The great thing about sitcoms is that they’re the types of shows you can watch whenever you feel like it. There’s no rush to catch up or risk seeing spoilers, no continuous, lengthy investment in time, and no reason to pay full attention for fear of missing a crucial plot point. Feel free to scroll on your new iPhone while you watch, and even take a long break between seasons.
That makes summer the perfect time to watch a new sitcom or catch up on an old one you haven’t yet watched. Don’t get all the way through a season, or all the seasons? It doesn’t matter. You can pick back up later. Where can you find great sitcoms? Hulu has a nice, diverse selection of sitcoms that are perfect to watch in the summer.
How I Met Your Father (2022-)
If you watched How I Met Your Mother, you might have mixed feelings about How I Met Your Father. The two shows, however, stand comfortably far enough apart that you don’t need to have watched HIMYF to enjoy the spin-off. Hilary Duff stars as Sophie, who, in flashbacks (in a present-day timeline) is a single, young woman navigating her personal and professional life in New York. In a future timeline, Kim Cattrall plays an older version of Sophie, talking to her adult son and recalling the story of how she met his father. Like the original, How I Met Your Father centers around a long-winded story whereby viewers are left to theorize and speculate as to who the father might be.
It’s corny, predictable, and sometimes, a silly copycat of the original, right down to the old apartment, MacLaren’s bar, and even cameos from characters like Robin (Cobie Smulders) and Barney (Neil Patrick Harris). But it’s a perfect summertime watch while spending a weekend away at the spa or cottage.
Stream How I Met Your Father on Hulu
Modern Family (2009-2020)
One of the best sitcoms of the 2010s, Modern Family delivers a unique concept, a rarity in today’s TV landscape. Told mockumentary style, the stories include a mix of footage as the extended Pritchett and Dunphy families go about their daily lives interspersed with documentary-like interviews as they discuss the happenings of the day from each of their skewed perspectives.
The family is diverse in many ways, with members of the LGBTQ+ community, various ethnicities, ages, and familial links, making Modern Family truly representative of just that: the complicated, untraditional state of the family unit today. It’s absolutely hilarious with a fabulous cast (including kids you get to see grow up through the show’s run), fun running gags, topical storylines, and memorable scenes that still live on today through viral video clips.
Stream Modern Family on Hulu
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005-)
One of those shows that you might hear a lot about but never got around to watching, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is the perfect summer show you can watch with friends, on your own, during road trips, while traveling by plane (download for offline viewing), or even while chilling at the beach or sunbathing in your backyard. With 16 seasons under its belt, you could easily get through several seasons on a flight from New York to New Zealand.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia features an all-star cast playing a group of self-absorbed, misfit friends who together run an Irish bar. The business isn’t doing well, and that’s in large part due to the fact that the owners don’t get along, focus more on scheming and their own interests than the bar, and are generally lazy. It sounds depressing, but the show really is full of laughs, so it’s no surprise it has developed a cult following, along with a growing group of new fans through its almost two-decade run.
Stream It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Hulu.
Schitt’s Creek (2015-2020)
The little Canadian comedy that could swept the Emmys in 2020, winning in all seven major awards categories. Schitt’s Creek snuck onto the scene, seemingly out of nowhere. Starring Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara and created by Levy and his son Dan Levy (who also stars), it’s a fish-out-of-water story about a wealthy family whose lives are uprooted when it’s revealed that their business manager stole all their money. The only asset they have left to their name is a little town called Schitt’s Creek that Johnny (Eugene Levy) had once purchased as a joke (and completely forgot about).
With nowhere to go and nothing to do, the Roses arrive in town, much to the delight (and confusion) of the simple residents of the working-class town. A story about acceptance and realizing what truly matters, those strong moral lessons are beautifully veiled by the wonderfully funny stories, characters you want to become invested in, and top-notch performances.
Stream Schitt’s Creek on Hulu.
Happy Endings (2011-2013)
Widely considered to be a show that was canceled too soon, Happy Endings was like Friends for a Millennial generation. The show got off to a slow start but grew on fans, so much so that magazines like Vulture called Happy Endings’ cancellation the “worst TV decision” of that year.
Six friends were at the center of Happy Endings, each living in their own bubbles: a madly in love, overachieving husband Brad (Damon Wayans, Jr.) and his neurotic wife Jane (Eliza Coupe), happy-go-lucky, non-committal Alex (Elisha Cuthbert), slacker guy Max (Adam Pally), aspiring and broken-hearted aspiring restaurateur Dave (Zachary Knighton), and party girl Penny (Casey Wilson). The show followed their interactions with one another, dating, work, and more. The story began with Dave and Alex, longtime romantic partners, breaking up at the altar, making things awkward within the group. But the plots quickly divert from their failed marriage to various stories among the group, touching on friendships, careers, dating, and discovering oneself, all to hilarious effect.
Stream Happy Endings on Hulu.
