The 20 best misfit comedies

Created by Tina Fey,  30 Rock focuses on Fey's character, Liz Lemon, and her attempts to wrangle the various misfits and large personalities of a fictional variety show. The show is filled with some of the most outlandish and memorable characters to have appeared on TV, from Tracy Morgan’s (often unhinged) Tracy Morgan to Jane Krakowski’s self-absorbed diva Jenna Mulroney. The series captures the zeitgeist of the mid-aughts and early 2010s remarkably well. While some elements haven’t aged particularly well, it still serves up quite a few laughs.

Bottoms is often rightly regarded as one of the funniest films of 2023. It stars Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri as a pair of very unpopular lesbians who go to very bizarre lengths to hook up with their crushes, including going so far as to start a fight club for cheerleaders. It’s an unabashedly silly and, at times, absurd film, but both Sennott and Edebiri are in their element as the weirdo leads, and Nicholas Galitzine also delivers a truly memorable performance as the maliciously and gleefully unhinged football player Jeff.

The HBO series Somebody Somewhere is one of those slice-of-life comedies vanishingly rare on television. Bridget Everett stars as Sam, who moves back to her hometown of Manhattan, Kansas, after her sister’s death, where she connects with Jeff Hiller’s Joel and a number of other misfits in the town, many of whom are members of the LGBTQ+ community. The series has a sweetness that is undeniable, and Everett gives a moving and heartfelt performance as a woman in middle age trying to determine her future and what she wants out of life. 

Directed by Chris Columbus, Adventures in Babysitting  is one of those fun adventure movies that’s very rare in Hollywood these days. As its title suggests, the film focuses on babysitter Chris Parker, whose evening is turned upside down after her friend asks to be rescued, leading to numerous adventures in the city of Chicago. It’s an excellent vehicle for Elizabeth Shue, and as a whole, it has all of the warmth and heart that one expects from a Chris Columbus film.

The Good Place is pure Michael Schur magic, focusing on a group of four humans who get sent to the metaphysical Bad Place, the in-series equivalent of Hell. Once there, however, they end up turning the entire cosmos upside-down, and through the adventures of Eleanor, Chidi, Jason, and Tahani, the series uses its misfit characters and their adventures to ask powerful questions about morality, human nature and the essence of life itself. Ted Danson and D’Arcy Carden are also welcome as Michael, a demon who finds goodness, and Janet, a sort of embodiment of knowledge.

Few series have been quite as audacious as Glee. It’s not every network series, after all, that would attempt to bring the musical back to the small screen. Even though it tends to be a sprawling series — particularly in its later seasons — for the most part, the action, drama, and comedy center on the glee club known as New Directions. For most of its run, Glee managed to strike a good balance between its comedic and dramatic elements and, through it all, showed the strength that a group of misfits can forge through music.

Muppet Treasure Island, like so many of the other Muppet movies, is filled with rambunctious energy and effervescent good fun. Though not quite as faithful an adaptation as Muppet Christmas Carol, it still features the usual misfit Muppet characters, including Gonzo and Rizzo, who end up accompanying young Jack Hawkins as he sets sail in search of treasure. Adding to the fun is the presence of a delightfully scenery-chewing Tim Curry as Long John Silver, one of the most infamous pirates in the history of literature. 

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have proven to be remarkably enduring pop culture figures, emerging again and again and reimagined in various ways. In 2023, they starred in yet another film of their own, Mutant Mayhem, in which they are voiced and act like teenagers. There's a fluidity to the animation that makes this film a delight, particularly to longtime fans of this reptilian foursome. The film manages to be very funny, and it stays true to the fundamental elements of turtle lore while also adding its own particular spin on the characters and their adventures. 

In 2024, Mean Girls again became a pop culture phenomenon, thanks to the movie adaptation of the hit stage musical. This version is notable, however, for the extent to which it shifts focus from Cady to Reneé Rapp, who truly excels as the scathingly popular Regina George. Even though she takes center stage, this film, like its predecessor, is a cautionary tale about the dangers of assuming things about others, and it aptly points out that even misfits can be cruel when they let their own worst instincts take over.

Wes Anderson has long had a knack for crafting films all about misfits and weirdos, and The Royal Tenenbaums  shows all of the signs of the director’s trademarks. It’s the very definition of an offbeat comedy, and it focuses on the various members of the Tenenbaum family. It features a remarkable ensemble cast featuring the likes of Anjelica Huston, Gene Hackman, and Ben Stiller. As with so many of Anderson’s films, however, there’s also a deep strain of melancholy running through the film, and this is what gives its unique emotional intensity and appeal.

