Best Of
Best Comedy Shows of 2026: What Aired and What Is Renewed
By Jordan A. · · Updated · 5 min read
Two of the best comedies on television ended this year, which makes 2026 a slightly melancholy one to write about. The good news is that the network sitcom quietly refused to die, and there are four dated returns between now and Christmas.
Everything here was checked September 9, 2026. The first half of the list has already aired and you can start tonight. The second half has a confirmed premiere date and nothing more, so treat those as calendar entries rather than recommendations.
Out now: the two that finished
Hacks went out on top. The fifth and final season ran from April 9 to May 28, 2026, on HBO Max, ten episodes, and it resolved the Deborah and Ava relationship without softening either of them. What you get: the sharpest writing about ambition on television, and Jean Smart doing career-best work. Who should skip it: anyone who needs likeable protagonists. Renewal status: ended by choice, and it stuck the landing. HBO Max, five seasons, 2021 to 2026.
The Bear dropped all eight episodes of its fifth and final season on June 25, 2026, on FX on Hulu, with Christopher Storer directing all but one. It is a comedy in the way a panic attack is a conversation, but the finale gives the kitchen an ending it earned. Who should skip it: people who found season three's stillness unbearable, because there is more of that here. Renewal status: over, deliberately. FX on Hulu, five seasons, 2022 to 2026.
Out now: still running
Shrinking ran its third season from January 28 to April 8, 2026, twelve episodes on Apple TV+, and it remains the most reliable half hour for people who want jokes and grief in the same scene. Harrison Ford is very funny in it, which still surprises people. Who should skip it: if you find therapy-adjacent comedy twee, this will not convert you. Renewal status: running. Apple TV+, three seasons since 2023.
The Paper is the mockumentary set at a dying Toledo newspaper, from the team behind the American Office, and its second season lands September 9, 2026, on Peacock. Season one was ten episodes and found its voice faster than the show it spun off from. Who should skip it: if the talking-head format is played out for you, nothing here will change that. Renewal status: returning now. Peacock, season one September 2025, season two September 2026.
St. Denis Medical aired its second season on NBC from November 3, 2025, through April 6, 2026, eighteen episodes. It is a workplace comedy about an underfunded Oregon hospital, and it does the thing good network comedy does: eighteen episodes a year, no arcs to catch up on, characters who grow on you by week six. Who should skip it: if you want prestige framing, this is not that. Renewal status: renewed, with season three dated. NBC, since November 2024.
Abbott Elementary finished its fifth season on ABC on April 22, 2026, after a run that started the previous October, twenty-two episodes. Five seasons in, the cast is the reason to watch, and Janine and Gregory are no longer the engine, which is healthy. Who should skip it: nobody, honestly, unless you cannot stand a laugh-free mockumentary. Renewal status: renewed, and season six is dated below. ABC, since December 2021.
Dated and announced, not yet aired
Abbott Elementary season six premieres October 7, 2026, on ABC. Twenty-two episodes is the plan, which in 2026 makes it one of the largest comedy orders on American television.
Ghosts is back on CBS on October 29, 2026, though not with a season premiere: that is a one-hour Halloween special, with a Christmas special following on December 10, and the sixth season proper does not arrive until midseason in early 2027. It is a broad, warm, high-concept sitcom about a couple who inherit a haunted house, and it is the closest thing to a family show on this list. Five seasons are behind you if you have never started.
St. Denis Medical season three starts November 2, 2026, on NBC, straight into the fall block.
Only Murders in the Building comes back for a sixth season on Hulu on December 8, 2026. Five seasons of Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez have not worn the premise out yet, though season five leaned harder on guest stars than on the murder.
What 2026 says about the genre
The shape of this list is the story. Two of the most acclaimed comedies of the decade chose to end rather than run out of road, and both did it in the same three months. What is left standing is mostly network television, which nobody predicted five years ago. Abbott Elementary, Ghosts and St. Denis Medical between them will put out more than sixty episodes this season, at a point when a prestige streaming comedy considers ten a full year.
That has a practical upshot. If you want something to watch continuously from October to April, the broadcast comedies are the only ones offering it, and they are better than their reputation suggests. If you want eight perfect episodes and then silence, the streamers still do that better than anyone.
What ended and is not coming back
Both Hacks and The Bear are finished. So is What We Do in the Shadows, which closed in December 2024 after six seasons on FX, and English Teacher, which ended in October 2025 after two. If you are looking for something to fill the gap, those two are the best completed comedies of the last few years that most people missed.
Where these stream
Network comedies move between free and paid tiers constantly and the fall schedule shuffles, so instead of asserting a home, check the title page on BingeNext for current US options.
Start here
If you want the best-written thing on this list, watch Hacks from the beginning. If you want to laugh without committing, put on St. Denis Medical. If you want something the whole house can watch, Ghosts. If you have already seen everything, The Paper is the one that grows.
Not sure what you are in the mood for? BingeNext's mood picker takes how you want to feel rather than a list of shows, and comes back with picks, a reason for each, and where they stream. It takes about a minute.
Topics covered: best-of, 2026, comedy, funny, laugh, genre
About the author
Jordan A., Founder, BingeNext
Jordan A. is the founder of BingeNext and is responsible for every guide published on this site. He built the recommendation engine after one too many nights lost to the streaming menu. Dates, season counts and where-to-watch details in these guides are checked against official sources before publishing, and corrections are welcome at Jordan@Bingenext.com.