What do Liz Lemon’s tongue-roll-inducing sandwich addiction, Leslie Knope’s sunny binders, and Selina Meyer’s put-down-inducing tongue-bashings all have in common? They’re evidence that among TV’s all-time greatest belly laughs belonged to women. And though the industry has never been very nice to female stars of the sitcom variety, these women didn’t just survive they revolutionized the game of sitcom comedy.
From the early days of the trailblazing first women who brought physical comedy to an art form to the writer-director-actors who have given us today’s blockbusters, these women have given us characters whose legacies remain with us (and our hearts) long after the last curtains have been called. Tip of the hat here to the wisest of the wisecrackers those who can leave you laughing, literally, with a glance, a one-liner, or a full-blown breakdown.
Here is the complete list of the nine best funniest female sitcom actresses of all time, where the past mixes with the snarky humor of the queens of comedy today.
1. Tina Fey as Liz Lemon – 30 Rock
Thanks to her off-stage luxury as the first woman ever to hold the position of head writer on Saturday Night Live, Tina Fey was able to turn 30 Rock into television’s savviest show-bizcard. Portraying Liz Lemon, the ever-frustrated head writer of a live sketch comedy series, Fey gave a brilliant self-deprecating performance and made cringe-worthy dating fiascos and office antics laugh-out-loud gold.
The unlimited manic energy of the show so high a percentage of laughs and goofy A-list celebrity guest stars was balanced by Fey’s skill at turning Liz side-splittingly flawed but deep-down human. Her blending of sarcasm, vulnerability, and plain weirdness established the template for sitcom leads both the object of jokes and also the emotional core of the show.
2. Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope – Parks and Recreation
Leslie Knope was more than a funny sketch she was force. Amy Poehler gave her boundless energy, waffle love, and true believer faith in local government magic. What could have been a caricature of über-motivated Type-A, in Poehler’s sure hands, became to the same fully actualized lovable heroine.
Poehler’s devotion to Leslie’s neuroses her binders color-coded, her awkward compliments made her the jewel of a show full of stars. And as the show expanded, Leslie’s combination of idealism and comedic sensibility confirmed optimism was just as much of a comedic font as cynicism.
3. Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Fleabag – Fleabag
Within two years, Phoebe Waller-Bridge had written one of the wittiest 21st-century sitcom heroine jobs. Fleabag’s winking, body-blows-worth-of honesty fourth-wall-breaking confessions drew the viewer in to conspire.
Waller-Bridge’s own acting blurred the line between acid lines and naked emotion, danced on the borders of humiliation and sorrow before lust without ever losing comic bite. Never before had there been a sitcom that hung so closely to its actors and was so precarious, and her acting reminded us that a central character could be both morally complex, nonsensical, and still unapologetic.
4. Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues – Abbott Elementary
Quinta Brunson never stepped foot on Abbott Elementary’s set she achieved it, playing herself as Janine Teagues, a perpetually bubbly teacher in a perpetually under-resourced Philadelphia school. Her actual work with her own mother, a decades-long veteran teacher, inspired Brunson to write a character from the two women’s lives who’s so cute and so clueless.
Her sense of timing is like an acrobat’s in the mockumentary form of this series, where a quick look at the camera can say as much as a page of dialogue. And while Janine’s innocence puts her into cringe-worthy jams, Brunson never fails to keep us rooting for her.
5. Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards – The Mary Tyler Moore Show
When Mary Tyler Moore created the title character of Mary Richards in 1970, she was doing something anti-television. One working woman as the main character on a number one show something about as unheard of as a unicorn back then. Moore’s understated, low-key presence kept Mary down-to-earth without losing her autonomy.
Her timing, especially in the newsroom scenes, was flawless. Mary Richards set the standard for women to star-billed in office sitcoms and not be the joke, so that future generations of sitcom legends could follow in her footsteps.
6. Fran Drescher as Fran Fine – The Nanny
With Queens disposition, bouffant bouff, and supersized personality, Fran Drescher built the beloved Fran Fine. The Nanny setup a tacky, streetwise broad as nanny to a fat cat family was the perfect sandbox for Drescher’s physical shtick and staccato, quick-fire delivery.
In addition to the humor, Drescher added soul to Fran because Fran’s personality was religious and remained true to herself. Her always having a sense of humor brought her character to all individuals, and her legacy continues to ripple today on bold, trend-setting sitcom heroines.
7. Mindy Kaling as Mindy Lahiri – The Mindy Project
Mindy Kaling’s Mindy Lahiri was a rom-com heroine on sitcom ground, and the payoffs were laugh-out-loud spectacular. As actress/executive producer, Kaling provided a character who was bold, pop-culture-referenced, and egocentric in a wonderfully enjoyable manner.
Her skill at making Mindy likable despite her flaws and sometimes gratefully so kept the comedy fresh and consistent. And Kaling’s comfort with writing clever comebacks allowed the show to stand out in an age of quirky, character-driven sitcoms.
8. Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer – Veep
One of the hardest-talking comedians to ever stand in front of a television camera, Selina Meyer was done in a way that was unmatched by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The coarse, self-absorbed Vice President (and eventually President), she threw invective so evil it could cut a man to the quick.
Louis-Dreyfus’s acting was a lesson in tightly wound nuttiness Selina would flip immediately from feigned naivety to full-blown tantrum. Her six consecutive Emmy Awards for her performances as proof that she did political satire at her peak.
9. Lucille Ball as Lucy Ricardo – I Love Lucy
Lucille Ball didn’t just act on I Love Lucy she invented television comedy. Her mugging on the assembly line of the chocolate factory or grape-stomping comedy sketch is still unmatched decades on.
Ball’s Lucy Ricardo schemes were relentless, boundless, and always scheming to the dismay of her husband, time and time again. But Ball’s refusal to drop the act to mugging, slapstick, and scheming masterminded quick fixes pushed the standards higher for women sitcom characters.
From Lucille Ball’s pioneering slapstick to Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s breakneck modern comedy, these women have put sitcom leading ladies as hip as they are side-splittingly hilarious. They broke the mold, setting generations of comedians to work, and showed us that the biggest comedies are the best-lived. And in a shifting television landscape, their legacy isn’t being forgotten fortunately, neither is the laughter.
