11 Spanish Comedy Shows That Will Make You Laugh Out Loud
Turn your haha’s into jaja’s.
Laughing along with some good comedy and learning Spanish on the couch—it’s every Spanish student’s dream.
From drama to telenovelas, Spanish-language programming has a lot to offer.
But when you’re looking to immerse yourself by watching TV with a side of laughter, there’s only one clear choice: Spanish language comedy series.
Contents
- 11 Great Spanish-language Comedy Series
- Why Watch Spanish Comedy Series?
- How to Get the Most out of Watching Spanish Comedy Series
- And One More Thing…
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
11 Great Spanish-language Comedy Series
1. “El chavo del ocho”
English title: “The Lad of Eight”
Watch on: VecindadCH
What it’s about: Often simply referred to as “El chavo,” this classic Mexican sitcom from the 1970s is wildly popular throughout Latin America. It follows an orphan boy (played by a middle-aged man, of course) in a poor neighborhood and all his shenanigans.
What you’ll learn: You’ll learn plenty of informal language, childish patterns of speaking and slang. Additionally, there is much terminology and discussion related to poverty and the daily struggles of working families, as the featured kid and his family navigate life in a less wealthy neighborhood. You’ll also learn from how the characters turn the depressing subject matter into jokes.
2. “El chapulín colorado”
English title: “The Red Grasshopper”
Watch on: VecindadCH
What it’s about: From the man who brought you “El chavo del ocho” comes another classic Mexican sitcom from the 1970s. In this series, the title character is an often-fumbling superhero. What’s worse—the villains he’s fighting or the problems he inadvertently causes along the way?
What you’ll learn: You’ll learn your basic superhero terminology with a little Mexican culture thrown in.
If you prefer DVDs, you can buy volumes of the show’s episodes from Amazon.
3. “La familia P. Luche”
English title: “The Plush Family”
Watch on: Amazon Prime
What it’s about: This Mexican sitcom started in 2002. It features a dysfunctional family living in a city with a lot of plush fabric. No really. That’s the premise. It’s basically a live-action cartoon, with lots of over-the-top sights and sounds.
What you’ll learn: You’ll learn plenty of terms related to family drama and general everyday life. And, of course, you’ll never forget the word peluche (plush).
4. “La que se avecina”
English title: “What’s Yet to Come”
Watch on: Disney+
What it’s about: This Spanish series debuted in 2007. It follows the lives of the inhabitants of an apartment building outside of Madrid. It focuses largely on the housing bubble and its effects on young people.
What you’ll learn: It uses a lot of catchphrases, so they’ll be a useful tool to memorize and repeat. You’ll also witness satire of some stereotypical Spanish personality types which will help with your cultural education.
5. “Allí abajo”
English title: “Down There”
Watch on: Amazon Prime
What it’s about: This popular Spanish series debuted in 2015. It features a 30-year-old Basque man lives with his domineering mother. When they take a trip to Sevilla, his mother ends up in a coma and he finds himself stuck in the unfamiliar city. (It’s important to note that Basque Country is a region in northern Spain that has long harbored separatist leanings.)
What you’ll learn: The mother’s accident and ensuing hospitalization will help you learn some medical terminology. You’ll also learn about some of the differences between northern and southern Spain. And you’ll come to recognize the importance of walking very carefully on stairs.
6. “Los héroes del norte”
English title: “The Heroes of the North”
Watch on: DVD
What it’s about: This Mexican musical comedy that began in 2010 follows a small town country band on their road to success.
What you’ll learn: You can learn a lot of vocabulary through music, so you’ll benefit from that in addition to the fun dialogue.
7. “7 vidas”
English title: “7 Lives”
Watch on: Mitele
What it’s about: Running from 1999-2006, this Spanish sitcom follows a man who wakes up from an 18-year-long coma. Needless to say, much has changed. Inspired by “Friends,” it may feel familiar to American viewers.
What you’ll learn: Many scenes are set in a cafe, so you might learn some helpful restaurant/coffee shop terms. This show will also enrich your cultural understanding since it pokes fun at politics and current events.
8. “Aquí no hay quien viva”
English title: “No one could live here”
Watch on: Amazon Prime
What it’s about: If you live in an apartment building, you probably know of at least one neighbor who can be described as “quirky.” Well, imagine transplanting your apartment building into Spain and cranking the quirkiness up to eleven, and you have this show in a nutshell.
What you’ll learn: The funny dialogues aside (and there’s definitely plenty of those in this show), you’ll also get ample practice for everyday Spanish conversations.
9. “La peluquería”
English title: “The hairdressing salon”
Watch on: RTVE
What it’s about: Considering how hairdressing salons are fertile grounds for gossip, is it any wonder they’re the perfect place for hilarious hijinks? That’s exactly what you’ll get in this bite-sized comedy series that’s been on air since 2017.
