When it comes to comedy TV shows, there's always something for everyone, even if the genre isn't a particular favorite. But it's rare for a comedy series to feature a strong group of women friendships where the relationships aren't marred by underlying toxicity or bad intentions. While a show like The Office is masterful for a wide array of reasons, it always failed intensely in passing the Bechdel Test. The women couldn't even be considered close coworkers, let alone friends. But for the last decade or so, comedy shows have been doing a far better job of cementing close friendships among different women, inadvertently showcasing that these friendships help all parties evolve for the better.
Further, as the 80s were known for an iconic TV show, like The Golden Girls, what viewers have in the 21st Century is a plethora to choose from. It's no longer a rarity to watch complex, endearing friendships take center stage in a series, but it's the inclusion that writers are fully aware is of great importance. Where 90s dramas would often pit women against each other, today, we oversee them as each other's biggest cheerleaders. And though this isn't to say that TV is perfect or that these friendships aren't faulty, the conscious decision to be mindful in telling more realistic stories makes every show with solid sisterhoods more brilliant. Here are the best comedy TV shows with women friendships at the fore.
9 New Girl
On the surface, New Girl might be known as the series where a single woman moves in with three boys after a bad breakup, but there's no mistaking the fact that Jess Day (Zooey Deschanel) and Cece Parekh's (Hannah Simone) friendship is of great importance. The two women could not be more opposite, but their differences never stopped them from remaining steadfastly loyal to one another and supporting each other through everything. Through every breakup, they were each other's rock, and whatever obstacle crossed their path, they were the first ones they'd turn to in order to ask for advice. In teen dramas, the two women would be pitted against each other, but in New Girl, their difference made them more compatible as friends.
8 Abbott Elementary
While ABC's mockumentary Abbott Elementary is newer, viewers already have a clear sense that the women are more than just coworkers; they're a family. And yes, this even includes Ava (Janelle James), who's not always on the same page regarding the school curriculum. In Season 1, the series established that though each of the teachers are at different ages and have potentially conflicting personality types, they care about each other's well beings. In Season 2, the idea grew into an even more significant development when Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) helped Janine (Quinta Brunson) through her breakup. We're only at the early stages of strengthening the friendships in this series. Still, through every passing episode, writer and star Brunson makes it explicitly clear that the types of women she's writing about are empathetic, well-rounded, complex figures who'll look out for one another.
7 Brooklyn Nine-Nine
NBC's procedural comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine didn't always do the best job of allowing the three leading women to form a friendship, but when it finally got there, it brought some of the most outstanding bonds to our screens. Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero), Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz), and Gina Linetti (Chelsea Peretti), like the women in Abbott Elementary, could not be more different from one another, but those differences were the very reasons why they were each appreciated as they were. Gina's exit in Season 6, Episode 4, "Four Movements," ultimately encapsulated the heart of their friendship by cementing the detail that none of them should have to change their ways to be adored. In later seasons, we watched Rosa and Amy grow even closer, involving both characters pushing through uncomfortable situations to help each other as best they could.
6 Derry Girls
Netflix's Derry Girls, which just concluded its three-season run, finished as brilliantly as it began: by placing strong friendships front and center. Lisa McGee's brilliant Irish sitcom following the lives of four girls and one "wee-English fella" in an all-girls Catholic school was always meant to showcase that the darker days of adolescence could be made more simple with friends beside you. Like many of the series in this list, Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle, and James could not be more opposite of one another. However, their differences never stopped them from loving or supporting one another and being there through some of the darkest points in their life, such as when Clare's father died. Through the Troubles in Ireland, the girls stuck together, facing bullies head-on, fighting Protestant boys, and fighting for each other, cementing that no one could ever pick on them but the ones in their group. By the end of the series, nothing was more apparent than the detail that "I'm a Derry Girl" wasn't just a saying but a lifelong promise to encapsulate their adoration for one another.
