What makes a great comedy? Is it a film that makes you laugh until you can’t breathe, or one that combines humor with heart in a perfect mixture? That was the question posed to 253 film critics by BBC Culture, who has now unveiled the fruit of their labor: the 100 greatest comedies of all time. The critics who participated come from 52 countries and six continents, and the makeup of the group of 118 women and 135 men, all from reputable outlets across the globe. They were asked to create a list of the 10 best comedies of all time, and the results were then tabulated to result in this here combined list.

The result is a refreshingly diverse pack of films, ranging from serio-comedies to farces to incredibly silly larks. The most recent release that scored the highest ranking is, unsurprisingly, Anchorman at #33, while other recent films like Step Brothers, What We Do in the Shadows, Mean Girls, and Bridesmaids made the cut. Edgar Wright has two films on the list, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, while four Charlie Chaplin films appear: The Gold Rush, City Lights, The Great Dictator, and Modern Times.

The full list is a great mixture of different types of comedies, and that even extends to the Top 10, which ranges from The General to Airplane! to Life of Brian. While everyone is going to have their own issues with this list (Mine: Where’s Popstar and why isn’t Broadcast News higher?), as far as sweeping lists go, this one’s pretty agreeable.

Check out the Top 50 below and click here to see the full list at BBC.

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Image via Universal Pictures

50. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Pedro Almodóvar, 1988)

49. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Buñuel, 1972)

48. Trouble in Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch, 1932)

47. Animal House (John Landis, 1978)

46. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)

45. Big Deal on Madonna Street (Mario Monicelli, 1958)

44. Bridesmaids (Paul Feig, 2011)

43. M*A*S*H (Robert Altman, 1970)

42. The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey, 1937)

41. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Larry Charles, 2006)

40. The Producers (Mel Brooks, 1967)

39. A Night at the Opera (Sam Wood and Edmund Goulding, 1935)

38. The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940)

37. Sullivan’s Travels (Preston Sturges, 1941)

36. A Fish Called Wanda (Charles Crichton and John Cleese, 1988)

35. Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, 1952)

34. Clueless (Amy Heckerling, 1995)

33. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (Adam McKay, 2004)

32. Raising Arizona (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1987)

31. Tootsie (Sydney Pollack, 1982)

30. Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (Jacques Tati, 1953)

29. When Harry Met Sally... (Rob Reiner, 1989)

28. It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934)

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Image via Columbia Pictures

27. The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)

26. Mon Oncle (Jacques Tati, 1958)

25. The Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin, 1925)

24. Withnail and I (Bruce Robinson, 1987)

23. The Party (Blake Edwards, 1968)

22. Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks, 1974)

21. City Lights (Charlie Chaplin, 1931)

20. Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks, 1974)

19. The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges, 1941)

18. Sherlock Jr (Buster Keaton, 1924)

17. Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938)

16. The Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin, 1940)

15. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, 1975)

14. His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940)

13. To Be or Not To Be (Ernst Lubitsch, 1942)

12. Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin, 1936)

11. The Big Lebowski (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1998)

10. The General (Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton, 1926)

9. This Is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984)

8. Playtime (Jacques Tati, 1967)

7. Airplane! (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker, 1980)

6. Life of Brian (Terry Jones, 1979)

5. Duck Soup (Leo McCarey, 1933)

4. Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)

3. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)

2. Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)

1. Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)

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Image via United Artists