Comedy Series on Amazon Prime: 16 Hilarious Shows, Ranked — Sure to Keep You in Stitches

Bills piling up? Noisy neighbors? Another telemarketer interrupting your dinner? Are you thinking, “Calgon, take me away,” but the tub’s clogged? Don’t worry — these comedy series on Amazon Prime are sure to give you the escape you need with a lot of laughs.

“Laughter helps the heart because it releases endorphins, which reduce inflammation and helps…blood vessels relax. It also reduces the levels of stress hormones,” explains Dr. Marco Saffi, lead author of a recent study from the European Society of Cardiology, which found that test subjects who watched an hour of comedies saw impressive health benefits over those who watched documentaries. Laughter therapy, he adds, “is a good intervention that could help…decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke.”

Or, as TV’s honorary surgeon general of comedy Betty White so simply put it, “Laughter keeps everyone feeling wonderful.” Consider this list of winning comedy series on Amazon Prime your prescription list to relax, feel calmer, and get healthier. No insurance card needed — just your Amazon Prime membership (and some comfy couch-surfing pajamas, popcorn and a beverage).

16 best comedy series on Amazon Prime, ranked

As of posting time, all 16 of these comedy series on Amazon Prime are no extra charge on the platform, so tell those telemarketers to take a hike and binge away. Happy laughing!

16. The Brady Bunch

Mom always said, “Don’t play ball in the house!” But she didn’t say anything about bingeing this classic comedy starring Robert Reed and Florence Henderson. “The gags and tidy lessons are shelf-stable, and contemporary children will eat them up,” The New Yorker noted about this iconic 1969 to 1974 comedy series on Amazon Prime, and why its laughs successfully get passed down from generation to generation.

Watch The Brady Bunch now!

RELATED: ‘I Grew Up in ‘The Brady Bunch’ House at 4222 Clinton Way & It Was Nothing Short of Magical’

15. Happy Days

Fonzie (Henry Winkler), the Cunninghams (Tom Bosley, Marion Ross, Ron Howard, Erin Moran) and company sure kept audiences rocking — and laughing! — around the clock in this ’50s-set series from Garry Marshall. And what better time to revisit these old friends than for the 50th anniversary of the series’ premiere in January 2024? “The show was loved around the world because of something that was even beyond the words. Even through the humor, there was heart,” said Anson Williams, who played Potsie.

Watch Happy Days now!

RELATED: See the ‘Happy Days’ Cast Then and Now — And Find Out What They’re Doing Today!

14. Here’s Lucy

After Lucille Ball's I Love Lucy won everyone’s hearts, this queen of comedy kept the laughs coming on both The Lucy Show (1962 to 1968), and this popular 1968 to 1974 series. Here, she plays a widowed mother of two (played by her real-life kids, Desi Arnaz, Jr. and Lucie Arnaz). Along with Ball’s genius timing and wit, there’s a cavalcade of A-list guest stars to keep you entertained, from Flip Wilson, Dean Martin, Ann-Margret and Vivian Vance, to Liberace, Johnny Carson, and Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor!

Watch Here's Lucy now!

13. Mork & Mindy

Nanu nanu! This unlikely Happy Days spinoff was a true showcase for TV newcomer Robin Williams' talents from 1978 to 1982. “I don't know how much value I have in this universe, but I do know that I made a few people happier than they would have been without me,” his Mork character says in one episode, and that certainly applies to the comedic genius himself, who kept us laughing as his alien from Ork settled down in Colorado with his bewildered new roommate (Pam Dawber).

Watch Mork & Mindy on Amazon Prime now!

RELATED: ‘Mork and Mindy’ Star Pam Dawber on Robin Williams, Mark Harmon & Her Return to TV

12. Benson

Robert Guillaume won an Outstanding Lead Actor in A Comedy Series Emmy for his portrayal of this title character, the butler at a governor’s mansion who goes on to have his own political career. “A family sitcom set in the world of politics, Benson lasted far longer than its parent show, largely thanks to the charm of Guillaume in the lead role,” MeTV notes of the hit series, a Soap spinoff that ran from 1979 to 1986. “Great timing, charisma and class,” Soap’s Billy Crystal said when his former co-star passed in 2017.

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11. Designing Women

“And THAT, Marjorie — just so you will know — and your children will someday know — is the night! The lights! Went out in Georgia!” This iconic scene alone is worth its weight in comedy gold, but there are so many more hilarious moments scattered throughout this 1986 to 1993 series. Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Jean Smart, Annie Potts, Meshach Taylor, Jan Hooks, Alice Ghostley and the rest of the gifted cast will make it hard for you to not spit out your sweet tea while watching!

Watch Designing Women now!

RELATED: 15 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets You Never Knew About ‘Designing Women’

10. The Bernie Mac Show

When he started playing a married but childless standup comic who takes in his sister’s three kids, Bernie Mac was poised to become “America's most provocative and (trust us) strangely likable TV ‘dad’,” Time announced of this hit, praising the sitcom for being “funny and true.” During its 2001 to 2006 run, it won three NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series and an Emmy for Outstanding Writing, proving that Mac gave his all —including his funny bone— to the show. “My love for comedy is just unbelievable,” he said.

Watch The Bernie Mac Show now!

