Top 5 lists are always tough to create, especially in a year like this when people have consumed so much content from home, and time has been hard to keep track of. Just to give that some perspective, the Tiger King phenomenon happened this year, and it might as well have been a decade ago. For that same reason, it has been a good year to find humor when you can, so this list will include mostly underrated, and mostly straight comedy series.
I’m playing fast and loose with the credentials here, but essentially these are shows which are still criminally under watched, and for the most part aren’t blended with a lot of drama, with just one notable exception to kick off the list. So, while Schitt’s Creek is fantastic, everyone that wants to see it already has, and though Teenage Bounty Hunters is very much underrated, it surprisingly has a lot more levels than a show with that title would seem to have. So, all that being said, here are 5 shows that you can turn to for a laugh, starting with that bit of an exception.
- Dave (Season 1) – FXX
Anyone who missed the first season of Dave on FXX might be a bit skeptical of a series created by and starring the satirical rapper known as Lil Dicky being capable of creating some profound and deeply emotional moments. That’s fine because, while it has that, the laughs are what we are interested in here. The show gives hilarious insight into what it was like for him to break into the industry, and a very talented ensemble cast supports him every crude but clever step of the way.
You would hope that a series built around the Lil Dicky persona would feature some great “freestyle” moments, which it delivers, but they also don’t lean on them too heavily. Episodes include plots centered around his first live performance being at a kid’s funeral, his sexual insecurities, and the difficulties of balancing being a person and a persona. Dave Burd genuinely seems to be working with friends on this show, and that level of authenticity coupled with his wit and creativity makes for a very enjoyable watch.
- Medical Police (Season 1) – Netflix
Fans of Children’s Hospital were happy to see the creators of that Adult Swim series bring Medical Police to Netflix, but anyone else that was lucky enough to find it likely did so by wonderful accident. If films like Robin Hood Men in Tights, Hot Shots, or the classic Airplane! are your brand of humor, then you will absolutely love this series. Erinn Hayes and Rob Huebel star as doctors that must stop a deadly terrorist plot, and it will take them around the globe, including places they never needed to go to.
This spoof comedy plays on the classic tropes of more serious action films, but its story is all its own, and the commitment and talent of the actors involved is unmatched in the way that they are able to deliver their absurd, but quotable, dialogue with stern commitment. This is the sort of humor that successfully builds upon running gags, and with each episode running just over 20 minutes, it packs a ton of laughs into a quick binge.
- Norseman (Season 1) – Netflix
Likely the least known of all of the series on my list, most people probably scrolled over Norseman, believing it to be something in the vain of Vikings or The Last Kingdom. Instead, it is a brilliant genre parody of those types of shows, often described as a blend of Monty Python and Game of Thrones.
That’s fitting, considering its affinity for shocking deaths amidst its consistent hilarity. Created by Jon Iver Helgaker and Jonas Togersen, the series known as Vikingane in Norway, completed its third and sadly final season this year with a prequel story that took place before the events of the previous two.
The comedy shifts between dark, dry, and dumb, which blend and work most of the time. It certainly is not politically correct, but it presents the Viking culture which was full of atrocities and hardships in an amazingly twisted and entertaining light. Norseman was never able to find the audience on Netflix that it enjoyed in Norway, but when people do eventually discover it, they’ll certainly wish there was more.
- Future Man (Season 3) – Hulu
The first season of Future Man back in 2017 immediately drew me in with a premise that ripped off The Last Starfighter, and then incorporated everything I loved about classic 80’s movies. While it took some off the wall detours from time to time, it finished strong with its third and final season in 2020. A production team that included Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, brought to life a comedy that was never afraid to take risks, and they really took some big ones.
The main cast of Josh Hutcherson, Eliza Coupe, and Derek Wilson got to develop their characters more in three years than most would be able to do with syndication, and each hard-left turn they took kept things fresh. The series is raunchy and violent, but it’s also damn clever, and the way it kept turning the story on its head each season was ingeniously funny, and why it remains my favorite Hulu original.
- What We Do in the Shadows (Season 1) – FX
Based on the 2014 movie of the same name written by Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement, the series on FX which finished its second season this year, successfully transferred the magic of that film to the small screen. The popular mockumentary format made famous by shows like The Office still works, especially when its used with something as unique as a house of vampires trying to exist in modern times.
While some of the jokes from the movie were recycled for a new audience, the storylines are new each week and the latest season has some fantastic offerings including the group attending a Super Bowl Party, Colin Robinson earning a promotion at work, and even an appearance from the Jedi Master himself Mark Hamill. A revelation about the loveable Guillermo may only be topped by the always amusing relationship that he has with Nandor. This is a show that has steadily been improving upon itself and should only continue to do so as it gains a larger following.
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