Dark Comedy as a subgenre is tricky. Meant to provide comic relief to otherwise taboo subjects, its humor comes from the straight-up shock value of talking about it. Not quite Shock Jock, the purpose of dark humor is to generally start a discussion or promote thought about a serious topic, from relationship woes to outright war.

As a subgenre, dark comedy has arguably made its mark since the '70s. The last few years, however, have seen dark comedy go through a bit of a renaissance, particularly on TV. For better or for worse, dark comedy has become ever more dominant in the television landscape, producing some truly great hits alongside a bevy of mediocre and downright rotten series. Dark comedy is, after all, an art form, one that is often difficult to capture in a serialized television show, especially when the censors get involved. Not only must the show have a more serious through line, but it must also manage not to take itself too seriously. Being able to joke around while also intelligently shedding light on the issue being parodied is not for the faint of heart.

From shows that started out as comedies but took a hard right turn into hot-button issues to those that were more of a slow and subtle burn, here are some of the funniest and best dark comedy series of all time that only got darker as they went along, ranked.

Update December 8, 2023: Fans of TV comedies with a twist will be happy to know that this article has been updated by Amanda Minchin to include even more funny TV shows that tackled dark topics.

18 Monk (2002)

Fans of cozy mysteries, detective shows, and all around comedy alike should look no further than Monk to get their fill of thrills and laughs. Monk is a former detective whose psyche is filled with fears and phobias (rightfully so, considering his background). He also suffers from OCD, which forces him to interact with his world differently. The good news is, he's figured out that his peculiar way of seeing the world also helps him to solve cases that would otherwise risk going cold.

Adrian Monk used to work for the police, but his career collapsed after the tragic murder of his wife. Detective Adrian Monk's OCD symptoms only increased after the incident, which makes sense. Routine would be a way for him to not just cope, but prevent future murders from occurring in the first place. As expected from this setup, there are some dark moments in the show that deal both with Monk's OCD and his long list of phobias, especially as new characters and emotional plotlines are introduced. Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie premiered on Peacock.

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17 Psych (2006)

Psych is a sitcom that started out campy, but gradually became bolder and more intense as it went on. While not every episode is "dark," most of them do deal with at least one murder. What else can be expected from a show about a hyper-observant man pretending to be a psychic to help out the Santa Barbara Police Department?

While Psych always managed to balance the comedy with the crimes, with goofy characters finding bizarre ways to avoid death, some episodes do stand out as being particularly dark, especially over time. For example, several episodes cover an encounter with a notorious serial killer who targets and even kills, some of the friends of the main group. The Mr. Yang trilogies of stories are the darkest in the series, where the dramatic stakes are raised with some emotional moments. After nearly eight it's no wonder they decided to up the danger ante. Something about the boisterous and sometimes joyous mood of the show makes the melancholy moments feel all the heavier.

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16 The Conners (2018)

The Conners is an offshoot of what was to become the ill-fated Roseann reboot back in 2018. The story centers around who was left of the largely extended Conner family, and includes several former cast members, from John Goodman to Sara Gilbert. After years of hard living, the family is once again together, for better or worse, more or less under one roof. Starting off the series with a funeral for the former lead matriarch was perhaps the first indication of murky waters ahead. Ever since, the show has not shied away from hard topics, from relationships to economic turmoil to gambling and alcoholism.

The Conners clearly takes great pains to stay true to the original source material, featuring flawed characters who manage to get themselves into increasingly ludicrous situations. Over time, the show began to incorporate more real life events, like the pandemic, mining them for comedic and dramatic gold. Family, no matter how dysfunctional, is what ultimately keeps this crew together through them all.

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15 Boy Meets World (1993)

Boy Meets World centers on the life and times of adolescent Cory Matthews and his friends. A show that seemingly grew up alongside its audience, the lives of its characters got even more complicated as they began to approach adulthood. What started out more along the lines of Full House soon became more of an insight into growing into adulthood.

One thing this show did well was the issues it presented progressed as the characters aged within it. Boy Meets World hit on real issues the audience themselves were facing at the time the show aired, and it's still just as topical several decades later. While it may not be as brutally dark or as gruesome as some of the other shows on this list, this series did not shy away from heavy topics, including teenage drinking, socioeconomic discrimination, sexism, cults, and depression.