Pitch Perfect more than lives up to its name. Its story about an all-girls a capella group and their efforts to win a music competition is one that is endlessly appealing, and it certainly helps that it features such remarkably compelling talents as Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, and Skylar Astin. It doesn’t really do anything to tamper with the formula of these types of comedies, but that’s precisely what makes it so appealing. It also features some songs that are memorable in their own right. 

Riffing on The Odyssey, O Brother, Where Art Thou?  focuses on George Clooney’s Ulysses Everett McGill, who, along with his two accomplices, escapes from prison and attempts to get back to his wife. The film has all of the trademark humor and pattern one expects of the Coen Brothers, and it’s one of Clooney’s finest performances. Aside from the misfit comedy appeal of it all, it’s also filled with some fantastic songs, with the song “Man of Constant Sorrow” being a particular highlight, both because of its bluegrass sound and its homage to Homer’s great work of poetry. 

Lindsay Lohan gives one of her most memorable performances in Mean Girls, in which she plays Cady Heron, who enters public school and, after spending some time with the misfits, unexpectedly becomes a member of the popular group known as the Plastics. The film is very funny and also remarkably insightful about the sometimes deeply toxic circumstances in which young women too often find themselves at school. It’s also become a true pop culture phenomenon, sparking hundreds of memes, a stage musical, and a movie based on said musical.

Superbad features a perfect star pairing, featuring Jonah Hill and Michael Cena. As one might expect, it focuses on their characters and their desire — like so many other adolescent movie men before them — to lose their virginity before they graduate from high school. It’s one of those mid-2000s films that really leans in when it comes to vulgarity, but there’s a lot of heart to this film, too, and this helps to explain why it continues to resonate with those who find it difficult to fit in with others.

Long before the MCU took over Hollywood and made superhero movies necessary to the industry’s lifeblood, Mystery Men  ruthlessly spoofed the genre. The film is absurd at all levels, from its story about a group of superheroes with unhelpful powers to the presence of such comedy legends as Hank Azaria, Ben Stiller, Paul Reubens, and Kel Mitchell. The humor may, at times, aim for the lowbrow, but there’s a lot of cleverness, too, and it’s always a pleasure to see Geoffrey Rush play a villain (he portrays Casanova Frankenstein, the film’s big bad).

The Goonies is, in some ways, the very definition of feel-good 1980s entertainment. Its story is about a group of kids who try to keep their community from being taken foreclosed upon — only to end up going on an extraordinary adventure — and it feels timeless. It helps that the film wears its heart on its sleeve and contains some remarkable performances from actors such as Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Ke Huy Quan, and Martha Plimpton. And, of course, there’s Anne Ramsey’s sinister Mama Fratelli, the film’s big bad, who adds the appropriate amount of slapstick menace.

Napoleon Dynamite is one of those strange little gems that could only have been made in the early 2000s. Jon Heder gives one of his usual idiosyncratic performances as the title character, joined by Efren Ramirez as Pedro Sánchez. It can only be described as quirky and breathes much-needed fresh air into the teen comedy genre. Heder is at his best, and while his character may not always be likable, one can’t help but be drawn to him.

Our Flag Means Death begins by focusing on the gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet (played by Rhys Darby) and his gang of pirates before focusing more on the unexpected romance between Stede and Ed Teach/Blackbeard (played by Taika Waititi). It’s one of those series that is by turns whimsical and absurd, but it’s also very touching, and it’s also notable for the way that it went out of its way to include a great deal of LGBTQ+ diversity both in its cast and in the stories that it chose to tell.

Based on the film of the same name, the TV series What We Do in the Shadows focuses on a group of very strange vampires — Nandor, Laszlo, Nadja, and Colin Robertson — and Nandor’s familiar Guillermo as they go about their lives and misadventures in Staten Island. It’s one of those comedies that wears its wackiness on its sleeve, and it manages to inject some fresh blood into the well-established convention of the fake documentary. Furthermore, while it might be about vampires, and while it may not shy away from the violence of their nature, it also has a strange heart all its own.

In some ways, The Grand Budapest Hotel is one of Wes Anderson’s best movies. In large part, this stems from the remarkable performances given by both Ralph Fiennes and Tony Revolori, who play a concierge and his assistant. As with so many of the director’s other films, it features an ensemble cast, most of whom play misfits of one sort or another. While it is certainly filled with madcap adventure and the director’s trademark sense of whimsy, there is also a remarkable sincerity to this offering, which helps to explain its critical reception and popularity.