6 Sitcoms to Watch This Summer

Summer: time for sunshine, catching up on sleep, and... binge-watching. I'd be amiss if I didn't tell you that's what I've been doing with my summer. Sitcoms are my guilty pleasure, and maybe they are your guilty pleasure too. In honor of summer, here are six sitcoms that you can watch in 20 minute spurts... or more, if you'd like.

1. Parks and Recreation

This is, without a doubt, the first sitcom I'll recommend to anyone. The tale of Leslie Knope and her escapades in government, Parks and Recreation has both witty jokes and lovable characters. I promise you, once you've met the citizens of Pawnee, Indiana, you'll never want to go back.

Content: Easily a PG-13. Innuendos and swearing happen fairly regularly, but the show doesn't rely solely on inappropriate humor to get a laugh, which is nice.

2. New Girl

Created by Zooey Deschanel (the queen of cute dresses and intelligent quotes), New Girl is about four roommates and their struggles with relationships, life, and everything in between. While New Girl is laugh-out-loud hilarious, it also makes you care a lot about the characters. (One such character is Nick Miller, whom I love more than words can say).

Content: A PG-15, probably. Sex is a lot more present in this one and is sometimes shown on screen. Regular swear words also happen.

3. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

If sitcoms had ages, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt would be a baby because it only just came out this past year. However, that shouldn't dissuade you from watching it, as this show has a lot of heart. Available only on Netflix, the show dumped thirteen wonderful episodes in our lap, and they did not disappoint. The story revovles around a young woman named Kimmy Schmidt, who escapes from a cult and tries to reacclimate into life in New York City. Along the way she's joined by her roommate Titus, her employer Mrs. Voorhees, and her landlord, Lillian. All in all, it's entertaining, and it's incredibly easy to binge-watch in a short amount of time. (Speaking from experience here...)

Content: PG-13. Innuendos and fairly adult subject matter.

4. How I Met Your Mother

The first sitcom I ever watched, How I Met Your Mother was beloved by many before its end in 2014. However, all seasons are now on Netflix. The show tells the story of Ted Mosby, a man who is looking for his future wife, but in reality the show is about friendships between a close-knit group of people. It's really heartwarming and you should watch it--just skip the series finale for me, okay? (P.S. - It too is good for binge-watching. My record is eight episodes at once. Oops.)

Content: PG-13, with sex references, drinking, and a fairly offensive womanizer who makes inappropriate comments often.

5. Arrested Development

I just started watching this show, but I'm glad I did. It's a show about the Bluth family, whose incredible dysfunction proves for many humorous scenes. While morality is... um, lacking, the show's protagonist Michael does his best to do the right thing. My favorite part about this show is probably the characters, though not because they're heartwarming... instead, it's because they're so messed up and painted as such broad, unbelievable caricatures that all you can do is laugh.

Content: PG-13. Innuendos, dysfunction, and bad decisions abound. 

6. Good Luck Charlie

This is the cleanest show on my list, and so if you're not sure you want to risk it on PG-13 sitcoms, this is what I'd recommend for you. Good Luck Charlie aired on the Disney Channel from 2010 to 2014, and for good reason. The show revolves around the escapades of the Duncan family, who record video diaries for their youngest member, Charlie. Though it's a kids' show, Good Luck Charlie is one of the best and manages to be laugh out loud funny. My family and I enjoyed watching it and we still miss it.

Content: PG. There may be the occasional bodily humor joke, but other than that it's pretty clean.


There are a lot of other classic sitcoms, like 30 Rock, The Office, and Friends, but I haven't seen them all the way through, so I elected not to feature them this time. However, I'd highly recommend looking into those as well.

Sitcoms can provide a lot of fun, a lot of laughs, and surprisingly, a lot of characters to connect with. What do you think? Did I leave anything out? What sitcoms are you watching this summer?