Is it just me, or have some of the funniest TV women ever been hamming it up on the small screen recently? Tina Fey might be gone, but there's definitely no lack of laugh-inducing ladies on the ol' boob tube. These amazing women play characters from all walks of life, from struggling waitresses to successful OB/GYNs. So if you haven't seen some of the funniest TV women on the shows listed below, you better put on your comfiest jammies and get ready for a big binge-watch:
1 Kaitlin Olson on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"
This actress is definitely one of the funniest TV women of all time, and she doesn't get enough credit for all the crazy crap that her character has to put up with on "It's Always Sunny." Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds always gets belittled for being a woman and resembling a bird; the gang is always stealing/destroying her cars; and she's always getting tricked—once she got fooled into thinking that she ate human meat. The gang even tried to force the poor woman to wash the dishes (this might not sound like much of a plot, but what transpired was hilarious). However, Dee is no angel. "The Aluminum Monster" got hooked on crack just to get welfare, and she convinced the whole gang, including her own brother, that one of them was the father of her unborn child. She's self-centered, jealous, rude, conniving, and shallow—and this is why she's one of the most awesome female characters on TV.
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2 Mindy Kaling on "the Mindy Project"
I was never that impressed with Mindy's character on "The Office," so I was shocked at how lovable and funny Kaling was when I saw the first few episodes of her new FOX show. I love how Mindy tries so hard to turn her life into a rom-com, but I love the epic failures that result from these efforts even more—remember when she tried to "Pretty Woman" a male prostitute? But don't feel too bad for Mindy—the girl keeps giving herself cute/funny love interests like Seth Rogen, Bill Hader, B. J. Novak, and "Workaholics" actor Anders Holm. She's also scored guest appearances by James Franco and "It's Always Sunny" star Glenn Howerton, and "Happy Endings" actor Adam Pally recently joined the show. I think Mindy is way more adorable than fellow FOX star Zooey Deschanel, and I love that she has a bit more of a wild side—she almost slept with a coworker just because she thought that he was a magic charm that would help her find the love of her life. And that love would be Danny, right?
3 Aubrey Plaza on "Parks and Recreation"
April Ludgate is the closest thing we'll ever get to modern Daria. She's got the same sardonic tone, and she always seems less than impressed with the sick sad world that is Pawnee. She has shown that there's a heart under that disinterested exterior, but she definitely has a twisted sense of humor. In a recent episode of "Parks & Rec," she pretended to be a vapid Valley girl-type to befriend her office doppelganger (this involved the nicknames "Slut" and "Skank"). She then told the clueless girl named Tynnyfer (ugh) that she should visit her Miami estate—and proceeded to give her the address of NBA player Dwayne Wade. Now that's how you get rid of a coworker who you can't stand.
4 Kristen Schaal on a Lot of Different Stuff
I'm absolutely obsessed with this actress's voice—my ears have never been more pleased to hear something so shrill and high-pitched. I also love everything that Kristen has done recently, whether she's voicing bunny-eared brat Louise on "Bob's Burgers" or getting serious as the Senior Women's Issues Correspondent on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." In one of her recent appearances on the show, she took on the world of sexy Halloween costumes. Some might say that they've gotten too sexy, but not Kristen—she actually tried to help the costume companies out by creating a giant vagina costume (you can't get sexier than that). She also guest-starred on the underrated show "Wilfred" as a slob who made a living doing food porn (and I'm not talking about posting pretty pictures of cupcakes on Pinterest).
5 Beth Behrs and Kat Dennings on "2 Broke Girls"
Like cupcakes and icing, these two are just better together. You might think that Kat's rough and tough character Max is the funnier of these two feisty femmes, but Beth Behrs definitely deserves a lot of credit for making a spoiled rich bitch like Caroline likable (sometimes I have to try really hard not to hate her because I'm so jealous of her magically shiny unicorn hair). It's also no small task to compete with Kat's scene-stealing cupcakes (and I'm not talking about her delicious desserts). Caroline has taken a vagina selfie to see if she got an STD from Candy Andy; she's hidden a horse behind her apartment; and she's stapled the butt crack of her favorite pants to make them last a little longer. I know what being that poor feels like, but I haven't gotten desperate enough to try to use Kickstarter to replace my comfiest jammies (yet).
6 Martha Plimpton on "Raising Hope"
To me, Virginia is definitely the funniest mom on TV. But maybe I just like her because she also finds creative ways to make being broke not seem so bad. She works as a maid, so one of her schemes involved borrowing a client's big, beautiful house for Thanksgiving. However, she did so without the family's knowledge, so obviously some of her ideas aren't perfect. She also has a problem when it comes to keeping secrets from her son—she failed to tell him that he was once a musical prodigy; she lied to him by telling him that he was allergic to fruit; and she never mentioned that he was adopted by another family before being adopted back by his biological parents. Luckily, she's done a great job helping her son raise the daughter whom he had with a serial killer.
7 Jillian Bell on "Workaholics"
"Workaholics" is definitely a "bro" show, but goofy, enthusiastic Jillian can hold her own whenever she interacts with the trio of slacker man-boys whom she considers her friends. The poor girl doesn't just get abused by her perpetually-angry boss Alice—she often finds herself in sticky situations because of her hard-partying pals. They once set her up on a date with a Juggalo, and she got stranded in the woods with a wasted, "rape-y" Blake after accompanying the guys on an epic quest to get breakfast burritos. She deserves a lot more respect for being such a tough, talented lady—she can toss a keg and sing a mean rendition of "She'll Be Coming 'Round That Mountain" at karaoke night. She's also threatened to beat a guy in front of his "ugly, funky butt children" and wants to "live in Jurassic Park time." Please just keep doing you, Jillian.
Now that we've covered the funniest women currently on TV, let's take a moment to remember those that we recently lost: RIP, every hilarious lady on "Happy Endings" and Krysten Ritter. You might have gotten evicted from apartment 23, but we'll never forget how you made us temporarily forget about that embarrassing James Van Der Beek crying meme by making him seem cool again. So are there any funny TV women that are missing from this list, and are there any other female stars on cancelled shows that you were sorry to see go?