This show in particular took a more Norman Lear approach, knowing when to set the jokes aside and just focus on the message. This made the darker episodes feel all the more intense and not just some far-reaching, exaggerated story. This show knew that TV is the true mirror of our lives.

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Related: 20 Dark Comedy Movies That Are More Disturbing Than Funny

14 Fleabag (2016)

Fleabag is often considered the subgenre's zenith over the last decade. The show follows the titular character as she navigates her life, frequently talking to the camera in a familiar metafictional device. Yet creator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge still manages to incorporate tropes into her perfect tragicomedy. The topics in the show are objectively dark, but the most important element is how the character's inner commentary directly involves and implicates the viewer in her story.

In the last five years, it's been rare to find a show like Fleabag in which so many people see themselves mirrored in a protagonist. This is what makes the story funnier and more relatable to viewers. When an audience can relate to a character on an extremely personal level, even the darkest of comedies can get away with delving into deep, difficult topics that would not be otherwise discussed. One thing the second season did particularly well was messing with the timeline alongside the order of events in the series. How did things stray so far? Viewers were forced to watch to find out.

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13 Nighty Night (2004)

Nighty Night ran for a brief 12 episodes and featured some of the most talented comedic actors in the UK, from Kevin Eldon, to Rebecca Front, to Ruth Jones, Mark Gatiss, and Julia Davis. Davis is the undeniable queen of dark comedy in the UK, having not only starred in some of the darkest British comedy shows, such as Jam, but also creating some of the best in the biz, including Camping, Hunderby, and Sally4Ever.

In this series, the accomplished Davis plays a monstrous sociopath who falls deeply in love with a married man. She'll stop at nothing to destroy his marriage in order to get with him. Nighty Night is not afraid to tackle dark subjects and put a comedic lens on them. With a set-up like criminally unrequited love, it's no wonder this story got dark, fast!

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12 Psychoville (2009)

The UK is undoubtedly one of the greatest distributors of dark TV comedies, thanks to artists like Chris Morris, Julia Davis, Jesse Armstrong, and the genius minds of Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith, and Mark Gatiss. Those last three men created the hilariously dark League of Gentlemen. Pemberton and Shearsmith followed up with the horror-comedy masterpiece Psychoville.

Featuring a pre-famous Daniel Kaluuya, Dawn French, and Pemberton and Shearsmith themselves as a dozen different characters, this dark mystery remains one of the most underrated comedies outside the UK. It follows a group of surreal people who are contacted by a mysterious person with knowledge of their grisly past. The show jumps around from its main characters with effortless ease, stringing together morbid vignettes to create a brilliant whodunit.

There is a definite homage to the thrown-together nature of League of Gentlemen (not to be confused with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). Each character is into the fold by a single blackmailer, who knows their deepest, darkest secrets, and isn't afraid to take advantage of them. The quirkiness of the blackmailed characters makes for an even more brilliant and insightful twist.

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Related: The 12 Funniest HBO Shows of All Time

11 Over The Garden Wall (2014)

Over The Garden Wall may seem like a cute enough animated miniseries, and in a way, it is. There are your typical animated elements, from animals who talk and those who don't, to two brothers who get along for the most part, and even an enchanted forest full of colorful characters to behold. Even though this may appear to be the setup for a cute bedtime story, the brothers soon come face to face with their own chilling challenges.

From the very start, something just doesn't feel quite right. Much like a Grimm tale, the two brothers are wandering in the woods, lost and trying to find their way back home. The music is quaint and innocent, but something about it gives the impression that things can get dark fast.

Soon, the viewers are introduced to a shadowy figure who is hunting down the brothers. Yet, their next few adventures soon prove that everything they feared was fine. This sets up a chilling finale when suddenly fear isn't so easy to handle.

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10 Derry Girls

Derry Girls is a snarky teen sitcom set in Northern Ireland during the 90s. Created by Lisa McGee, the show took inspiration from her experiences growing up in Derry during the final years of The Troubles, a longstanding ethno-nationalist conflict that included bombings and mass casualties. Featuring Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Louisa Harland, Nicola Coughlan, Jamie-Lee O'Donnell, and Dylan Llewellyn, the series follows the teens as they attend a fictional girls' Catholic secondary school during the height of the conflict. The series references several real life events, from housing refugees from Chernobyl, to the visit of the Clintons, to the IRA.

