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Kareem is a veteran editor and writer with over 15 years of experience covering all forms of entertainment, from music to movies. He serves as a High Trending List Writer for Collider, covering all things TV. His work has been seen in numerous online publications such as FanSided, AXS, Examiner, Narcity, HuffPost, and ScreenRant.
He first began his professional writing career in 2011 writing political columns for HubPages, gradualaly building his portfolio until he was rewarded with his first paid writing position with News Headquarters in 2013. Since then, Kareem has covered everything imaginable, from writing political news columns for Examiner, reviewing the latest albums for AXS.com, and giving a unique take on sports, food, and the entertainment industry for Fansided.com. He had another online stop at Narcity, covering travel and things to do in his native Florida, before finally bringing his uniquely immense writing talent and voice to Valnet in 2020, first as a List Writer for ScreenRant before taking his talents to Collider in 2021.
During his time at Collider, Kareem has showcased his talented writing style on a number of beats, trailer previews (DOTA: Dragon's Blood) to season premiers (Abbott Elementary), to Lists ranking everything from 80s Sitcoms (which holds a special place in his heart), to classic Disney Channel shows.
When he's not working, you can catch him bing-watching classic horror movies (he's a huge fan of Friday the 13th), hitting bike trails, and playing UNO (and losing) during game nights with friends.
He calls Orlando, FL home.
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In 2005, Greg Daniels took inspiration from a short-lived British sitcom about a documentary crew filming the day-to-day exploits of an office firm. While that show only lasted for two seasons, Daniels figured that his adaptation would be a hit among a viewing audience that was starving for brand-new content in the new millennium. With NBC on board, The Office would premiere on March 24th of that year, and to say it was a hit for the network is a drastic understatement.
Starring Steve Carell, whose star power was rising thanks to box office comedies such as Anchorman and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, the show is filmed as a “mockumentary,” with a documentary crew filming the day-to-day life of workers at the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. The Office quickly became a pop culture phenomenon thanks to its hilarious and memorable characters, scenes that are still re-enacted by fans to this day, and the simple and humble nature of the sitcom. There is no question that The Office is one of the best sitcoms of all time, but that doesn’t mean that there are other sitcoms that were just as good as the iconic NBC series. So, let’s look at the 10 sitcoms that are almost on the same level as The Office.
10 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' (2013–2021)
Police procedurals have long been a staple of network television, with many being more serious affairs with cops looking to put the bad guys in jail. But police shows that are comedy-focused didn’t have the same staying power as their more serious peers, until Brooklyn Nine-Nine came along.
Created by Dan Goor and Michael Schur, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a humorous police procedural that follows the detectives at the fictional 99th Precinct of the New York Police Department. Centered around detective Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg), an un-serious detective with an incredible clearance record, the show turned the traditional police procedural on its head, had hilarious characters, and a love story between Peralta and his straight-laced partner Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) that many were completely invested in. While it doesn’t get the same love as The Office, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is easily one of the best sitcoms of the 2010s.
Image via NBCIf you’re looking to start your life over, what do you do? Well, if you’re Jeff Winger (Joel McHale), you head to Colorado to earn a law degree at a community college. This was the set-up for NBC’s Community, one of the most entertaining sitcoms of all time, and is, in a lot of ways, almost on the same level as The Office.
We follow Winger as he enrolls at Greendale Community College to obtain a law degree after he was disbarred and suspended from his law firm for lying about having one. What follows is a sitcom that had just as many interesting characters as The Office, and just as many prolific scenes and one-liners that fans still talk about to this day. While some will say The Office is better, it's still worth checking out this quirky sitcom about a group of community college students. Once they do, they’ll largely agree that Community is a great sitcom that deserves all of its flowers.
8 'What We Do in the Shadows' (2019–2024)
Image via FXWhile The Vampire Diaries remains the premier show about vampires, creator Jamaine Clement wanted to take this premise to a different genre with his comedic take. The end result is FX’s What We Do in the Shadows, which was filmed in the same mockumentary format as The Office, except this time, the show's focus is on a family of vampires looking to exist in the normal world.
By doing a documentary on vampires, What We Do in the Shadows was a unique sitcom that provided plenty of laughs. Much like its mockumentary counterpart, this innovative sitcom uses its characters to drive the comedy, and they live up to the task and then some. There is no doubt we will be talking about this series as one of the all-time greats.
7 'Superstore' (2015–2021)
Image via NBCAs anyone who has worked in one knows, a lot of wacky things can go on in a retail store, especially behind the scenes. This is why Superstore is so refreshing, which, while not nearly as recognized as The Office, is on the same level when it comes to telling the comedic story of life at work, this time in a big box superstore.
Created by Justin Spitzer and starring America Ferrera, the workplace comedy follows a group of charismatic and eccentric employees at a fictional Cloud 9 superstore in St. Louis. While the series garnered mixed reviews throughout its run, audiences who tuned into this show have a more positive take on it, and it’s since been regarded as one of the most underrated sitcoms of the 2010s. The characters, the comedy, and its heart are all outstanding, and it's a sweet, funny sitcom that is definitely binge-worthy.
