The Big Bang Theory

Series Similar to The Big Bang Theory

If you enjoyed The Big Bang Theory, these series share similar themes, tone, and quality. Each recommendation is scored on genre overlap, tonal match, and critical acclaim.

1. The Office

   2005 · Comedy · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8.5).

   Steve Carell stars in The Office, a fresh and funny mockumentary-style glimpse into the daily interactions of the eccentric workers at the Dunder Mifflin paper supply company. Based on the smash-hit British series of the same name and adapted for American Television by Greg Daniels, this fast-paced comedy parodies contemporary American water-cooler culture. Earnest but clueless regional manager Michael Scott believes himself to be an exceptional boss and mentor, but actually receives more eye-rolls than respect from his oddball staff.

2. Community

   2009 · Comedy · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8.3).

   Community is a smart, exuberant comedy that is consistently ranked as one of the most inventive and original half-hours on television. This ensemble comedy centers around a tight-knit group of friends who all met at what is possibly the world's worst educational institution - Greendale Community College.

3. Parks and Recreation

   2009 · Comedy · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8.1).

   Parks and Recreation is a comedy series based around the main character Leslie Knope (a bureaucrat) in the parks department of Pawnee.

4. WKRP in Cincinnati

   1978 · Comedy · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8), hidden gem, also on CBS.

   When a Cincinnati radio station switches from sedate music to top-40 rock 'n' roll, its staff of oddball characters is forced to switch gears quickly. New programming director Andy Travis brings in a new DJ named Venus Flytrap to work with the station's burned-out veteran, Dr. Johnny Fever. Neurotic newsman Les Nessman, eager beaver Jan Smithers, sleazy salesman Herb Tarlek, blonde bombshell Jennifer Marlowe, who serves as the station's ultra-capable receptionist, and station manager Arthur Carlson, whose domineering mother owns WKRP, round out the eccentric bunch.

5. 30 Rock

   2006 · Comedy · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8).

   Multiple award-winning comedy 30 Rock is told through the comedic voice of Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner Tina Fey as variety show producer Liz Lemon. The series also features two-time Emmy and three-time Golden Globe winner Alec Baldwin as top network executive Jack Donaghy and Emmy nominee Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan, the unpredictable star of Lemon's hit variety show, TGS with Tracy Jordan, Lemon constantly has her hands full, juggling corporate interference from Donaghy and off-the-handle star antics from Jordan, all while attempting to salvage her own personal life.

6. That '70s Show

   1998 · Comedy · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8).

   Crank up the 8-track and flash back to a time when platform shoes and puka shells were all the rage in this hilarious retro-sitcom. For Eric, Kelso, Jackie, Hyde, Donna and Fez, a group of high school teens who spend most of their time hanging out in Eric's basement, life in the ‘70s isn't always so groovy. But between trying to figure out the meaning of life, avoiding their parents, and dealing with out-of-control hormones, they've learned one thing for sure: they'll always get by with a little help from their friends.

7. The Middle

   2009 · Comedy, Family · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8.1).

   Forget about athletes, movie stars and politicians. Parents are the real heroes - but we think Frankie Heck, must be some kind of superhero. A loving wife and mother of three, she's middle class in the middle of the country and is rapidly approaching middle age.Frankie and her husband, Mike, have lived in Orson, Indiana, their whole lives. A man of few words (every one a zinger), Mike is a manager at the town quarry and Frankie is the third-best used car salesman (out of the three) at the local dealership. She may not be a high-powered career woman, but when it comes to her family, she'll go to just about any length. And with kids like these, she had better. There's Axl, her semi-nudist teenage son conceived while under the influence of Guns N' Roses; Sue, the awkward teenage daughter who fails at everything... but with the utmost of gusto; and their seven-year-old son Brick, whose best friend is his backpack.Sometimes it seems like everyone is trying to get to the top, or struggling not to hit bottom, but we think Frankie and her family will find a lot of love, and a lot of laughs, somewhere in The Middle.

8. Happy Endings

   2011 · Comedy · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile, hidden gem.

   Forget who gets to keep the ring - when a couple splits, the real question is, who gets to keep the friends? Alex and Dave's wedding was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives, for them and their long-time friends - until Alex leaves groom-to-be Dave at the altar. The breakup, in the words of one pal, is a "huge game changer" that will complicate everyone's lives and make everyone question their own choices.

9. New Girl

   2011 · Comedy, Romance · ended

   Recommended for similar Comedy profile.

   New Girl is a single-camera ensemble comedy starring Zooey Deschanel as Jess, an offbeat girl who - after a bad breakup - moves in with three single guys and essentially sets a bomb off in their lives.

10. Seinfeld

    1989 · Comedy · ended

    Recommended for similar Comedy profile, highly rated (8.3).

    Seinfeld is the story of a fictionalized version of stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld, his life in New York City and his quirky group of friends who join him in wrestling with life's most perplexing, yet often trivial questions. Often described as "a show about nothing," Seinfeld mines the humor in life's mundane situations like waiting in line, searching for a lost item, or the trials and tribulations of dating.