13 Best shows on Peacock for when you need a break or a binge-watch

For years, NBC’s tagline has been “Comedy starts here.” After a deep dive through Peacock’s streaming catalog, it’s clear that their investment has paid off. We’ve put together the best TV shows to stream on Peacock, and a large majority of the top options are comedies. It can’t be helped! NBC has been putting out some of the best comedies of the last 40 years, and they all deserve a shout-out. 

Here are the best heartfelt dramas, spine-tingling horrors, sprawling science fictions, campy teen soaps, period romances, and of course, top-tier comedies to stream right now on Peacock. Fair warning: a list this stacked means you might not leave the couch this weekend. 

1. We Are Lady Parts

The only problem with Nida Manzoor’s exceptional comedy about an all-female Muslim punk bad is that it’s too short — but the good news is we’re getting Season 2. Anjana Vasan stars as Amina, a spectacularly awkward and endearing guitar player who joins the band, Lady Parts. She’s one of five rock-solid performances in a show that explores and embraces complex Muslim women, with an irreverent pop-punk soundtrack and riotous laughs to boot. Watch it now and put that banger on repeat.* —Proma Khosla, Senior Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: We Are Lady Parts is streaming on Peacock.

2. Battlestar Galactica

Very few shows are as addicting, as binge-able, or as mind-warping as 2004’s Battlestar Galactica. A remake of a 1970s classic, Battlestar opens on a contingent of humans, facing off against a cybernetic race called the Cylons, who reappear after decades of no contact to decimate the humans’ 12 planetary colonies. Now, there are only 50,000 humans left in existence, the lucky few who were on space ships at the time of the nuclear holocaust. Their plight to survive only becomes more dire after a terrifying revelation: the Cylons no longer look like metal robots. They look like humans, and anyone anywhere could be an enemy lying in wait. 

Battlestar Galactica is a brilliant, suspenseful, and surprisingly relatable science-fiction epic, layered with religious allegory, political commentary, and human psychology. And it’s a hell of a fun watch! Very few shows can match Battlestar’s level of satisfying plot twists and gut-wrenching cliffhangers while maintaining such fidelity to grounded human behavior. With Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, and Katee Sackhoff at the helm of a scintillating cast, this is a pulsating, enthralling story that can’t be missed.

How to watch: Battlestar Galactica is streaming on Peacock.

3. 30 Rock

Ah, 30 Rock. This show taught us it’s okay to flip a table for a good sandwich and that we should “never follow a hippie to a second location.” It is an absurd, fast-paced satire whose jokes are as fresh now as they were when it first debuted in 2006. Tina Fey is Liz Lemon, a prudish know-it-all and head writer for The Girlie Show, a fictional stand-in for Saturday Night Live. Lemon’s life gets flipped upside down when NBC puts Jack Donaghy, a hyper-masculine, hyper-privileged, and hyper-conservative executive (the perfectly-cast Alec Baldwin), in charge of TGS. He subsequently forces her to boost ratings by bringing in the unpredictable and unhinged comedian Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan at his finest). 30 Rock is surreal, ridiculous, and hilarious, with loveable characters and an endlessly quotable library of one-liners. If it isn’t already, this is your new favorite show. 

How to watch: 30 Rock is streaming on Peacock.

4. One of Us is Lying

Another silly teen show about murder? Yes, please! One of Us Is Lying takes a classic teen soap trope (“high school sucks!”) and kicks it up a notch by placing five characters — each representing a recognizable high school archetype — in detention. Unlike The Breakfast Club, where everyone ends up dating, only four of these high schoolers are making it out of detention alive. Did someone murder their classmate on purpose? Was it an accident? Or is one of us lying??? The mystery is surprisingly well-crafted and often surprising, which makes for an interesting juxtaposition against its well-worn teen show backdrop. 

How to watch: One of Us Is Lying is streaming on Peacock.

5. Superstore

Binge-ing a season of Superstore in a day is no sweat. So, it makes sense that the series’ six-year run felt as brief as a stroll down the aisle of any Cloud 9. From the beginning, Justin Spitzer’s workplace comedy was sharp, kind, and laugh-out-loud funny — more than it had any right to be and more than most sitcoms pull off in a lifetime. It tackled immigration and other social issues with unparalleled comedic timing and a critical lens. In its final hours, it also achieved the distinction by being one of the only shows to accurately and tactfully portray the pandemic.

For years, this was where we came to gossip with Cheyenne (Nicole Sakura) and Mateo (Nico Santos), to catch up on the drama of Jonah (Ben Feldman) and Amy (America Ferrera), to kick back with Garrett (Colton Dunn), and to be terrorized by Dina (Lauren Ash). By the time Cloud 9 closed its doors for good, Glenn (Mark McKinney) turned out to be right: It was so much more than a store. – P.K. *

How to watch: Superstore is streaming on Peacock.

6. The Office

The show that made the mockumentary a treasured American institution, The Office will never go out of style. In 2020, seven years after its last episode aired, it was the most-streamed TV show across all platforms by far. For those of us who love The Office, this comes as no surprise. 

This grounded and charismatic character-based comedy about a paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania still hits just as hard on the second rewatch… and third… and fourth. The jokes don’t get stale and the characters don’t get old — we only fall more and more in love with them. Though Steve Carrell, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Rainn Wilson, and the entire Office cast may have moved on to bigger and better things, they’ll always be Michael Scott, Jim, Pam, and Dwight in our hearts.

How to watch: The Office is streaming on Peacock.

