The best workplace TV comedies

Where else would we start? While we will shout out the original British version, the American version of “The Office” has become a cultural phenomenon of epic proportions. It was popular when it aired, but since then it has turned into one of the favorite sitcoms of multiple generations. Michael, Dwight, Jim, Pam, and the rest turned a paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania into a television destination.

“Parks and Recreation” came to us from the same people who brought us the American “Office,” which an ensemble cast that is just as impressive. However, the action moved from a paper company to the government of Pawnee, Indiana. Whether you’re a Leslie or a Ron (or a Jean-Ralphio, but hopefully not a Jean-Ralphio), there’s something for you in “Parks and Rec.”

Mary Richards begins “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” as a newly-single woman in Minneapolis looking to get her career going. In the ‘70s, this was momentous. However, this was more than a noteworthy show. It’s a classic sitcom full of memorable characters, including Mary’s gruff boss Lou Grant and buffoonish newscaster Ted Baxter.

We’re going old school here. Like, to the beginning of television. “Our Miss Brooks” is a sitcom that ran from 1952 through 1956 and proved popular enough to spawn a movie. Eve Arden stars as the titular Miss Brooks, a high school English teacher. While teachers and schools have become commonplace in television, “Our Miss Brooks” was at the forefront of that, and actually, the show holds up reasonably well.

Ah, to work at a radio station during the 1970s. Although, it doesn’t always seem glamorous, even if you are a Johnny Fever or a Venus Flytrap. While music licensing has kept “WKRP” from being seen as much as other classic sitcoms, we’ll always have the famous Thanksgiving episode.

Cop comedies are workplace comedies. Whether it’s “Barney Miller” or “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” plenty of sitcoms have taken place in the world of the police. Hey, it’s never hard to think of an idea for an episode and characters have excuses to run into all sorts of different characters. “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” also has quite the cast, led by the dynamic pairing of Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher.

Tina Fey mined what she knew when she created “30 Rock.” It’s a show about the production of a sketch comedy program, though “TGS” isn’t exactly “Saturday Night Live” when it comes to quality. Whether Liz Lemon is butting heads with Jack Donaghy or trying to keep Tracy and Jenna in check, “30 Rock” was a joke machine that gave us more laughs than anybody ever got from “TGS.”

“30 Rock” is about a pretty glamorous profession. “Taxi,” on the other hand, seems to luxuriate in the grime. The Sunshine Taxi Cab Company doesn’t seem like a great place to work, even among taxi companies. Maybe that’s because dispatcher Louie De Palma seems like an awful guy to work for. Or maybe it’s because you never know when Vic Ferrari might show up. Hey, we wouldn’t want to work alongside Alex, Tony, and the crew, but it’s fun to watch them.

“Alice” is based on the Martin Scorsese movie “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” and it primarily takes place at a diner called Mel’s. While Alice is the titular character, you likely know the character of Flo even more. That’s because she had quite the iconic catchphrase, “Kiss my grits!”

There are so many law shows out there, including legal comedies. However, none of them quite feel like “Night Court.” Maybe it’s because the stakes are usually a little lower or the cases are different. Well, a lot of times the cases are straight-up odd, as “Night Court” could get quite absurd. That didn’t stop John Larroquette from winning a boatload of Emmys.

Hey, a bar is a workplace. Sam Malone, the main character, owned the bar and was a bartender. Several employees of Cheers were characters. “Cheers” counts as a workplace sitcom, and it’s one of the best. Plus, Norm was there so much it was practically like he worked there too anyway.

The reboot of “Murphy Brown” didn’t go great, but the original run was popular, successful, and at times part of the national conversation. That is, at least when Dan Quayle was involved. Some felt like “Murphy Brown” relied too much on fleeting topical references for its humor and storytelling, but the show had enough legs to get Candice Bergen a few Emmys for this show about a TV newsmagazine.

This is another show that takes a behind-the-scenes look at a TV show, but “The Larry Sanders Show” and “30 Rock” have different vibes to them. While Tina Fey’s show is silly and joke happy, “The Larry Sanders Show” is unsparing and often dark. Celebrities would get a chance to play awful or absurd versions of themselves when they stopped by Larry’s talk show, and the starring trio of Garry Shandling, Jeffrey Tambor (Hey now!), and Rip Torn is as good as any other show.

