There have been sitcoms as long as there’s been fiction on TV. Back then, most of them were about families having typical troubles with some jokes, in front of a live audience. With time, the genre evolved, and the term sitcom started getting used for shows with one single camera (like they shot a movie) and no laugh track. There’s been all kinds of sitcoms: family sitcoms (Growing Pains or The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), workplace sitcoms (30 Rock or The Office), and apartment sitcoms (Friends or Seinfeld). Since the turn of the century, the genre has changed so much that, sometimes sitcoms can barely get boxed into one genre or style. What is Community? Exactly.

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Once in a while, a sitcom arrives that is so unique, so fully formed, and working with its own logic, that we all take notice. It might use some places and ideas from past sitcoms, but it gives them a different spin that makes them something new, something worth seeing. Here are four of them that will offer a unique twist to your next binge-watch:

Broad City (2014-2019)

     CBS Television Distribution

Officially, Broad City is the story about Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, their friendship, and how they try to “make it” in New York City. But, this sitcom is so much more. It’s a hilarious show about how friends can complement each other. It’s a non-apologetic show about how being weird is alright if you find your tribe. It’s a sweet show about how your soulmate can be a friend and not a romantic partner. It’s also a show about the less-glamorous New York, a Big Apple where you hustle your way, and scrap for everything.

The show started as a web series before they decided to sell it to a network. Amy Poehler became a producer once she met the duo, and, as she told Newsweek, “Abbi and Ilana were partners in all the best ways.” It shows. That pilot ended at Comedy Central, and the rest is history. It became one of their better shows. Unfortunately, a show acted, written, and directed by women is still a pretty unique thing. You’ll love Abby and Ilana, and their relationship; you’ll laugh at their misadventures, and you’ll marvel at some of their most inventive episodes (animation drug trips or an episode done entirely through Ilana’s Instagram stories)

Party Down (2009-2010)

     Starz

A bunch of actors work in a catering company to pay the bills until they make it big in Hollywood. That’s the idea behind Party Down. The unique thing about this TV show was the setting, as each episode was a different catering gig, giving their characters all kinds of situations, emotions, and people to bounce off of, and that made it great. You never knew what you were getting into as every story could be about anything. There aren’t many sitcoms that give you that sensation, as there are always some places and beats you’d expect (a Central Perk scene in Friends, a joke from the future for How I Met Your Mother).

Party Down was written by Rob Thomas, Dan Etheridge (the same people that made another awesome show called Veronica Mars), and Paul Rudd, who was going to be the protagonist until his film career was so successful that Adam Scott got his part. The show had an intelligent sense of humor, heart, and perfect knowledge of how its characters could interact in any space. All episodes left you with some incredible joke or idea, but special mentions go to the porn awards episode, and the episode where Steve Guttenberg plays himself, for being two of the most amazing. The show had a cult following that kept asking for new episodes, and finally, this year it was announced that they’re getting a revival.

Fleabag (2016-2019)

     BBC One

Fleabag was the show that presented Phoebe Waller-Bridge to the world. Only for that, it already should be a show we all binge. Fleabag is our protagonist, and she’s a mess. She lies, she steals, and she cheats. She even admits to being a bad feminist. But, even with all those shortcomings, Waller-Bridges gets you to empathize with her character. We want her to get her life together (or at least, a little less messy). That’s because she also makes us part of her journey, as she breaks the fourth wall constantly to look at us, share with us funny asides, or make perfectly-timed glances during awkward moments. It’s probably one of the first times that breaking the fourth wall works great in a sitcom, and it’s for sure the first time that it’s used as a dramatic beat when another character sees her do it.

The first season of the critically acclaimed show was based on her award-winning play. But, it’s the second season with the “hot priest” that takes Fleabag to the pantheon of British sitcoms. For some, it’s one of the best shows of all time, and we can’t argue with that.

Flight of the Conchords (2007-2009)

     HBO

Flight of the Conchords is the name of the show, and also the name of the two-man band of the main characters, Jemaine Clement and Brett McKenzie. They play heightened, fictionalized versions of themselves while trying to make it as a folk duo in New York, with the help of their manager Murray, and Mel, their only fan.

In every episode, they break into surreal, funny songs that can be important to the narrative; sometimes they’re even part of the dialogue. These songs show their strange state of mind and the way they see the world. The New Zealand humor is different from American humor, and it shows in every bit and interaction as Bret and Jemaine remain innocent and sweet in a city that can be everything but. What made Flight of the Conchords unique, was the mix of funny songs, laid-back humor, and their non-showy style, which made for some eclectic video clips in the show about robots, beautiful girls, and rapping without knowing how to do it properly.

The whole team that created the show has found great success since. Clement has become the actor you call when you need someone peculiar (What We Do in the Shadows, Legion), McKenzie won an Academy Award for his song “Man or Muppet” in The Muppets, and Taika Waititi (you might have heard of him) directed many of the episodes.