5 Bad Sisters
There are various depictions of families and sisters on TV, but it seldom means that the women are friends. Sometimes, sisters are merely people born to the same parents, but when it comes to Apple TV Plus' latest hit series Bad Sisters, ride or die is taken to new heights. The five Garvy sisters, Eva, Grace, Bebe, Ursula, and Becka, adore one another so intensely that they'd outright kill for each other. And as a series, Bad Sisters essentially orbits around Eva, Bebe, Ursula, and Becka, trying to figure out ways to kill Grace's prick of a husband for mistreating her, them, and everyone else whose path he crosses. While we won't spoil who manages to get away with it, nothing is more apparent through Bad Sisters than that the show should've been called Best Sisters. Because in every way where it matters, the Garvey women have each other's back, come hell or high water.
4 Dead To Me
Like Bad Sisters, Netflix's dark comedy, Dead To Me, takes the notion of ride or die to new heights. Although here, Judy Hale (Linda Cardellini) and Jen Harding (Christina Applegate) aren't sisters by blood but by choice. Though the women get off on the wrong foot through lies and deception initially, by the end of the series, the audience gets a beautiful showcase of what it means to find one's platonic soul mate. Judy and Jen are each other's person — they're each other's whole heart, and the incomparable way the two care about each other's comes centerfold in the show's third and final season. Through sickness and in health becomes a promise that they carry for one another, fighting with all their might to prove that they can't and don't want to live in this world without each other. Whether holding on to every secret together, supporting romantic endeavors, or fighting to ensure the other has every good thing they want, Jen and Judy are rock solid as friends.
3 Ted Lasso
Ted Lasso is a superlative series for many reasons, and the friendship between Keeley Jones (Juno Temple) and Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) is one of the reasons why. Keeley is, in every way, a girl's girl. She's the person who'll say it like it is, throws compliments out left and right, and joyfully encourages people because her heart is so big that she doesn't know what to do with the love brimming inside of her. And Rebecca, broken and mistrusting, needed someone like Keeley to remind her that genuinely good, loyal, and kind-hearted people still exist in the world. Bring in Rebecca's oldest friend Flo "Sassy" Collins (Ellie Taylor), and you have three women constantly willing to look out for each other. The women call each other out when they're wrong, support one another through every new endeavor, and tirelessly exhibit that there's nothing a woman can't do with incredible best friends by her side. Theirs is a friendship about helping pandas become lions, one joyful heart-to-heart at a time.
2 Parks and Recreation
When it comes to friendships between women in the 21st Century, there's no denying that NBC's Parks and Recreation changed the trajectory of the course forever. Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) coined Galentine's Day as a celebration with ladies celebrating ladies, citing it as the best day of the year. She cemented the idea of "hoes before bros," consistently showing what it means to be a loyal friend with actions. Leslie Knope and Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) are the epitome of best friends. The two meet serendipitously, then become friends by choice, evolving into sisters who put each other first, adore one another fiercely, and ensure that the other knows they're the best person in the world. However, the friendships don't stop there because, despite her hesitations, Leslie and Ann's bond also rubs off on April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza) and even Donna Meagle (Retta). For seven seasons, the show made it abundantly clear that when women are each other's biggest cheerleaders, there's no dream they can't make a reality or any male-dominated office they can't concur.
1 The Golden Girls
It'd be a crime to make a list centered around women's friendships and not include the queens who set everything into motion. The Golden Girls are prime examples of what it means to be a friend and each other's greatest confidant despite the days when you'd rather throw cheesecake at their face than share it. The Golden Girls was about four women who got together accidentally and stayed with each other by choice. Rose Nylund (Betty White), Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan), Dorothy Zbornak (Bea Arthur), and Sophia Petrillo (Estelle Getty) were as loyal as they came. Sure, Rose's story drew them all off the wall, Dorothy could be crude, Sophia was always 300% done with everything, and sometimes, Blanche put men first, but at the end of the day, spending nights in their kitchen was better than any other moment in their lives. Their friendship became a strength in trying times and an added layer of joy on the best days. Through every disagreement and every wild adventure, the show made it clear that together, the women would always have a safe, lasting place to land.