7. Downton Abbey

Has there ever been a more comforting watch than Downton Abbey, a show whose major conflicts include “getting ready for dinner” and “who’s going to inherit the big house?” Sure, sure, there are deeper threads here, like world wars, women’s rights, Irish independence, and the decay of the British aristocracy, which give the widely revered drama a deep gravitas to match its prodigious charm. The cast is full of British greats. Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton, Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Michelle Dockery, Dan Stevens, Lily James, Matthew Goode, and more frequent the eponymous manor. Come for the period drama but stay for the slow burn romances. Downton Abbey is a juicy and beautifully shot show, serving up satisfying watches on a silver platter. 

How to watch: Downton Abbey is streaming on Peacock.

8. Cheers

Many decades before Ted Danson stole the show as a devilishly handsome silver fox on The Good Place, he spiced up primetime as Sam Malone, a former pro baseball player who drank his career away, only to find himself the proprietor of a charming neighborhood watering hole where everybody, well, you know. Sam spends his days and nights slinging drinks alongside his former coach, Coach (Nicholas Colasanto); fiery cocktail waitress Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman); and erudite fish-out-of-water Diane Chambers (Shelley Long), a new cocktail waitress with whom he spends several seasons flirting in between flings. The witty banter, guest stars, and celeb appearances, as well as an overall cozy vibe between Sam and his regulars (Cliff, Norm, and, yes, Frasier and Lilith) make Cheers a timeless classic. And don’t forget about baby-faced Woody Harrelson, who joined as a main character in the fourth season.* —Jenni Miller, Freelance Writer

How to watch: Cheers is streaming on Peacock.

9. Frasier

This is a show about an insufferable, middle-aged radio psychiatrist pathologically unable to take his own advice. He is pompous, illogical, and far too critical of the parade of women who bafflingly agree to date him. Frasier does not sound like a universally-beloved comedy with heart, wit, and a lot of fun — but reader, it is! It’s an amazing sitcom. There’s magic in this cadre of characters, from Frasier’s down-to-earth father (John Mahoney) who slings insightful mocking of his impossibly snobby sons, to his brother Niles (the iconic David Hyde Pierce), who has a paralyzing crush on the eccentric Daphne (Jane Leeves at her absolute best). 

This is not a show to watch if you’re looking for character development and personal growth. This is the show to watch if you want to see Frasier and Niles insist on throwing yet another elaborate dinner party, though all evidence points to their complete inability to do so without catastrophe. And best of all? Frasier has 11 seasons, so you don’t have to stop watching for months if you don’t want to!*

How to watch: Frasier is streaming on Peacock.

10. Bates Motel

Alfred Hitchcock invented the slasher genre with his delightfully gory masterpiece Psycho. For over 60 years, the film’s chilling surprise villain, Norman Bates, has been the blueprint for disturbing horror baddies. Bates Motel asks the questions about Norman’s backstory that went unanswered in Psycho. Why is a grown man dressing up as his mother and stabbing women in the shower? How did he get both so good and so bad at taxidermy? And would it be possible to clarify the depths of incest we’re talking about here? Freddie Highmore plays young Norman alongside Emmy-nominated Vera Farmiga as his (still alive) mother Norma — and all of those questions get their answers.* —Alexis Nedd, Senior Entertainment Reporter

How to watch: Bates Motel is streaming on Peacock.

11. Saved by the Bell

No one expected the Saved by the Bell reboot to be a self-aware commentary on diversity and socio-economic class disparity. But lo and behold, here we are! Tracy Wigfield’s new Saved by the Bell hits the ground running by re-introducing us to Zack Morris, now the current governor of California. Morris’s idiotic policies have bankrupted schools, forcing Bayside High, a nexus of privilege, to welcome students from underfunded neighborhoods. These new kids clash with the students and teachers of Bayside (included A.C. Slater and Jessie Spano as the football coach and counselor!) in unexpected and often enlightening ways. Honoring its predecessor without feeling like a retread, Saved by the Bell is a bright and clever comedy for the modern era.

How to watch: Saved by the Bell is streaming on Peacock.

12. Girls5Eva

Produced by 30 Rock legends Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, Girls5Eva is a loony and delightful series poised to usher NBC into its next phase of successful comedies. Sprinkled with ridiculous original songs, Girls5Eva tells the story of a group of 40-something women trying to get their former Spice Girls-style ‘90s girl group back together. Sarah Bareilles and Renée Elise Goldberry’s tremendous musical talent lends authenticity to the group’s backstory, while Busy Phillips and Paula Pell are downright hilarious, making the most of every punchline. In an era when many comedies are actually dramedies, it’s refreshing to watch a show so deeply committed to silliness. 

How to watch: Girls5Eva is streaming on Peacock.

13. Friday Night Lights

You do not have to be a football fan to fall in love with Friday Night Lights. This sports drama about a Texas high school football team and its esteemed coach has something for everyone: romance, teen angst, small-town squabbles, existential crises, discussions on race, gender, and class, and of course, really great football games.

Friday Night Lights launched many of today’s big–name actors. Kyle Chandler is Coach Taylor, the insightful and emotionally intelligent coach helping his boys grow both on the field and into adulthood. Connie Britton is his loving and independent wife. Scott Porter is the star QB whose life is upended by an injury, Minka Kelly, his loyal girlfriend, and Taylor Kitsch, his brooding best friend. Zach Gilford, Jesse Plemons, Adrianne Palicki, Michael B. Jordan, and Jurnee Smollett round out the sparkling cast, guaranteeing that you’ll fall in love with these characters and their stories whether or not you know what a two-point conversion is.

How to watch: Friday Night Lights is streaming on Peacock.

Asterisks (*) indicate the entry has been modified from a previous Mashable list.