9. Laverne & Shirley

You’d have to be a schlemiel (or a schlimazel) to not love revisiting this Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams comedy series on Amazon Prime. This Happy Days spinoff, which ran from 1976 to 1983, quickly took over the top spot in the rankings from Richie and the Fonz, and audiences ate up the onscreen chemistry of its two leads, who played somewhat hapless but lovable Milwaukee singles. “Wrestling, boxing shows, roller-skating,” Marshall recalled of some of their popular physical comedy bits. “Physically, we were pretty good!” That’s an understatement if Boo-Boo kitty ever heard one!

Watch Laverne & Shirley now!

RELATED: Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Revisit the ‘Laverne and Shirley’ Cast

8. Will & Grace

This engaging ensemble comedy boasts the stellar cast of Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally as pals Will, Grace, Jack and Karen, who stumbled their way through life, love and shenanigans on Manhattan’s Upper West Side from 1998 to 2006. The hysterical series’ supporting cast was just as hilarious: Shelley Morrison, Harry Connick Jr., Debbie Reynolds, Blythe Danner and, of course, the late great Leslie Jordan as Karen’s nemesis and comic foil, Beverly "well, well, well" Leslie.

Watch Will & Grace now!

7. Everybody Hates Chris

Brooklyn in the ’80s is the setting for this NAACP Image Award-winning, Chris Rock-narrated sitcom based on the comedian’s own teen experiences. Den of Geek notes “it was sharply written, very funny and didn’t shy away from serious topics [such as] race and class, like so many feel-good nostalgic comedies [do].” Tyler James Williams, who now stars on ABC’s Abbott Elementary, played the young Chris from 2005 to 2009, and the cast also featured the proven talents of Tichina Arnold and Terry Crews.

Watch Everybody Hates Chris now!

6. Upload, comedy series on Amazon Prime

This 2020 sci-fi comedy from Greg Daniels (Parks and Recreation, The Office) is out of this world and currently Amazon’s top original comedy. USA Today promises “there's no show on TV quite like Upload,” and hails it as a “smart, often hilarious series” about people being able to upload their consciousness to luxurious digital locations in the afterlife. The series, which stars Robbie Amell, Andy Allo, Zainab Johnson, and Allegra Edwards, received a 100% approval rating for its second of three seasons (so far) on Rotten Tomatoes.

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5. The Mindy Project, comedy series on Amazon Prime

Work and romance don’t mix — or do they? — for the lovable Dr. Mindy Lahiri (series creator Mindy Kaling) and Dr. Danny Castellano (Chris Messina). “I wanted to play a woman who was basically a good person, but also very insane, and had tons of stuff she needed to work on,” Kaling shared in 2022 on the 2012 to 2017 series’ 10th anniversary. “Coming from The Office, I wanted the show to be packed with jokes, but also, like You’ve Got Mail or When Harry Met Sally, really romantic and made you want to live in New York City.” Scranton’s Kelly Kapoor would no doubt be impressed!

Watch The Mindy Project now!

4. Frasier, comedy series on Amazon Prime

“I’m listening.” And we were watching — and laughing — right along with radio psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), his brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and father, Martin (John Mahoney) during this Seattle-set show’s 1993 to 2004 run, during which it won a whopping 37 Emmy awards. Peri Gilpin and Jane Leeves also shined as part of the ensemble cast, and viewers ate up every hysterical visit from Bebe Neuwirth as Dr. Lilith Sternin from Frasier’s Cheers days back in Boston.

Watch Frasier now!

RELATED: See The ‘Frasier’ Cast Then and Now

3. Fleabag, comedy series on Amazon Prime

Both series installments of this 2016 to 2019 gem from creator-writer-star Phoebe Waller-Bridge boasts 100% approval on Rotten Tomatoes, which declares it “clever and viciously funny. Fleabag is a touching, wildly inventive comedy about a complicated young woman navigating the aftermath of trauma.” “The one-liners are biting. Waller’s asides to the camera are biting. She is awful but also — and this is the genius — vulnerable and likable,” adds The Daily Mail of this “most affecting excursion into loneliness and grief,” which magically still manages to make you laugh.

Watch Fleabag now!

2. The Bob Newhart Show, comedy series on Amazon Prime

“Hi, Bob!” The original “I’m listening” series is from comedy legend Bob Newhart, who plays Dr. Robert Hartley, a dry-witted and utterly lovable group therapy psychologist in Chicago. The series, which ran from 1972 to 1978, also stars Suzanne Pleshette as his wife Emily, Marcia Wallace as his secretary-receptionist Carol, and Peter Bonerz as his office neighbor, orthodontist Jerry Robinson. TV Guide named it to its 60 Best Series of All Time list in 2013, and it’s credited with influencing Seinfeld's style decades later. “The secret is Bob. We’d never had a protagonist like him, someone who felt like an everyman,” the late Bob Saget told The Hollywood Reporter. “[Bob Newhart] was sitcom’s Henry Fonda.”

Watch The Bob Newhart Show now!

1. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

This Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning period comedy-drama follows Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan), an Upper West Side mother in the late 1950s, as she blossoms from a housewife into a female stand-up star in the male-dominated comedy circuit of the era. The powerhouse series has earned 80 Emmy nominations and 20 wins to date during its 2017 to 2023 run, including trophies for Brosnahan, Alex Borstein and Tony Shalhoub. “In addition to Ms. Brosnahan’s Audrey Hepburn-meets-screwball creation, the show has been blessed with supporting actors who have lost nothing over the life of the series,” raves The Wall Street Journal of the stand-up themed comedy’s ability to remain a standout hit with critics and viewers alike.

Watch The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel now!

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