Office comedies get most of the attention, but plenty of great sitcoms have found their laughs somewhere else. Hospitals, bars, police precincts, and schools all offer the same ingredients: a fixed cast, daily routines, and people who can’t easily escape each other.
The seven shows below each build their humor around a very specific kind of job. Some are long finished, while others are still making new episodes or have returned in recent years.
Cheers
Cheers ran on NBC from 1982 to 1993 and took place in a Boston bar. The staff and regulars gathered there, and the setting let almost any character wander in for a conversation. It became one of the most successful sitcoms in American television history.
The bar worked as a workplace because the job never really stopped. Sam, Diane, Carla, and Norm kept returning to the same counter, which gave writers a simple stage for sharp dialogue. That tight setup is a big reason the show still gets cited as a model for ensemble comedy.
M*A*S*H
M*A*S*H followed a mobile army surgical hospital during the Korean War and aired on CBS from 1972 to 1983. It mixed jokes with the grim reality of battlefield medicine. The series finale in 1983 drew one of the largest audiences in US television history.
Work here meant surgery, triage, and exhaustion. The humor was often a coping tool for the doctors and nurses, which gave the show an unusual emotional range for a sitcom. Few comedies have balanced laughter and loss so openly.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Brooklyn Nine-Nine centers on detectives in a fictional New York police precinct. It premiered on Fox in 2013 and later moved to NBC, ending in 2021 after eight seasons. The show treats police work as a backdrop for goofy cases and workplace rivalries.
Its comedy depends on the squad room dynamic, especially the clash between Jake Peralta’s immaturity and Captain Holt’s deadpan discipline. Reruns and streaming have kept it popular well after the finale. Still, the precinct itself remains the engine of nearly every plot.
Abbott Elementary
Abbott Elementary is set in an underfunded public school in Philadelphia and debuted on ABC in 2021. Creator Quinta Brunson also stars as a second grade teacher. The show uses a mockumentary style, and it has earned multiple Emmy Awards, including a major win for Brunson’s writing.
The school setting gives the jokes a real edge, since the characters constantly make do with limited supplies and unhelpful administration. It’s affectionate toward teachers without turning them into saints. The series has continued with new seasons into the mid 2020s.
Scrubs
Scrubs ran from 2001 to 2010 and followed young doctors at Sacred Heart, a fictional teaching hospital. It was told largely through the narration of J.D., whose daydreams often broke into surreal gags. The series moved from NBC to ABC for its final season.
The hospital setting gave it room for both slapstick and genuine heartbreak. Many medical professionals have said they found its portrayal of residency relatable, which helped it hold a loyal following. A revival was announced by ABC, which brought renewed attention to the series in recent years.
Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation is set in the parks department of Pawnee, Indiana, and aired on NBC from 2009 to 2015. It’s technically a government office, yet much of the action happens outdoors, at public forums, and around town projects. That makes it feel closer to civic fieldwork than to a cubicle farm.
Leslie Knope’s devotion to local government gave the show warmth that set it apart from colder workplace satires. Its cast, including Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, and Aubrey Plaza, went on to major careers. The series remains a staple of streaming libraries.
Frasier
Frasier originally ran on NBC from 1993 to 2004 and centered on a radio psychiatrist working at a Seattle station. His on-air shifts, along with the studio staff, supplied the work half of the show. A revival launched on Paramount+ in 2023 and returned for a second season in 2024.
The radio booth made a clever workplace, because callers could bring in new stories without changing the cast. Kelsey Grammer reprised the title role for the revival, which moved the story to Boston. The original remains one of the most decorated sitcoms in Emmy history.
