20 Best 90s Sitcoms of All Time

The sitcom has been a staple of television for over 70s years. Director and producer William Asher, who directed many episodes of the Lucille Ball starring smash hit I Love Lucy, is often credited with being the “man who invented the sitcom.”

Often referred to as situation comedy or situational comedy, the sitcom genre focuses on a group of characters and the situations they find themselves in, with major storylines carrying over from episode to episode. Originating on radio, they have become part of television history, with each decade giving rise to some incredible sitcoms.

While the 70s and 80s helped define the genre with shows like M*A*S*H*, A Different World, Married With Children, Cheers, The Honeymooners, and Murphy Brown, it was the 90s that cemented the sitcom in the TV hall of fame. The best 90s sitcoms were more than just family comedies, often including weird scripts, out-there characters, and different styles of comedy.

The 90s ushered in a new wave of comics and writers who took the sitcom to new heights. Cable TV meant there were more opportunities for creators to show off their work, allowing for sitcoms to cover more serious topics such as race, gender, and class. In celebration of 90s sitcoms, we have put together a list of the greatest shows from that era that are just as funny and engaging today as when they first aired. 

20 Best 90s Sitcoms of All Time

1. Freinds (1994-2004)

You were either a Friends fan or a Seinfeld fan in the 90s. While both were hugely successful, they were quite different content-wise. Friends is more of your standard sitcom, focusing on the lives of six best friends; Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Ross, Joey, and Chandler. 

Universally loved and responsible for launching the movie careers of Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox, Freinds is a landmark series that is just as big today as when it first aired in the 90s.

Watch on HBOMax

2. Newsradio (1995-1999)

The workplace comedy has never been done better than Newsradio. Set in a fictional radio station in New York, Newsradio featured slapstick comedy and visual gags along with an incredible ensemble cast that included Dave Foley, Stephen Root, Andy Dick, Maura Tierney, and a young Joe Rogan. It was also the final role for the late, great Phil Hartman, who was tragically killed before season five started shooting. 

While the show continued, with Jon Lovitz joining the cast, the loss of Hartman proved too much, and Newsradio was canned. Despite that, it remains a favorite and is a great time capsule of Hartman’s comedic talents. 

Watch on the Roku Channel

3. Will & Grace (1998-2006, 2017-2020)

Not only funny, Will & Grace helped publicize and normalize those who live their lives as homosexuals. Will, a gay lawyer, and Grace, a Jewish interior designer, are best friends who decided to live together. Along with their friends, the excessively rich Karen Walker and flamboyantly Jack Macfarlsnd, the show detailed the ups and downs the characters faced. 

Critically praised for the way the show handled homosexual relationships, along with issues of race, Will & Grace left a lasting impact on LGBTQ entertainment. It served as a great influence on other shows, such as The L Word and Queers as Folk, and was loaded with hilarious jokes, with the recent reboot/sequel just as entertaining. 

Watch on Hulu

4. 3rd Rock From the Sun (1996-2001)

This absurd sitcom was about four aliens posing as humans so they could observe humanity. Starring John Lithgow, Kristen Johnston, French Stewart, and a teenage Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the aliens, 3rd Rock From the Sun was slapstick comedy at its finest. Watching the four trying to assimilate into society created many big laughs and helped the show become a surprise hit that ran for six seasons.  

Watch on Philo

5. Seinfeld (1989-1998)

Seinfeld technically started in the 80s, but it was during the 90s when this show about nothing became a monster hit. Created by comedians Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the show focused on the lives of the four main characters, Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer. 

Across nine seasons the characters found themselves in the strangest and funniest predicaments as they went about life in New York. While they like to think of themselves as decent people, the four characters in Seinfeld are horrible, and that’s what makes the show so funny.

Just like people in real life, Jerry and co fail to learn from their mistakes and are often the cause of their own problems. A classic show that’s still in syndication today, proving just how popular Seinfeld was during its heyday. 

Watch on Netflix

6. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-1996)

Responsible for giving Will Smith his big acting break, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air remains a much-loved 90s sitcom following the tried and tested fish out of water story. Smith played a character who comes from a poor area of West Philadelphia, and after getting into trouble, finds himself being sent to live with his rich uncle and aunt in the posh suburb of Bel-Air. 

