Grey’s Anatomy: The Funniest Characters, Ranked
The main premise of Grey’s Anatomy is fairly serious, as protagonist Meredith Grey takes viewers through her daily life working at a hospital. She makes new friends, has some love interests, and deals with her troubled relationship with her mother.
While Meredith performs terrifying surgeries and there is a lot of darkness and death on this show, Grey’s Anatomy also has a light-hearted tone, and that results in some hilarious quotes and scenes. While the doctors are tasked with saving lives, they find time to have fun, too, and some of the characters have great senses of humor.
Mark Sloan
Mark Sloan is one of the funniest characters in the popular medical drama, mostly because of his “McSteamy” nickname and how clueless he is about dating and relationships.
It was always entertaining seeing Mark on screen, and after falling in love with Lexie, he becomes a better person and loses some of his cockiness. He puts his heart on the line and realizes that he has something that he could lose. Watching everyone fall all over Mark is definitely meant to be humorous. While he’s not as great with sarcasm or one-liners as other characters, he’s still fun to watch.
Meredith Grey
Meredith isn’t known for having a sunny, cheerful personality or looking on the bright side, so she can’t be ranked higher. But she does have moments of humor on the show.
While she doesn’t try to crack jokes, a lot of things that she says end up being funnier than intended. For example, when she says, “Let’s play a game of whose life sucks the most. I’ll win. I always win,” viewers can’t help but smile.
Callie Torres
Callie is another doctor on Grey’s Anatomy who cares deeply about her work and helping people but can also have fun in the process.
Fans get to see a silly side of Callie when she hides the fact that she’s living in the hospital and dances when she thinks she’s totally alone. She’s the most hilarious when standing up for herself and how good of a doctor she is. In one scene, she tells Richard that she deserves a promotion, and it’s one of her best lines. She calls herself “A superstar with a scalpel” and when Richard says “Torres” she replies, “Don’t say my name. Do not. I am too big a star for you to say my name. I build arms out of nothing, and legs, like God. And when I win the Harper Avery and every other prize there is, you will rue this day, Chief Webber. That’s right. I said ‘rue.'”
April Kepner
April Kepner seems pretty nervous and high-strung when she first joins the other characters on Grey’s Anatomy. The others poke fun at her for not having as much dating experience as them and it doesn’t seem like she will ever fit in.
April finds her way, though, and becomes a fairly funny character. She’s not known for jokes, so she’s ranked fairly low, but she still deserves credit. She is funniest in a scene when she and Owen are teaching interns how to save people in a crisis and they have to work on fake dolls. She yells, “Grab a body, work on your patience, get to work. I want to see hustle.” Even Owen looks surprised that she’s getting so into this exercise.
Izzie Stevens
Izzie has some confusing moments on Grey’s Anatomy, like when she cuts Denny’s LVAD wire, but she’s also a funny character during her time on the show.
Izzie has a much less serious personality than her fellow interns and doctors, and while that might lead to some less-than-great storylines, she’s still a source of joy when she’s on the show.
Maggie Pierce
At first, Maggie Pierce doesn’t seem like she has time for jokes. She’s intelligent and passionate about her work, but then fans get to know her better and realize that she has great comic timing.
Maggie’s most hilarious lines are when she’s just being herself and not necessarily trying to make anyone laugh. When she says, “When I find a puzzle, it’s very hard for me to put it down,” it’s better than any on-purpose joke. It’s also great when she lets Cristina know she understands that Cristina’s not thrilled about her working at the hospital: “You think I look too young. I finished high school early, also med school. Pretty annoying, right?”
Alex Karev
Changing from a tough guy who doesn’t want to be close to anyone to one of the kindest people at the hospital, Alex Karev is also a funny character.
His go-to response is sarcasm and he can be grumpy, but that only makes him more hilarious. It’s charming watching Alex become uncomfortable in certain situations, as it takes him a long time to make good friends at the hospital and learn that he can handle other people’s emotions, especially Meredith’s. Alex also has some funny quotes in the midst of dark moments, like in season 6 when he tells Mark to eat more bacon and live more.
Arizona Robbins
Arizona Robbins loves her job working with kids and is always a sunny person to be around. She may have some quotes that tug on the heartstrings, but she was also a humorous character when she was still on the show.
Arizona was often funniest when she said something that came totally out of nowhere, usually about how excited she was to perform surgery, like when she commented, “It puts the fun in fundoplication.” She was always a joy to watch in her dating life as she would get nervous about new love interests, which was charming.
Miranda Bailey
Miranda Bailey is definitely the second funniest character on Grey’s Anatomy. From the moment that fans and the interns meet her, she’s tough and intimidating, and she makes it clear that she won’t suffer fools. She says, “Rule number one: Don’t bother sucking up. I already hate you, that’s not gonna change.” While she wants this to encourage the interns to try hard and learn, it comes off as hilarious, as she’s showing everyone her personality.
Bailey is also funny as she knows that everyone loves Mark and Derek, and she thinks that it’s silly to get so caught up in the handsome doctors. She’s constantly giving the interns and doctors advice and trying to mentor them, and her quotes are full of humor and strength.
Cristina Yang
Cristina Yang is the funniest character on Grey’s Anatomy and fans really miss her, from her hilarious quotes to her friendship with Meredith.
Whether Cristina is talking about her love life or giving advice, she’s tough but showcases her personality and sense of humor. She often says things that surprise other people, like when she comments, “I am laughing, just not externally,” or “We have been friends for a long time. Want to know how? By not watching each other poop.” Cristina’s sense of humor is so perfect because she shows how intelligent she is and that she isn’t going to let anyone stop her from achieving her dreams.