The GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comedy Series is an annual award that honors comedy series for excellence in the depiction of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) characters and themes. It is one of several categories of the annual GLAAD Media Awards, which are presented by GLAAD—an American non-governmental media monitoring organization founded in 1985, formerly called the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation—at ceremonies in New York City; Los Angeles; and San Francisco between March and June.
The award is one of the few to have been present at every ceremony since the 1st GLAAD Media Awards in 1990, where the CBS series Doctor Doctor won. For the 7th GLAAD Media Awards in 1996, the category was merged with Outstanding Drama Series to create Outstanding Television Series, but this was reverted the following year. Throughout the award's history, there have only been two instances where a tie occurred: in 1995 where NBC's Friends and ABC's Roseanne won, and again in 2011 with Fox's Glee and ABC's Modern Family winning. Animated series, such as Steven Universe and Harley Quinn, have also been nominated.
For a comedy series to be eligible, it must include at least one LGBT character in a leading, supporting, or recurring capacity. The award may be accepted by the show's producers, writers, and/or actors. Comedy series selected by GLAAD are evaluated based on four criteria: "Fair, Accurate, and Inclusive Representations" of the LGBT community, "Boldness and Originality" of the project, significant "Impact" on mainstream culture, and "Overall Quality" of the project. GLAAD monitors mainstream media to identify which comedy series will be nominated, while also issuing a Call for Entries that encourages media outlets to submit programs for consideration. Comedic programs created by and for an LGBT audience must be submitted in order to be considered for nomination, as GLAAD does not monitor such works for defamation. Winners are determined by a plurality vote by GLAAD staff and board, Shareholders Circle members, as well as volunteers and affiliated individuals.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 22 comedy series. With seven wins out of nine nominations, five of which were consecutive, Will & Grace has received the award more than any other program. Both Roseanne and Transparent have won the award three times, while Doctor Doctor, Glee, Modern Family, Schitt's Creek, and Ugly Betty have won twice. With four nominations, Superstore is most nominated series without a win. The most recent recipient is HBO Max's Hacks, which was honored at the 36th GLAAD Media Awards in 2025.
Winners and nominees + Table key Indicates the winner
1990s + Award year Series Network 1990(1st) Doctor Doctor | style="background:#99ff99;" | CBS|rowspan="2" align="center"| |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1991() | style="background:#99ff99;" | Doctor Doctor | style="background:#99ff99;" | CBS|- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1992(3rd) | style="background:#99ff99;" | Roseanne | style="background:#99ff99;" | ABC|align="center"| |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1993(4th) | style="background:#99ff99;" | Roseanne | style="background:#99ff99;" | ABC|align="center"| |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1994(5th) | style="background:#99ff99;" | Seinfeld | style="background:#99ff99;" | NBC|align="center"| |- ! rowspan="2" scope="rowgroup" style="text-align:center" | 1995(6th) | style="background:#99ff99;" | Friends | style="background:#99ff99;" | NBC|rowspan="2" align="center"| |- | style="background:#99ff99;" | Roseanne ABC 1996(7th) NYPD Blue ABC Courthouse CBS Friends NBC Party of Five Fox Sisters NBC 1997(8th) Spin City ABC Ellen ABC Friends NBC HBO Mad About You NBC 1998(9th) Ellen ABC Mad About You NBC Spin City ABC Suddenly Susan NBC 1999(10th) Will & Grace NBC ABC Ellen Spin City Suddenly Susan NBC
