| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1996 | Almost Live! | Various | Unknown episodes |
| 1998 | Bill Nye the Science Guy | Defendant | Episode: "Fluids" |
| 2000 | The Huntress | Quicky the Clown | Episode: "Springing Tiny" |
| The Fugitive | Curtis | Episode: "Far from Home" |
| Diagnosis: Murder | Richard | Episode: "By Reason of Insanity" |
| 2001; 2020 | Will & Grace | Ian | Episode: "Cheaters" |
| Phil | Episodes: "Filthy Phil, Part I" and "Filthy Phil, Part II" |
| 2004–2015 | The Soup | Himself (host) | 618 episodes; also writer and executive producer |
| 2005 | CSI: Miami | Greg Welch | Episode: "Urban Hellraisers" |
| 2007 | The IT Crowd | Roy | US pilot; never aired |
| Thank God You're Here | Himself | 1 episode |
| Pushing Daisies | Harold Hundin | Episode: "Bitches" |
| 2007; 2009 | Robot Chicken | Various Voices | 2 episodes |
| 2009–2015 | Community | Jeff Winger | Main cast: 110 episodes |
| 2011 | 26th Independent Spirit Awards | Himself (host) | Television special |
| Phineas and Ferb | Norm Head Prototype | Voice, episode: "Candace Disconnected" |
| 2012 | Sons of Anarchy | Warren | 2 episodes |
| 2013 | Conan | Conan O'Brien | Episode: "Occupy Conan: When Outsourcing Goes Too Far" |
| 2013–2015 | Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja | First Ninja | Voice, 5 episodes |
| 2013 | 2013 VGX Awards | Himself (host) | Television special |
| 2014 | Video Game High School | The President of the United States | Episode: "OMGWTFPS!?" |
| White House Correspondents' Dinner | Himself (host) | Television special |
| 2015 | Regular Show | DVD | Voice, episode: "Format Wars II" |
| 2015 ESPY Awards | Himself (host) | Television special |
| Comedy Bang! Bang! | Himself | Episode: "Joel McHale Wears a Navy Zip-up and High Tops" |
| BoJack Horseman | Alex | Voice, episode: "Yesterdayland" |
| 2016–2018 | The X-Files | Tad O'Malley | 4 episodes |
| 2016 | Dr. Ken | Ross | Episode: "Dave's Valentine" |
| Difficult People | Felix | Episode: "Hashtag Cats" |
| Lip Sync Battle | Himself | Episode: "Jim Rash vs. Joel McHale" |
| 2016–2017 | The Great Indoors | Jack Gordon | 22 episodes |
| 2017 | Dimension 404 | Dr. Matthew Maker | Episode: "Matchmaker" |
| Mystery Science Theater 3000 | Doug McClure | Episode: "At the Earth's Core" |
| Rick and Morty | Death Stalker Hemorrhage | Voice, episode: "Rickmancing the Stone" |
| 2017–2018 | Milo Murphy's Law | Victor Verliezer | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 2017, 2019 | Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television | Himself | 2 episodes |
| 2018 | The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale | Himself (host) | 19 episodes; also writer and executive producer |
| 2018–2019 | Santa Clarita Diet | Chris | 4 episodes |
| 2018 | Drunk History | George Corwin, Robert Ellis Cahill | Episode: "Halloween" |
| 2019 | Joel McHale: Live from Pyongyang | Himself | Comedy special |
| 2019–2022 | The Masked Singer | Himself | 10 episodes |
| 2019 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Himself (guest judge) | Episode: "Trump: The Rusical" |
| The Rookie | Brad Hayes | Episode: "The Shake Up" |
| 2019–2021 | Card Sharks | Himself (host) | 21 episodes; also executive producer |
| 2019 | Mr. Iglesias | Danny | Episode: "Oh Boy, Danny" |
| What Just Happened??! with Fred Savage | Himself | Episode: "Preetempted" |
| 2020 | Medical Police | Himself | Episode: "Deuce to Nines, Double Draw" |
| Black-ish | Himself | Episode: "You Don't Know Jack" |
| Dummy | Jason Levy | Episode: "Ideal Woman" |