In spite of its many real references, what makes this show truly great is its ability to stay on track comedically while also staying true to the real life horrors of a nation at war. Characters complain over the inconvenience of bomb closures and race past peace walls in search of long-lost dogs while dodging a big test. While the horror of the situation is subtle, its characters are also downright hilarious, from the students to their parents and teachers. Their quirky dialogue is pure fire, imagining teens as teens can be, from straightlaced to outright rebellious. Growing up, they start to question everything they once saw as outright truths. Not many shows could tackle such a heavy topic with such grace and wit, but this one certainly does.

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9 The Good Place (2016)

*** Spoiler Alert ***

Based on philosophical teachings, The Good Place is perhaps the quintessential example of a comedy that went dark and fast. And what better place to set the scene than in Heaven, or, at the very least, a version of it? Starring D'Arcy Carden, Kristen Bell, Jameela Jamil, William Jackson Harper, Manny Jacinto, and Ted Danson, the show follows what appears to be a mix-up as a set of screw-ups from earth are accidentally put in "The Good Place", a selective uptopia in a part of heaven.

The twist that will go down in infamy happens at the end of Season One, just as the ensemble is realizing this place really is too good to be true... because, the truth is, they're really in hell. Ted Danson's face is truly one to behold in this moment. The moment he breaks character as the kindly architect, the audience knows they're not in heaven anymore. Needless to say, this might just incite a shiver or two.

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8 Made for Love (2021)

Made for Love is one of the best dark comedies to come out in the last several years. It follows Hazel (played by Cristin Milioti) as she escapes an abusive relationship. Upon leaving, Hazel realizes that her tech billionaire husband has implanted a tracking device in her brain. Hazel's journey throughout the series shows her trying to escape her husband time and time again while trying to remove the tracking device without dying.

The show manages to dissect abuse and trauma while somehow still being hilarious. It makes its viewers think a bit more about technology and the billionaires who get rich off our data (looking at you, Zuckerberg). Cristin Milioti, in particular, is a stand-out in Made for Love. Coming hot off of her successful role in Palm Springs, Milioti is able to keep the ball rolling and still stay hilarious, while never shying away from the trauma at the heart of her story. The more she tries to escape, the more embroiled she becomes.

Available for Purchase on AppleTV+

7 Kevin Can F*** Himself (2021)

Kevin Can F*** Himself is two shows in one, literally. The first follows a traditional, laugh-track-backed sitcom couple in which the wife lives and exists only to serve her husband. It's the trope that's been seen a billion times before, and, to be frank, audiences are sick and tired of it... which is what makes the second show so freaking brilliant. The show within the show is Kevin Can F*** Himself, one where the wife, Allison (played by Annie Murphy from Schitt's Creek). In this show, Allison is able to have a life of her own while openly hating her dope of a husband.

Dark sitcoms can be pure gold when done right. Allison's break from reality is what sets this sitcom wannabe apart. Allison's seems to emulate 'prestige TV' shows like Breaking Bad in that it follows a morbid plot (in which Allison schemes to murder her husband with the help of the local drug trade). Even the color scheme and lighting of the show changes to a much darker tone when it breaks from the brightly-lit, awful sitcom, showing just how different reality is from fiction for Allison.

Stream on AMC+

6 Dead to Me (2019)

Dead to Me is one of the least talked-about but funniest dark comedies currently out there. Dead to Me follows the two women as they navigate the death and murder that seems to continuously bring the two of them together. A show that deals primarily with death and grief, its stars include Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini. Together, this ill-fated duo makes for one hilarious watch. Things only get worse over the seasons as the pair continue to uncover more and more of each other's secrets.

With two comedy pedigrees at the helm, it makes sense that this show is a ridiculously dark comedy. The series, however, is able to spin the trope on its head, allowing viewers to laugh and joke about their grief with the characters. Dead to Me addresses that grief is not universal and that everyone must grieve in their own way and at their own pace. The show also takes a look at revenge and remorse, and how they can often occur with one's grief.

Stream on Netflix

Related: 15 TV Shows to Watch if You Loved Netflix's Dead to Me

5 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005)

The long-running dark comedy sensation that is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia famously follows a group of sociopathic narcissists as they booze their way through complicated and downright uproarious scams and cons (often aimed at one another) from the comfort of their failing dive bar, Paddy's Pub. The series made its debut on FX back in 2005. At the time, it shocked audiences with its bold, dark humor and unapologetic approach to satire and storytelling. Now, with over fifteen seasons under its belt, it's had to dive to even deeper and darker lengths for laughs, from Russian Grand Masters to literal shots fired. What better way to keep things fresh than by upping the comedic ante once in a while?