2000s + Award year Series Network 2000(11th) Will & Grace NBC Action Fox Los Beltrán Telemundo Oh, Grow Up ABC Sex and the City HBO 2001(12th) Will & Grace NBC Beggars and Choosers Showtime Los Beltrán Telemundo Popular The WB 2002(13th) Will & Grace NBC CBS Sex and the City HBO Some of My Best Friends CBS 2003(14th) Will & Grace NBC Sex and the City HBO 2004(15th) Sex and the City HBO It's All Relative ABC Oliver Beene Fox Reno 911! Comedy Central Will & Grace NBC 2005(16th) Will & Grace NBC 2006(17th) Will & Grace NBC Out of Practice CBS Shameless BBC America 2007(18th) Ugly Betty ABC Desperate Housewives ABC NBC So Notorious VH1 2008(19th) Ugly Betty ABC Desperate Housewives ABC Exes and Ohs Logo Comedy Central Fox 2009(20th) Desperate Housewives ABC Greek ABC Family Reaper The CW Skins BBC America Ugly Betty ABC
2010s + Award year Series Network 2010(21st) Glee Fox Beautiful People BBC America Greek ABC Family Modern Family ABC United States of Tara Showtime 2011(22nd) Glee Fox Modern Family ABC Greek ABC Family Nurse JackieShowtime United States of Tara 2012(23rd) Modern Family ABC Showtime Exes and Ohs Logo Glee Fox Happy Endings ABC 2013(24th) NBC Glee Fox Go On NBC Happy EndingsABC Modern Family 2014(25th) Orange Is the New Black Netflix Brooklyn Nine-Nine Fox Glee Modern Family ABC Please Like Me Pivot 2015(26th) Transparent Amazon Brooklyn Nine-Nine Fox Faking It MTV Glee Fox Looking HBO Modern Family ABC Orange Is the New Black Netflix Please Like Me Pivot Sirens USA Vicious PBS 2016(27th) Transparent Amazon Brooklyn Nine-Nine Fox Faking It MTV Grace and Frankie Netflix Looking HBO Modern Family ABC Master of None Netflix Orange Is the New Black Please Like Me Pivot Vicious PBS 2017(28th) Transparent Amazon Brooklyn Nine-Nine Fox Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Grace and Frankie Netflix Modern Family ABC One Mississippi Amazon ABC Steven Universe Cartoon Network Survivor's Remorse Starz Take My Wife Seeso 2018(29th) Brooklyn Nine-Nine Fox Freeform Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Modern Family ABC One Day at a Time Netflix One Mississippi Amazon Superstore NBC Survivor's Remorse Starz Transparent Amazon Will & Grace NBC 2019(30th) Vida Starz Brooklyn Nine-Nine NBC Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Dear White People Netflix Modern Family ABC One Day at a Time Netflix Schitt's Creek Pop TV Superstore NBC This Close Sundance TV Will & Grace NBC
2020s + Award year Series Network 2020(31st) Schitt's Creek Pop TV Brooklyn Nine-Nine NBC Dear White People Netflix Dickinson Apple TV+ One Day at a Time Netflix Comedy Central Sex Education Netflix Superstore NBC Vida Starz Work in Progress Showtime 2021(32nd) Schitt's Creek Pop TV Big Mouth Netflix Dead to Me Everything's Gonna Be Okay Freeform Harley Quinn HBO Max Love, Victor Hulu Saved by the Bell Peacock Sex Education Netflix Superstore NBC Twenties BET 2022(33rd) Saved by the Bell Peacock Dickinson Apple TV+ Gentefied Netflix Love, Victor Hulu HBO Max Sex Education Netflix Shrill Hulu Special Netflix Twenties BET Work in Progress Showtime 2023(34th) What We Do in the Shadows FX Abbott Elementary ABC Derry Girls Netflix Hacks HBO Max Harley Quinn Love, Victor Hulu Never Have I Ever Netflix Only Murders in the Building Hulu HBO Max Sort Of 2024(35th) Ted Lasso Apple TV+ And Just Like That... Max Good Omens Amazon Prime Video Harlem Harley Quinn Max Our Flag Means Death Sex Education Netflix Somebody Somewhere HBO What We Do in the Shadows FX With Love Amazon Prime Video 2025(36th) Hacks Max Abbott Elementary ABC Ghosts CBS Loot Apple TV+ Max Shrinking Apple TV+Somebody Somewhere HBO Sort Of Max We Are Lady Parts Peacock What We Do in the Shadows FX
Multiple wins and nominations Programs
The following programs received two or more Outstanding Comedy Series awards:
Wins Program 7 Will & Grace 3 Roseanne Transparent 2 Doctor Doctor Glee Modern Family Schitt's Creek Ugly Betty
The following programs received four or more Outstanding Comedy Series nominations:
Nominations Program 10 Modern Family Will & Grace 7 Brooklyn Nine-Nine 6 Glee 4 Sex and the City Superstore
Networks
The following networks received two or more Outstanding Comedy Series awards:
Wins Network 11 ABC 10 NBC 3 Amazon Fox 2 CBS Pop TV
The following networks received four or more Outstanding Comedy Series nominations:
Nominations Network 34 ABC 28 NBC 19 Netflix 14 Fox 9 Amazon / Prime Video HBO HBO Max/Max 7 CBS 6 Showtime 5 Hulu ABC Family / Freeform Apple TV+ 4 Starz
Notes
References
External links GLAAD Media Awards