What you’ll learn: Unlike many Spanish comedy shows, each episode of “La peluquería” runs between five to 10 minutes or so. Because of its relatively short length, it’s much easier to get that much-needed Spanish practice!
10. “Club de Cuervos”
English title: “Club of Crows”
Watch on: Netflix
What it’s about: A brother and sister fight for possession of a football (read: “soccer” for Americans) team after their father dies. Now, this would normally kickstart a drama or thriller plot—indeed, this show is considered a “dramedy.” But there are also moments where you can’t help but figuratively snort milk out of your nose at the sheer ridiculousness of some moments. The show ran for about four seasons.
What you’ll learn: If you know anything about “The Beautiful Game,” you know that it’s serious business in Latin America, which is evident in this show. You’ll pick up a ton of sports-related Spanish words, as well as family words, given the show’s central premise.
11. “Los Espookys”
English title: “The Espookys”
Watch on: HBO Max
What it’s about: When you think about comedies, you don’t normally think of “friends who make a business out of their love of horror.” But that’s exactly what this show is about! It’s a great one to watch, and you’ll get some good belly laughs at the end of it.
What you’ll learn: Aside from everyday phrases, you’ll also pick up words related to horror—which can come in handy for all those scary Spanish movies you plan to watch next! Also, some of the dialogue is in English, so this isn’t too intimidating to watch if you’re a beginner.
Why Watch Spanish Comedy Series?
- They’re fun to watch. Comedy series are funny by their very nature. And who doesn’t enjoy funny? No one, that’s who. But better yet, because they’re so fun to watch, it will be easy to watch them regularly and regular exposure to Spanish will improve your skills. So you’re simulating immersion and really, truly learning—talk about killing two birds with one stone!
- They’re diverse. If you don’t like one series, there are plenty more to check out. You’re sure to find something you like. And once you’re done with one, you can always just move on to the next. With plenty of old shows and new ones cropping up every year, the supply is limitless. The fun and learning never have to end.
- They teach you language. There’s plenty of vocabulary in any TV series. Best of all, a lot of it will be colloquial, meaning it’s the sort of everyday Spanish you just won’t learn from a textbook. Additionally, watching will help you get a feel for the sounds of the language. At first, understanding won’t come as naturally and you may find yourself translating in your head. But the more you watch, the more you’ll understand, and soon you won’t even need to translate. Bam! Fluency is at the tips of your fingers.
- They teach you culture. TV both reflects and influences culture, so watching popular TV shows will help get you in the loop. Understanding culture is important because it plays a role in any interaction. If you only know the language, you’ll still have trouble communicating with native speakers. Plus, familiarizing yourself with popular TV shows will give you an easy topic of conversation.
How to Get the Most out of Watching Spanish Comedy Series
- Find a series you like. Look and see which series sound good to you. Watch a few minutes of one series. If you like it, keep watching. If not, try a different show. Selecting your favorite is important since your enjoyment is what will motivate you to keep going.
- Watch often. Try to watch at least a little every day, even if you’re just re-watching your favorite scene. To be fluent, daily exposure is key. Otherwise, your language skills will regress a bit during your off days. And let’s face facts—who couldn’t use a good laugh each day?
- Repeat punchlines. If you’re watching a show where the crowd laughs uproariously, that’s your cue to rewind and watch again. Repeat what you hear. If you don’t know a word, you might want to jot it down and look it up. Keep repeating the line until you have it memorized. Now you’ll have no problem remembering the words and you’ll have a great joke in your back pocket!
- Reenact your favorite scenes with friends. It’s like learning a punchline, but on a larger scale. If you get some friends to join in you can reenact whole scenes, picking up valuable vocabulary and pronunciation practice in the process. (Slapstick antics optional).
- Watch actively. Watching comedy is great but it’s easy to forget to do some actual studying when the material’s so funny. To really get the most from your watching session, you should be engaging with the content as much as possible. This means pausing and replaying key moments, writing down unknown words and noting new-to-you grammar concepts.
If that sounds a bit intimidating, there are tools you can use to help you along. For instance, the FluentU program does the grunt work for you, equipping each Spanish video in its collection with interactive subtitles.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.
P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
So with plenty of great options, tune into these sidesplitting comedy series if you’re looking for an absurdly fun way to learn Spanish.
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
And One More Thing…
If you've made it this far that means you probably enjoy learning Spanish with engaging material and will then love FluentU.
Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the Spanish language and culture over time. You’ll learn Spanish as it’s actually spoken by real people.
FluentU has a wide variety of videos, as you can see here:
FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts. You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don’t know, you can add it to a vocab list.
Review a complete interactive transcript under the Dialogue tab, and find words and phrases listed under Vocab.
Learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU’s robust learning engine. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you’re on.
The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you’re learning, and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It'll even remind you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. Every learner has a truly personalized experience, even if they’re learning with the same video.
Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