Much of the humor comes from the class divide, as Smith tries to fit into his new family and school. Running for six hilarious seasons, the show was a big hit for NBC and featured one of the catchiest theme songs ever written. 

Watch on Hulu

7. That ’70s Show (1998-2006)

As the name suggests, That ’70s Show was set during the 1970s and revolved around a group of high school friends growing up in Wisconsin. While the show was all about the kids, the two main adults, Eric’s parents Kitty and Red, played a pivotal role in the show. 

The humor can be a bit childish, but is still funny, while the cast included several stars who went on to do big things, including Aston Kutcher, Topher Grace, and Mila Kunis. There’s even a recent sequel, That ’90s Show, that is receiving decent reviews. 

Watch on Peacock

8. Martin (1992-1997)

It might be hard to believe these days but for a minute there in the 90s, Martin Lawrence was a big deal. The comedian-turned-actor had his own show, Martin, revolving around his relationships with his girlfriend and mates. Lawerence plays a loudmouth with a biting wit who always gets himself into trouble thanks to his big mouth. 

Lawrence often played multiple characters during the early seasons, which become a running gag, A ratings winner, Martin ran for five seasons and helped establish Lawrence as a comedy actor. 

Watch on HBOMax

9. Home Improvement (1991-1999)

After escaping jail time over a cocaine bust, Tim Allen managed to turn his life around as a stand-up comedian, scoring his breakthrough role on the hit sitcom Home Improvement. Playing Tim “the Toolman” Taylor, the show revolved around Taylor’s TV show and his interactions with his family. 

Although it failed to receive critical acclaim, the show was a hit with audiences and turned Allen, along with co-star Pamela Anderson, into megastars. Across the eight seasons, you witness the trials and tribulations Allen, his wife, and three young boys go through, with Tim Taylor often going to his neighbor Wilson, whose face is never seen, for advice.

Watch on Hulu

10. The Simpsons (1989-Present)

Another show that got its start in the 80s (just like Seinfeld), it wasn’t until the 90s when The Simpsons really took off. This animated sitcom about the townsfolk of Springfield really hit its stride in the 90s, churning out memorable episode after memorable episode. Who can forget Homer joining the Stonecutters or working for Hank Scorpio? Or how about when Mr. Burns replaced the Springfield Power Plant baseball team with former pros or when the monorail came to town?

The Simpson captured lighting in a bottle, often making fun of real-world events and constantly referencing pop culture. It even predicted the future on several occasions. While it hasn’t been able to reach the heights of the 90s these past 20-plus years, The Simpsons remains a classic sitcom that continues to draw decent ratings in the streaming era. 

Watch on Fox

11. The Larry Sanders Show (1992-1998)

 

The idea behind Garry Shandling’s The Larry Sanders Show is genius. Unlike normal sitcoms set in apartments, homes, or offices, The Larry Sanders Show was set behind the scenes of a late night talk show hosted by the fictional Larry Sanders (Shandling in brilliant form).

The sitcom looked at the relationships between the staff and the power dynamics at play, with plenty of guest stars playing larger-than-life versions of themselves, including Ben Stiller, Helen Hunt, Burt Reynolds, the Wu-Tang Clan, and more. 

Airing for six seasons on HBO, The Larry Sanders Show helped the network find its niche in terms of shows to produce, going on to influence the likes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, 30 Rock, and The Office. 

Watch on HBOMax

12. The Nanny (1993-1999)

Nobody can forget the shrill voice of Fran Drescher. Playing Fran Fine, Drescher stars as a Jewish fashion lover from Flushing Queens who lands a nanny job for a wealthy British Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield. The show was another fish-out-of-water tale, with the brewing love story between Fine and Sheffield at the core of the show. 

While certainly not everyone’s cup of tea (Drescher’s voice can become grating), there are plenty of laughs in each episode, with the six seasons rating well and winning several awards. There have even been several foreign adaptations over the years and talk of a rumored reboot.  

Watch on Pluto TV

13. Family Guy (1999-Present)

A more abrasive, offensive, and at times downright shocking version of The Simpsons, Family Guy continues to create controversy today. The show follows the Griffin family (Peter, Lois, Meg, Chris, baby Stewie, and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brain) and the problems they deal with on a daily basis. 

