Five Netflix sitcoms to binge if you miss ‘Friends’
Just to be clear, we are all still mad about it, right? The way Netflix just removed Friends like that without even doing the formality of taking a poll first? Just a simple warning that it would be removed, and before we could finish all the seasons, it was gone. You open the app one day, and it’s just gone… like it was never there in the first place.
To be honest, Netflix does seem empty without it. And it hits you hard because this wasn’t just a comfort show; it was a routine for most of us. Something we could fall back on when we are having a bad day. Our emotional safety net, which helped raise generations. You didn’t have to think twice. Just press play, and suddenly things felt less terrible.
Now there’s this weird silence, like you know what used to be there, and nothing else feels quite right. But we have to move on, people; we do. And you are in the lucky zone today, as we have brought you five other shows that can perfectly fill that empty Friends spot. Don’t get us wrong, no other show can replace it, ever. But shows that still having the energy can help you fill that void.
So, if you have been aimlessly scrolling and wishing something would just click, this is the list. Let’s fix the hole Netflix left behind.
Five Netflix sitcoms to binge if you miss Friends
The Office (2005–2013)
You will probably hate the first season of The Office, genuinely. You will wonder what the hell is happening, and why all the characters are so awkward, and why the jokes don’t land. But this is one of those few shows that require patience in the beginning. If you just hold on a little longer, you will get to witness some of the best comedy American television has ever produced. Not to forget the original concept was British, gotta give the credit.
You start laughing at things you can’t even explain. You start caring about office parties and casual glances near the printer. Eventually, you are not just watching anymore; you’re in. The show follows the employees of a paper company in Scranton who deal with everything from boring tasks to uncomfortable bosses. If Friends was about soulmates in coffee shops, this is about coworkers becoming a family without ever admitting it. Jim and Pam will steal your attention. Michael will test your patience. But when it works, it works.
Community (2009–2015)
One of the most loved shows on Netflix, Community starts with a fake study group, literally. A former lawyer makes up a Spanish tutoring scam just to impress a girl. But then six strangers show up, and of course, things go the other way. Instead of ditching them, he stays, and they all do too. Sounds sweet, right? And that’s where everything begins. Not just the classes, but the weird and completely unpredictable friendships that hold this show together.
The plot revolves around seven students trying to survive community college while getting pulled into the most absurd situations possible that include film parodies and campus-wide paintball wars, oh, and even alternate timelines. But beneath everything, it is about connection. It’s Friends if Central Perk was sprinkled with a ton of chaos. This group clash a lot, but in the end, they always find each other again.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013–2021)
Oh, the heartbreakingly beloved show that gave us some of the best memes out there. We have a detective who doesn’t follow rules and a captain who doesn’t and is probably a robot (meep, morp, zeep, iykyk). And together they have a precinct that functions like a family. Brooklyn Nine-Nine is about a team of police officers in New York solving cases while dealing with each other’s drama and weird habits. You have a new story and case every episode, so it’s like comedy mixed with mystery.
But the core of the show lies in the group dynamic. This show is from the same writer who also wrote The Office, Michael Schur, and this time, you don’t need to bear a season to get hooked. If you miss the energy of Friends, where the group always comes back together, no matter how messy things get, this gives you that.
Seinfeld (1989–1998)
A hilarious and very underrated sitcom with a stand-up comic, his ex-girlfriend, his best friend, and a neighbour who lives in another reality. That’s the setup of Seinfeld. You won’t get any deep life lessons or growth arcs here. Just four adults obsessing over the smallest possible problems in New York City, and it only gets better with each episode.
This isn’t Friends, where problems get solved with hugs and confessions. It’s the version where no one says sorry, and everyone keeps score. But it works because it shows friendship at its most blunt. They fight, and they judge, big time. They walk into each other’s homes without knocking, even when they are not speaking. And you are not supposed to root for them, but you do. If you like the brutal honesty genre of comedy, this might just be the pick for you.
Superstore (2015–2021)
If you do not want to go back to the 90s and have watched almost all of the above, this is a modern sitcom that will do. The entire show takes place inside a big-box retail store called Cloud 9, and that’s the whole setup. Employees try not to lose it and deal with whatever fresh disaster walks through their automatic doors. And yet, within that superstore mess, the show finds something real. These coworkers start depending on each other in ways they never meant to.
It’s not the pretty version of friendship. It’s the real one. Fights happen in the breakroom, and there is a whole lot of competitiveness. People have crushes on each other, and they fall apart, get promoted, quit, and come back. But the connection is always there. That’s what made Friends matter… the group. And Superstore finds that same beat in a completely different setup and time.