15 Best Sketch Comedy Shows Of All Time, Ranked

Unless you live in a major city like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, or Toronto, then chances are your primary exposure to sketch comedy is through television. At their best, sketch comedy TV shows combine absurd premises with political satire, social commentary, or just plain old idiotic slapstick to produce something that makes you laugh every single time you watch it, no matter if it's the first or five hundredth time.

Nevertheless, ranking the best sketch comedy shows of all time is an intimidating task. Several cult favorites, including "Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!," "The State," and "The Tracey Ullman Show," didn't make the final cut because their appeal is more niche than some of the shows that ranked higher. Meanwhile, some of the best improvised television shows like Dropout's "Make Some Noise" and "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" weren't included because they don't fit the traditional sketch comedy format. However, the shows that did make this list are among the funniest, most memorable, most influential, and most culturally significant sketch comedy series ever to air on television.

"MADtv" always had the reputation of being the weaker competitor to "Saturday Night Live," but it still deserves credit for being the show's most well-known competition. In its original incarnation, "MADtv" ran for 15 seasons from 1995 to 2009 on Fox, and differed from "SNL" in being edgier, more diverse, and more popular among middle-American audiences. Take, for instance, the incisive satirical sketch "iRack," which parodied Apple products and America's involvement in the Middle East, or the heavily censored version of "The Sopranos" made for network TV audiences.

Its cast included, over the years, comedians who were frankly underrated during their time on the show. Jordan Peele and Keegan Michael-Key's comedy partnership began as cast members, while the likes of Michael McDonald, Alex Borstein, Ike Barinholtz, and Phil LaMarr all rose to fame in the comedy world thanks to their "MADtv" tenures. Although The CW's revival in 2016 was one of the worst TV reboots of the 2010s, the original iteration of "MADtv" will always be remembered as a worthy opponent to comedy giants like "SNL" — as long as you forget the many sketches and characters that have aged rather terribly.

These days, Upright Citizens Brigade is regarded as one of the more influential modern comedy institutions, but its humble beginnings were as an improv and sketch group founded Beyond turning UCB into a physical theater and training center, those four comedians starred in a short-lived Comedy Central sketch series, "Upright Citizens Brigade," which feels like a window into their work before the more well-known projects involving all of them.

Compared to other sketch shows of the late '90s, the sketch series revolves around a central framing device of four secret agents helping kickstart absurd scenarios in modern-day life, transitioning seamlessly between sketches that border on the surreal and the lowbrow. Though Amy Poehler's experiences on "SNL" make her seem like a long-time pro at sketch comedy, getting to see a younger version of her on "Upright Citizens Brigade" proves that some of the all-time great comics have undeniable star power from the very beginning.

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It's surprising, in hindsight, that a show like "In Living Color," with a star-studded cast and strong ratings, didn't last longer than five seasons. However, behind-the-scenes turmoil ultimately led to the cancellation of the Fox series, which premiered in 1990 and broke new ground as a sketch comedy show with a predominantly African-American cast, featuring the entire Wayans family, who would later go on to star in the "Scary Movie" franchise.

Among the non-Wayans stars of "In Living Color" were Jim Carrey, who leapfrogged from playing characters like Fire Marshal Bill and Vera de Milo to movie stardom with "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and "The Mask"; Jamie Foxx, a late addition to the cast before getting his own sitcom in 1996; and David Alan Grier, who went on to become a Tony-winning dramatic actor. Though it's regarded as one of the best Fox TV shows of all time, its short-lived tenure on the network kept it from becoming even more iconic. Still, for a moment in the early 90s, it was the cooler, fresher, and more timely counterpart to shows like "Saturday Night Live," populated with stars who had been turned down

Canadian sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall (consisting of Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, Scott Thompson, and Bruce McCulloch) was together on and off in the 1980s before Lorne Michaels saw them perform and quickly had their own sketch series greenlit. "The Kids in the Hall" premiered on HBO in the U.S. and CBC Television in Canada, airing for five seasons between 1989 and 1995, before returning for a sixth on Amazon Prime Video in 2022.

Drawing most of their inspiration from the work of Monty Python, "The Kids in the Hall" specialized in surrealism above all else. There's "The Chicken Lady," in which McKinney plays a violently orgasming circus freak; the Sizzler Sisters, played Though the Kids' style feels very indebted to their comedic heroes, their edgier sensibilities and progressive approach set them apart from their sketch comedy peers, making them one of the few '80s and '90s sketch collectives whose work hasn't aged incredibly poorly.

"The Whitest Kids U' Know" may have been incredibly niche during its run from 2007 to 2011, but especially in today's climate, its comedy feels ahead of its time. The group, formed in the early 2000s in New York City, included Sam Brown, Darren Trumeter, Timmy Williams, Zach Cregger, and Trevor Moore, the latter of whom was arguably the breakout star, especially in solo pieces like "It's Illegal to Say" and "Trevor Talks to Kids."

The best work from "Whitest Kids" incorporated scathing political satire, parodies of historical figures and events, profane and often graphic humor, and, above all else, a proclivity for counterculture best exemplified in sketches like "Moon Bears," "My Family Lives in Garbage," and "Songs of Olden Times." Sadly, Moore's death in 2021 put an end to the group's output, but at least Cregger continues the "Whitest Kids" legacy