Like The Simpsons, the animation is basic but the jokes are usually hilarious, although later seasons are a bit hit-and-miss. Another ratings winner for the Fox network, Family Guy still draws big numbers and inspired the spin-off The Cleveland Show.

Watch on Fox

14. Saved by the Bell (1989-1993)

Another show that started at the tail end of the 80s, Saved by the Bell was best known as a 90s show that kids the world over watched and loved. Set at a fictional Los Angeles high school, the show follows a select group of students and their principal as they deal with day-to-day life. While generally light-hearted with silly gags, the show did touch on some heavy issues, such as drug use, drunk driving, homelessness, and women’s rights.

It propelled the careers of Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, and Mario Lopez and gave us great fictional characters like Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and Screech (Dustin Diamond). Several reboots and spin-offs have been released over the years, but nothing beats the original four seasons. 

Watch on Hulu

15. The Drew Carey Show (1995-2004)

Remember when Drew Carey was a little larger and not fronting Whose Line Is It Anyway? That was when he was starring in his own sitcom, the imaginatively titled The Drew Carey Show. Carey played a fictionalized version of himself and the show revolved around his day-to-day life, friends, and relationships. 

Throughout the show, Carey had a long-running feud with co-worker Mimi Bobeck (Kathy Kinney) that provided plenty of laughs, while also finding himself falling in and out of love constantly. He gets married six times during the nine seasons, although some of those marriages are fraudulent and done for reasons besides love.

The latter seasons are a drastic change from the regular sitcom format and were part of the reason for the show’s fast decline in ratings and eventual cancellation. 

Watch on Apple TV

16. Living Single (1993-1998)

Like so many of the best 90s sitcoms, Living Single followed a group of six friends living in New York. It sounds like a Friends rip-off, but Living Single came long before that famous show and was arguably even more important for the sitcom genre due to its main cast being black.

It starred a great cast of talented individuals (Queen Latifah, Kim Fields, Kim Coles, and Erika Alexander) and offered people of color a show they could relate to with engrossing storylines and plenty of laughs. 

Watch on Hulu

17. King of the Hill (1997-2010)

After the success of his animated series Beavis and Butt-Head – a show about two high school slackers that still gets a few laughs – Mike Judge moved on to middle America with the hilariously relatable King of the Hill. 

Centered around everyman Hank Hill and his family and friends, King of the Hill is a realistic look at blue-collar America and the problems faced by these individuals. Hill is a classic character and is set to get a new life, with Hulu commissioning a new series of the show. 

Watch on Hulu

18. Mr. Bean (1990-1995)

Rowan Atkinson came into his own with the near-silent Mr. Bean character. Although there were only 15 episodes of the original series, Mr. Bean was a massive hit thanks to Atkinson’s comedy style, with the show featuring Bean trying to solve everyday tasks that always ended up causing more trouble than they should. 

Relying on slapstick humor with little talking helped Mr. Bean become a smash hit across the world, with the show easy to understand for non-English speaking audiences. It spawned an animated series and two movies, with Atkinson also winning several awards for Mr. Bean. 

Watch on Pluto TV

19. Fraiser (1993-2004)

Few spin-offs have been as successful as Fraiser. Starring Kelsey Grammer as psychiatrist Frasier Crane, who was previously seen on another hit sitcom, Cheers, the show finds Crane moving back to his hometown of Seattle after the end of his marriage. He is forced to move in with his father Martin, reconnect with his neurotic brother Niles, and get a job at the local radio station as an on-air self-help guru.

Fraiser is full of memorable moments as Grammer lurches from one bad romance to the next while trying to keep his family life in order. The winner of a whopping 37 Primetime Emmy Awards, Fraiser was a critical smash that is getting the reboot treatment, with a new series set to air soon. 

Watch on Hulu

20. South Park (1997-Present)

You can’t have a list of the best 90s sitcoms without including South Park. The animated series from creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker is still going strong and making a mockery of the world we live in. Just like Family Guy, it’s offensive and controversial and has caused more than a few famous people to get upset about featuring in the show. 

Following the adventures of school kids Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick (“Oh, my God, they killed Kenny!” became a massive catchphrase in the late 90s) and the eclectic residents of the fictional American town of South Park, few shows have managed to get away with the dark satirical humor of South Park. An absolute classic. 

Watch on HBOMax