The beauty of the characters is the fact that they have no redeeming qualities and are truly selfish antiheroes.

Whether they're attempting to hunt humans for sport, posing as Middle-Eastern terrorists, or trying to cheat the system and go on welfare, no topic is too controversial for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia to take on... and the ante has only been upped over time. The exciting recklessness of the deplorable Gang helped the show become a cult classic hit that's particularly suited for those in search of a little (or, let's face it, a lot) of debauchery.

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4 Shameless (2011)

Adapted from the popular British series of the same name, the compelling Showtime dramedy Shameless offers a poignant and profound look at the Gallaghers, a dysfunctional, working-class family, as they attempt to survive and thrive in a poor Chicago neighborhood. Touting an impressive ensemble cast including William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum, and Jeremy Allen White, the program featured the colorful clan as they contend with their narcissistic, neglectful, alcoholic father Frank (Macy) and his innumerable schemes. The repercussions of his actions are forever landing trouble on their broken doorstep.

Despite tackling heavy subjects like suicide, drug addiction, abandonment, and poverty, Shameless lightens the mood with its endearing and quirky characters, all of whom attempt to find the silver lining in their seriously messed-up situation through what else but humor. Shameless has been lauded for its fearless approach to depicting blue-class America and the immense struggles people face each day, even if that means stealing toilet paper from your part-time gig or buddying up to a generous, agoraphobic neighbor for some extra cash. The ante only gets worse as the children get older.

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3 BoJack Horseman (2014)

BoJack Horseman started off as a very dark comedy, but it was still more about the laughs for the most part. That was until the finale, at least. BoJack Horseman, voiced by Will Arnett, is a struggling actor and former sitcom member who gets into lots of trouble with his friends. They goof off and play into plenty of adult humor along the way. However, no one can escape the consequences of their actions for long.

In the final seasons, BoJack Horseman deals with the brutal reality of how dangerous and damaging the behavior of the characters are. The humor can only protect the audience for so long. Eventually, everyone has to face Horseman's depression, addiction issues, and self-destruction along with him.

BoJack Horseman is not a show to watch for viewers who are sensitive to such dark topics. However, it does address them well. It can be hard to deal with the things the characters experience in real life, but the show gives just enough distance for the audience to face it head-on.

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2 Barry (2018)

Bill Hader brilliantly transitioned from a beloved Saturday Night Live standout to an outstanding leading man by co-creating and starring in the critically-acclaimed dark comedy crime drama Barry. In the show, Hader appears as a depressed low-level hitman who, on a routine job, discovers a passion for acting in Los Angeles. This causes him to question the direction of his life along with his own hopes and dreams. Now the savvy assassin wishes to break free from his dark past and finally find peace of mind in his acting. Barry is loaded with witty dialogue, amusing situations, and a healthy dose of action and mayhem. It has gone on to win numerous accolades, including Primetime Emmys, Critics' Choice Awards, and Satellite Awards.

Hader based the character's intense anxiety regarding his profession on his own struggles and experiences while a cast member on SNL. It beautifully blends human trauma and humor. The darker turn that Barry takes for its finale capitalizes on how the comedy allows the audience to feel safe from the drama, making it a bittersweet end to the show.

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1 M*A*S*H (1972)

M*A*S*H is a long-running television show that followed a mobile army surgical hospital during the Korean War. Based on the 1970 feature film of the same name (and the novel that preceded it), the series followed the doctors and support staff stationed in South Korea. Its incredible cast included Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, and Loretta Swit. Its finale, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen", held the record for the most watched episode of American television for years.

It's hard to take on the comedic elements of wartime without getting dark at some point. Still, this show managed to capture truly silly elements while also highlighting the pain that came with it. The tone fluctuated over the life of the show as the staff behind it changed ranks, but it took on the gallows humor of the setting with dignity while highlighting the unforeseen consequences of the conflict. By the time it had reached the end of the war, the characters were forced to relive some of their worst memories and reveal the elements of the conflict that would never cease to leave them.

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