“Wings” follows two brothers who run a small airline on Nantucket. The show was created by three “Cheers” alums who would eventually go on to create “Frasier” as well. While “Wings” was the least successful of those three, it still ran for eight seasons and has a ton of fans. By the way, “Frasier” is a fine show, but we didn’t think it quite qualified as a workplace sitcom.

Proving popular on Nickelodeon’s “All That,” Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell were given their own sitcom. We do believe that “Kenan & Kel” qualifies as a workplace sitcom. Since this was a fairly-cheaply-made multi-cam sitcom shot by Nick, it only had a handful of regular sets, and it feels like most of the show took place in Rigby’s, the grocery store where Kenan worked. In our memories, we spent more time with Chris, then manager of Rigby’s, than Kenan’s own family. Hey, not many kids shows are even close to being workplace sitcoms. We’re happy to include one.

It’s weird to think there was once a popular and successful sitcom that costarred Andy Dıck and Joe Rogan. Really, it’s true. Of course, “NewsRadio” was driven by its top-notch cast, including Stephen Root, Dave Foley, Maura Tierney, and the late, great Phil Hartman. The flip side to “WKRP in Cincinnati,” “NewsRadio” was about an AM news station. That’s less fun than music, but that didn’t stop this show from being funny.

Politicians need a big staff, and the office of a politician is a workplace like any other. “Spin City” focused on the Mayor of New York City – a lofty position – and the people who work for him. When the show began, the beloved Michael J. Fox was the star. Unfortunately, he had to leave due to his health and was replaced by Charlie Sheen, but the show still kept a lot of its punch and verve for a couple more seasons.

You may have missed “Better Off Ted” when it was on, but this is an underrated gem you should try and go back to revisit. Hey, it’s only two seasons. The show takes place at a company called Veridian Dynamics, which seems to do just about anything it wants, business-wise, provided it’s unethical and dangerous to its employees. Portia de Rossi was a particular standpoint as Veronica, Ted’s amoral boss.

Television has always been full of medical dramas. Medical comedies? They’ve been around, but they aren’t as common. At least there was “Scrubs.” The show was often packed to the brim with jokes, but given the fact it took place in a hospital sometimes things would have to get serious. “Scrubs” was better at the silly, and the absurd, but on occasion, it could nail the pathos as well.

In Los Angeles, there are a lot of aspiring showbiz professionals just trying to make ends meet. “Party Down” is about those people. It focuses on a group of cater-waiters who go from event to event dealing with all sorts of (usually rich) LA weirdos and creeps. Also, Steve Guttenberg. The show is pretty cynical, but it’s also pretty funny.

Want to talk cynical? You’d be hard-pressed to find a more vicious comedy than “Veep.” The political satire spared nobody with its brutal, vulgar brand of humor. “Veep” focused on Selina Meyer, who was Vice President when the show began, and her staff. Everybody is awful. Nobody has ethics. The show was truly hilarious, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus deserved every single one of her Emmys.

“Bob’s Burgers” manages to thread the needle of being both a workplace sitcom and a family sitcom. That’s what happens when you run a family business and also live right about your business. Also, the name of the business is right in the title of the show. The Belcher family are doing their best to make their diner/burger restaurant work, though Bob’s kids usually are more harm than help.

There are big-box stores all over the place, and “Superstore” focuses on a made-up version of that kind of store. It’s a smart premise for a show. So many people work at those massive department stores, and that means you can have an assortment of characters working there. Oh, and don’t forget all the customers. “Superstore” has never been a huge hit, but it definitely has its devoted fans who have kept it on the air for years.

Tina Fey is back at it! Well, sort of. She was one of the co-executive producers of “Great News,” which was created by “30 Rock” writer Tracy Wigfield. The show focused on a television news program, specifically a producer named Katie whose mom gets a job as an intern on the show. It lasted two seasons, but it was honestly really funny, and that includes Nicole Richie. Really!

We are ending with “The Dıck Van Dyke Show” because we were on the fence if it was a workplace sitcom. After all, a lot of the show is about Rob Petrie’s home life with Laura. In the opening credits, he’s tripping over his ottoman in his house! We went back and forth on it, but in the end, we figured enough time is spent on Rob and company working on “The Alan Brady Show” that we went for it. Also, Carl Reiner created it based on his experience as a TV writer, so clearly, the workplace was on his mind. In the end, this is a classic sitcom with a great cast. Why not include it?