Some sitcoms take place in suburbia and center on family life, such as Modern Family and The Simpsons. But others revolve around groups of friends who live together in cities, such as Friends and How I Met Your Mother. New York City proves a popular location for the second group, a bustling hub of excitement and opportunity, packed with friends, adversaries, co-workers, and love interests - a breeding ground for all kinds of hilarious sitcom situations.
There have been numerous shows set in the Big Apple over the years, from I Love Lucy all the way back in the '50s to Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which is currently airing its final season. But out of all the New York Cit-coms, ten in particular stand out as the best.
Girls (2012 - 2017)
Lena Dunham's acclaimed HBO sitcom Girls follows four women in their twenties who live together in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The protagonist Hannah (Dunham) is an immature aspiring writer who "doesn't give a sh*t about anything yet I simultaneously have opinions on everything." The girls are infamous for making poor decisions; in Schitt's Creek when David moves to New York he says he plans to do the opposite of everything they did on Girls.
The series is very well regarded and has been praised for its depiction of female friendship, including tackling issues such as body image, mental health, and growing up. It's also realistic in its portrayal of modern-day New York, referencing its unaffordability and competitive career environment.
All In The Family (1971 - 1979)
The oldest sitcom to make the list, Norman Lear's All in the Family is said to have inspired The Simpsons, among other family-oriented shows. It follows Archie Bunker, the patriarch of a working-class family who lives in Queens, New York.
The show was so great because it got involved with topical, controversial issues, such as racism, homosexuality, and war, mostly instigated by Archie's son-in-law, the liberal embodiment of '60s counterculture Michael (Rob Reiner), who frequently butted heads with the "lovable bigot" Archie. The show's secondary characters symbolize the ever-changing makeup of the city and its diversity. This includes the Jeffersons, an African American family who live next door and star in their own spin-off series, one of seven spawned by the show.
Broad City (2014 - 2019)
Broad City is the quirky brainchild of Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, who play fictionalized versions of themselves. The sitcom is raucous, provocative, and very funny. New York City is the girls' playground, and they seem to be perpetually racing across it with some goal or problem to rectify.
The series is so great because it's so relatable, foregrounding the struggles of young people in a ruthlessly expensive city. In one money-making scheme, Ilana sets up an outside workspace called "SheWork," a collection of discarded furniture that she has arranged on the side of a busy downtown street. She charges people to sit and work outside in what is ostensibly a parody of ever-changing modern work gimmicks. In one episode, Abbi's toilet gets blocked, and her landlord simply hands her a bucket.
Master Of None (2015 - )
Master of None branched out with its third season, but the first two follow actor Aziz Ansari's Dev's romantic mishaps in and around Manhattan, with his best friend Arnie in the sidecar.
What sets MON apart is the depth to which it examines the real-life complexities of relationships-- and it doesn't always give viewers a happy ending. For example, season two ends ambiguously, leaving the audience wondering if Francesca and Dev ended up together. The series also employs experimental structures. The "New York, I Love You" episode follows several interconnecting stories of New Yorkers that coalesce in a movie theatre at the end.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015 - 2020)
This streaming-age sitcom is Tina Fey and Robert Carlock's follow-up to 30 Rock. It follows the titular Kimmy, the ex-prisoner of a cult, who is rescued and starts her new life in New York. She lives in a tiny spare room in the fictional East Dogmouth neighborhood with her roommate Titus, an aspiring Broadway performer.
The sitcom is so great because it incorporates real, topical issues affecting New Yorkers into its storylines. Take gentrification for instance, as Kimmy's landlord Lillian tries to make the neighborhood unappealing so that it scares off the "yuppies." "This neighborhood is changing and none of us are going to be able to afford to live here," she says after her wall isn't graffitied for more than 24 hours. She even chains herself to a building to prevent it from getting knocked down and made into luxury apartments. The series is thought-provoking but still exceptionally funny.
30 Rock (2006 -2013)
Tina Fey's 30 Rock follows the staff and stars of a Saturday Night Live-esque variety show, The Girly Show, which is set at 30 Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan. The goofy showrunner Liz Lemon (Fey) tries to keep everyone in check, including the hilariously recalcitrant and unpredictable Tracy Jordan, while contending with her suave and conservative boss, played by Alec Baldwin.
30 Rock's strength is that it is crammed full of brilliant, fast-flying jokes, most of which viewers won't catch until their second or even third time watching. For example, take Frank's hilarious hats - the writer wears a different homemade trucker hat in every single scene, and they are often incorporated into the plot.
Seinfeld (1989 - 1998)
Seinfeld is one of the original buddy-coms, starring stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself. He and his friends, George, Kramer, and Elaine (his former girlfriend), frequent Monk's Café and get involved in various scrapes inspired by Jerry Seinfeld and co-creator Larry David's real-life experiences.
Seinfeld is so acclaimed as it was one of the first series to do what legions of followers have done. While the series hasn't resonated with Gen Z in the way that Friends has, most comedy fans are at least familiar with the Soup Nazi or "The Contest." Also, lots of the show's humor comes from NYC-specific issues. For example, in the episode "The Parking Space," in a fight for the last spot, George and Mike spend hours with each of their cars halfway into the space, neither willing to budge. It's an underrated Seinfeld moment and surely relatable for any car-owning city-dwellers.
How I Met Your Mother (2005 - 2013)
Building on the premise that was popularized by Friends and Seinfeld, How I Met Your Mother is another buddy comedy set in Manhattan. It follows an architect named Ted who, in the year 2030, tells his children the story of how he met their mother.
Although heavily inspired by its New York predecessors, the show doesn't feel derivative. What makes it stand out and be rewatched by fans is its unique framing device, use of narration, and running jokes such as "Suit up," interventions, and using sandwiches as a euphemism for smoking marijuana. The writers incorporated elements of the actors' personalities into the characters - such as Jason Segel's music skills and Josh Radnor's intellectualism - making the characters extra relatable and likable.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013 - )
Dan Goor and Michael Schur's Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a fun, fast-paced sitcom set in the 99th NYPD precinct. Andy Samberg is the lovable, playful lead, but there are also a host of likable and nuanced characters.
What makes Brooklyn so great is its commitment to inclusion and diversity. The main cast alone features two Latina police detectives, one of which is bisexual, plus the NYPD's first queer and Black deputy commissioner, the pragmatic Raymond Holt. Compared to the homogenous NYC-set sitcoms of the '90s, the show presents a more accurate cross-section of New York's diversity, and that, alongside its innumerable hilarious and heartwarming moments, makes it one of the best sitcoms set in NYC.
Friends (1994 - 2004)
Friends is so venerated and legendary that the set of Central Perk has been reconstructed as part of the Warner Bros' studio tour. Over 52 million viewers tuned into the finale when it first aired, and heaps of new fans have since found the series on streaming sites such as Netflix and HBO Max. The series is set in Manhattan's West Village, and "The Friends' Apartment" is even listed as a tourist attraction on Google Maps.
The show's greatness could be put down to a number of things, from the charming bromance of Chandler and Joey, Rachel and Ross' "will they, won't they?" relationship throughline, and the group's hilarious competitions, such as their Thanksgiving football game and the apartment switch quiz. The plethora of main and side characters are likable and fun, the sticky situations the Friends group get into are brilliantly entertaining, and, most importantly, the show has a lot of heart.