Television series

New Girl

Name: New Girl
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Released: 2011
Cast: Zooey Deschanel, Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, Hannah Simone, Lamorne Morris

A loft full of oddballs slowly becomes a family. Jess, freshly heartbroken, moves in with three men who barely function as adults, and the show turns their bickering, dancing, and invented games into gentle, big-hearted comedy. It gets sillier and warmer as it goes, leaning on chemistry over plot — comfort viewing for anyone who wants low stakes and high affection.

TVMaze rating

7.3

If you liked this

Parks and Recreation2009

Same warm, generous ensemble energy, just moved from a loft to a Parks department — Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope has Jess's relentless optimism, and the supporting cast is just as lovable.

But The first season is rougher than the rest, and it takes a few episodes to find its true, sunnier voice.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine2013

Created by the same team, it swaps the apartment for a police precinct but keeps the goofy bromance, big joke density, and surprisingly tender friendships.

But It's a workplace cop show, so if you wanted the same roommate-level intimacy, this trades some of that closeness for procedure and case-of-the-week plotting.

Community2009

Same era, same willingness to get gleefully weird, with a study group standing in for the loft and a similarly loyal, offbeat gang of misfits.

But Its ambition — genre parodies, meta episodes — makes it less comforting and more unpredictable than a steadier hangout sitcom.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show1970

New Girl's entire engine — a single woman upending a household with her optimism — was essentially invented here forty years earlier, laugh track and all.

One of the most influential sitcoms ever made, following an independent single woman building a career, a home, and a found family — quietly radical for its time.

But It's a multi-camera studio-audience sitcom from the seventies, gentler-paced and structurally old-fashioned next to anything made today.

How I Met Your Mother2005

A tight friend group living out their twenties and thirties together, mixing romance and slapstick with big laughs — the structural blueprint later comedies clearly borrowed from.

But The framing device and central romance haven't aged evenly, and some of the jokes feel dated now.

The Mindy Project2012no page yet

Same era, same single-camera rom-com rhythm, and an equally uncool-cool woman narrator crashing chaotically through everyone's lives, work, and love affairs with real charm and mess.

But It leans harder into romance-of-the-week plotting, so it's less pure hangout comedy and more relationship-driven overall.

Happy Endings2011no page yet

A scrappy, underrated Chicago friend-group comedy with the same rapid-fire, silly-affectionate banter, plus a will-they couple anchoring an ensemble that everyone ends up loving equally.

But It was cancelled early and never broke through the way its peers did, so the ensemble doesn't get the same room to grow.

Friends1994

The granddaddy of the hangout sitcom — six people, one home base, and decades of easy chemistry that every friend-group comedy since has quietly studied.

But It's slower and gentler than modern sitcoms, and some of its humor and attitudes feel very much of their nineties moment.

Scrubs2001

Swaps the loft for a hospital but keeps the surreal cutaway fantasies, deep silly-to-sincere emotional swings, and a genuine found-family vibe among a hospital's oddball staff.

But The medical setting brings in more grounded stakes and occasional sadness alongside the jokes, which shifts the tone at times.

Cougar Town2009no page yet

Same creator DNA as Scrubs — an underrated cul-de-sac hangout comedy full of daft invented games, day-drinking, and genuine warmth between a tight circle of friends.

But The title and early episodes lean hard into a cougar-dating premise the show quickly drops, so it takes a moment to find itself.

Terrace House: Boys & Girls in the City2016no page yet

It's the real, unscripted version of the same premise — strangers thrown into one house, their odd, tender, occasionally maddening dynamics playing out for real, in real time.

A hypnotically calm Japanese reality show about six strangers sharing a house; the drama is tiny, human, and unscripted, and it becomes weirdly cosy viewing.

But Nothing much happens by design — if you want jokes and plot momentum, its slow, real-life pace will test your patience fast.

Fleabag2016

Same premise underneath — a chaotic, funny, heartbroken woman narrating her own unraveling life directly to camera — but stripped of every sitcom safety net and taken somewhere devastating.

A single-camera comedy about a woman falling apart after loss, told with the same fourth-wall-breaking wit and specificity, but willing to go achingly, unflinchingly dark when it matters.

But It trades cosiness for genuine grief and discomfort — this isn't something to put on for easy background laughs.