6 'Parks and Recreation' (2009–2015)
Image via NBCThere is no question that the success of The Office ushered in a new wave of workplace comedies in the 2000s and 2010s, with Parks and Recreation being among the best. In some respects, this NBC sitcom has the same qualities as The Office, and it begins to make sense once you realize that the man behind that iconic hit, Greg Daniels, also created this hit along with Michael Schur.
Using the same template Daniels established with The Office, Parks and Recreation follows the day-to-day happenings of Pawnee, Indiana’s Parks and Recreation department, with its deputy director, Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), as the central focus. But that wasn’t for long, as other iconic characters began to flourish, especially Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), the Parks and Rec director who was the political opposite of the more career-minded Knope. With hilarious characters and a unique premise that worked, Parks and Recreation is a gifted sitcom that will have you laughing until it hurts.
5 'The IT Crowd' (2006–2013)
Image via Channel 4Britain is a country that knows how to deliver great comedy, and one of the best and most underrated of the 2000s was Channel 4’s The IT Crowd. Premiering a year after Daniel’s American adaptation of The Office, The IT Crowd, created by Graham Linehan, follows the IT staff at the fictional Reynholm Industries in London, especially a pair of IT workers, Roy Trenneman (Chris O’Dowd) and Maurice Moss (Richard Ayoade), who struggle with being social.
The beauty of the comedy in The IT Crowd is its dedication to surreal and dark humor. While the comedy in The Office was more lighthearted, some people will be turned off by the comedy in The IT Crowd, and that’s completely fine. It’s a sitcom that isn’t made for everybody, but for most people, it will have you laughing for days with its iconic punchlines and enjoyable characters.
4 'The Good Place' (2016–2020)
Image via NBCFor years, we’ve had shows that have depicted just what the afterlife would look like, often using more serious and religious tones. That’s not the case for The Good Place, the NBC fantasy comedy that looks at how a special place in the afterlife is run. Created by Michael Schur, the man behind other comedy gems such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Parks and Recreation, The Good Place follows Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell), a woman who winds up in the utopian “Good Place” after she dies. However, knowing how she lived her life when she was alive, she knows she doesn’t deserve to be there, and she strives to become a more ethical person to avoid being found out and sent to the “Bad Place,” aka, hell.
The writing, acting, and setting of The Good Place are incredible, with numerous plot twists that work and intertwine to bring the main story together in a satisfying way. While The Good Place is a comedy at heart, the way it used philosophy and the ethics of being a good person really put this series over the top, and makes it one of the best sitcoms of all-time.
3 'New Girl' (2011–2018)
Image via FOXWe didn’t really think about it at the time, mainly because we were too busy laughing at the screen, but Fox’s New Girl was actually a product of its time. Created by Elizabeth Meriwether, New Girl follows Jessica “Jess” Day (Zooey Deschanel), a quirky school teacher who, after finding out that her boyfriend was cheating on her, moves into a loft with three other guys, the equally quirky Nick Miller (Jake Johnson), the conservative Schmidt (Max Greenfield), and Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.). When Coach moved out, the hilarious Winston Bishop (Lamorne Morris) took his place.
New Girl is easily one of the 2010s' funniest sitcoms, thanks in large part to the story it told, following our main characters as they navigate post-recession America and looking to hang on to their youth as long as they can. New Girl was hilarious, had a lot of heart, and was relatable to so many who lived throughout that wacky, “adorkable” time; and you may not think so, but it’s definitely on the same level as The Office.
2 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' (2005–)
Image via FXXYou would never know it from its simplistic, cutesy theme song (“Temptation Sensation” by Heinz Kiessling), but It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is, quite possibly, one of the best black comedy sitcoms of all time. The brainchild of Rob McElhenney, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia follows a group of self-centered, morally questionable friends known as “The Gang,” who run a run-down Irish bar in South Philadelphia and come up with all sorts of dark, hare-brained schemes.
The sitcom often delves into dark humor, with punchlines that would be frowned upon by today’s audiences, but that’s the true beauty of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. This series is not afraid to take risks with its humor, and while this show certainly isn’t for everybody, it's the dark, surreal comedy that makes It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia one of the best comedies of all time, hands down.
1 'Abbott Elementary' (2021–)
Image via ABCWe’ve looked at a variety of workplace comedies, from a parks and recreation department to the inner-workings of a utopian heaven. But, we’ve saved the best for last, and when it’s all said and done, we’ll look back at ABC's Abbott Elementary and easily call it one of the most well-written, hilarious sitcoms ever made.
Filmed in the same style as The Office, Abbott Elementary was created by Quinta Brunson, who also stars as Janine Teagues, a second-grade teacher at the titular elementary school that’s suffering from under-investment and harsh conditions. A documentary crew follows Teagues and the other teachers at the school to document the harsh realities of teachers working in underfunded and mismanaged schools, and the heart of this comedy is the real story it tells of how governments treat schools in inner cities. Smartly written, and with a cast that’s become just almost as iconic as The Office, Abbott Elementary is becoming a classic of its own, if it hasn't become one already.
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