of way on the road" – hits a dog. The pair then have to look after the animal, who they name Colin from Accounts. The show is "charming", and "soars thanks to the chemistry between the leading pair", played by husband and wife duo Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall, who also co-wrote and directed the show. Watch on BBC iPlayer

Dreaming Whilst Black

British TV has been "crying out for comedy like this", said Radio Times drama writer Morgan Cormack. The BBC has "a comedy gem" in this six-part series by Adjani Salmon, who also stars as lead character Kwabena, a "hopeful filmmaker" who is "pulling out" the stops to get his first movie made. "The laughs" are balanced with "prevalent conversations and everyday explorations about what it means to be Black in Britain" in a way "other comedies can only learn from", said Cormack. "Dreaming Whilst Black" is a series that "won't be forgotten anytime soon". Watch on BBC iPlayer

Jury Duty

"Jury Duty'' is a "prank reality show" about "that most dreaded of civic duties", said Time Out. An "average Joe" called Ronald Gladden is one of 12 jurors being filmed as part of a documentary about the American justice system – or so he thinks, said Mashable. The other 11 people he finds himself sequestered in an LA hotel with are actors – so is the judge, the lawyers and the bailiff, who are all "improvising to see how he'll react". The outcome is "winsomely heartwarming", and Gladden's "accepting nature" makes the show "into something more than even the producers anticipated – and ends up all the funnier for it". Watch on Amazon Freevee

Everyone Else Burns

A "family of worshippers" join an "overzealous Christian doomsday sect" in this six-part comedy, said Barbara Ellen in The Observer. "Inadequate control freak" David (played by Simon Bird with "a distracting pudding bowl haircut") is "a kind of Captain Mainwaring of evangelism" who's wont to getting his family "out of bed for apocalypse practice". But "it's not a comedy going for cheap laughs about Christianity", said The Telegraph. "It's a great premise", the characters are "well-written" and "every line has a comic payoff". Watch on Channel 4

Shrinking

At its heart, "Shrinking" is a "family story", said NPR. It follows a recently-widowed therapist and the life of his teenage daughter, as they "reconfigure their relationship in a new way, shaped by his grief and hers". It's an "ensemble comedy-drama" with a "genuinely stupendous cast" – including Harrison Ford, who takes his performance to "a whole new comic gear". This show is "a bright spot in a very crowded landscape". Watch on Apple TV+

Extraordinary

For "anyone who sat through the sweet, colour-saturated" Disney+ musical "Encanto" and "felt like it could've done with a few more jokes about hookups and Hitler", "Extraordinary" is a "must-watch", said the Financial Times. This eight-part series is "a breezy, London-set quarter-life crisis sitcom that doubles as an offbeat send-up of superhero stories". Viewers can look forward to "a fairly consistent stream of playful gags, irony-laced humour and some giddy (and overly insistent) bawdiness". Season two coming to Disney+ on 6 March

Primo

This Amazon Freevee series is a "feel-good, coming-of-age comedy for the whole family", said Rolling Stone. Rafa Gonzales lives with his mother, Drea, in a "modest ranch house" in San Antonio – with "all five of Drea's loud, opinionated, intrusive, knucklehead brothers". It is both "a sweet and charming coming-of-age story" focused on Rafa, and a "broad and silly comedy about the antics of his five uncles". True, "it's nothing you haven't seen before" but it is "done with enough specificity to feel lived-in". "Primo" is an "exceedingly likeable" show. Watch on Amazon Freevee

Platonic

In "When Harry Met Sally", Nora Ephron posed the question of whether men and women can "really be just friends", said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. The "mighty" writer's answer was "in essence, no" – but Apple TV+'s "Platonic" "posits that the answer these days might be yes". "Bad Neighbours" co-stars Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen reunite in this 10 episode series about two former best friends who "fall back into their old ways" five years after their fallout. The leads' are afforded "equally meaty, equally comic" roles and their chemistry is "a joy to watch". Watch on Apple TV+

The Change

Bridget Christie plays Linda, a wife and mum who embarks on a "mid-life road-trip" to "'rediscover herself'" in the Forest of Dean – but on arrival, it's "not quite the bucolic ideal she had in mind", said Chortle. A "musing menagerie of weirdos" awaits her, and there's an "otherworldly sheen" to the events that unfold. "The Change" encompasses a seemingly "unlikely" combination of "light-touch social commentary and a magical realism drawn from English folk mythology" that "works well". It "proves itself repeatedly funny in ways large and small". Watch on Channel 4

The Big Door Prize

This "thought-provoking" comedy has the "Ted Lasso" formula of "saccharine sentiment offset by salty humour", said The Telegraph. The story takes place in "smalltown America", with the "mysterious arrival of an arcade machine at the local store". The Morpho machine can tell you your "life potential" – and "unsurprisingly" proves "an instant smash hit with locals", who suddenly find "purpose" in their "humdrum lives". This "thought experiment" stars Chris O'Dowd, and the performances "across the board are superb". Season two premieres on Apple+ on 24 April

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