WITH THE HOLIDAYS AROUND THE CORNER (there were so many Xmas decorations out early we expected to be handing out candy canes to trick-or-treaters instead of Twix), let’s take a look at outstanding comedy recommendations from Netflix. Check out my favorites below and feel free to share your own!
Best Witty Comedy
Call My Agent: This is such a hands-down favorite.
Welcome to ASK, a boutique agency, where its perfectly cast agents work
tirelessly for big-name French movie actors and actresses, no matter how
outrageous the demand. This is on top of juggling the drama of their personal
lives and some cutthroat office politics that would make Cersei Lannister
proud. Camille (Fanny Sidney) journeys to the big city and scores a job at ASK
helping the notorious Andréa Martel (played with wicked charm by Camille
Cottin), but really her plan is to meet her father, legendary cinema agent
Mathias (Thibault de Montalembert), who had an affair with her mother. She soon
learns he may be the real office monster who will stop at nothing in his climb
to the top and must make a choice about her own career aspirations.
Camille may be the anchoring story, but Call My Agent
comes to life with a cast of truly memorable and witty characters, all of whom get
their time in the limelight. Andréa is a badass, and assistants Noémie (Laure
Calamy) and Hervé (Nicolas Maury) are the most adorable scene-stealers. There’s
a ton of fun cameos from well-known actors such as Sigourney Weaver, and we
learn that even the silliest grievance can spin out of control quickly. We get
4 seasons of nonstop entertainment that wraps up the loose ends satisfactorily,
and there’s even a Bollywood version now available.
Sex Education: So your mum’s a sex therapist and
everyone at school comes to you with their bedroom problems. Meet Otis (Asa
Butterfield), who lives in an amazingly cool mansion overlooking a valley and
attends Moordale Secondary School, where everyone from the students to the
staff are in over their heads with relationship angst. They deal with it,
naturally, by getting a goat as a pet or having epic meltdowns. Otis and school
bad girl Maeve (Emma Mackey) see an
opportunity and start a clandestine clinic giving out advice. Sex Education
is not shy about tackling an entire spectrum of issues and has no shortage of
colorful characters. Otis’s best mate Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) is particularly
endearing, and you can’t ask for much better than Gillian Anderson to portray
Otis’s archly mother. The show starts getting a little tired after three
seasons, but the great thing about British comedy is they know when a series
has run its course, so we’ll see what new direction season 4 goes.
Best Heartwarming Comedy
Never Have I Ever: Just before you say you’ve seen
every trope of high school girl caught in a love triangle, check out this fun,
heart-warming romp through the San Fernando Valley. Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan)
enters her sophomore year after the traumatic loss of her father. The trauma
resulted in the loss of the use of her legs for a couple months, and naturally,
this is what everyone at school is talking about. (“Whoa, is this comedy?” you
ask— “Yes, stay with me.”) Determined to change her social status, Devi embarks
with the help of her loveable friends to embrace change in her life by
completing a series of “never-have-I-evers”, beginning with losing her
virginity to the hunky, minimally-verbal Paxton (Darren Barnet). She also
negotiates a new relationship with her strict traditionalist mother (Poorna
Jagannathan), who she was never super close to. Devi is lively, makes mistakes,
and feels like a true teen, and the show clips along at a snappy pace that
always leaves you ready for more. There’s a lot of heart and feeling (dare you
to watch the last episode of season 1 and not cry!), and it feels fresh with
something new to offer.
Best Satire
The Chair: Dr. Ji Yoon Kim (Sandra Oh) gets the English
Department Chair job of her dreams after fighting tooth and nail both as a
woman and as a person of colour. It’s a quick celebration, as she is quickly
beset by the demanding expectations of students, colleagues, and the school
alike, such as being told to fire the three oldest professors who are failing
to enroll students in their classes. The colleague she has longstanding
feelings for, Bill Dobson (Jay Duplass), gets embroiled in a viral scandal
after he pulls a mock “Heil, Hitler” in class, and oh, her adopted daughter
(Everly Carganilla) is either a budding psychopath or quite normal for her age.
It’s enough to tear anyone apart, and the show lands solid hits in its deft
critique of the higher education system. The dry humor of veteran professor
Joan Hambling (Holland Taylor) trying to get an office out of the basement is
particularly hysterical.
Best Fun-&-Silliness-Taken-Seriously
Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid (1984) was a
classic, and when I first heard about this sequel series set to follow Johnny Lawrence
(William Zabka), Danny’s original nemesis, I questioned if he was strong enough
to carry it. However, the show’s creators smartly juxtapose blue-collar,
down-on-his-luck Johnny as struggling to navigate high-tech, social-media-obsessed
society. However, some things never change, like high school kids’ enthusiasm
for epic martial arts battles. I absolutely love Johnny’s relationship with his
neighbor kid Miguel (Xolo Maridueña), who he reluctantly takes under his wing
to teach his own “middle way” karate creed. Even better, plenty of the old cast
from The Karate Kid movies are back, notably Danny LaRusso (Ralph
Macchio) who has gone on to own a successful car dealership, and he takes issue
with Johnny opening his own dojo. The only thing missing is Mr. Miyagi (Pat
Morita), who sadly passed in 2005. He’s still the show’s moral anchor, but
things aren’t black and white, and both Johnny and Danny realize how difficult
it is to be sensei with a whole new generation looking up to them.
I haven’t even gotten to the amazing cast of kids who become
part of Johnny or Danny’s dojos respectively, but the comedic martial arts
battles are just as intense as they ever were. The show has fun and laughs at
itself, dropping sly digs at the guys’ All-Valley Tournament feud through
Danny’s down-to-earth wife, and it turns out to be the best decision to hand
the story over to the anti-hero’s perspective.
Outer Banks: The first season of this show is a lot
of fun. The outer banks of North Carolina are starkly divided between the
wealthy Kooks and impoverished Pogues. Best buds John B (Chase Stokes), JJ
(Rudy Pankow), Kiara (Madison Bailey), and Pope (Jonathan Daviss) spend their
days living it up on the surf and hunting for the lost treasure of the Merchant
ship, which has ties to the disappearance of John B’s father. Their search
entangles them with the Camerons, local
rich family who is also after the treasure, and plenty of shenanigans commence.
It’s kind of like a geocaching beach party adventure, and John B’s crew is a
loveable bunch who are easy to root for. The plot gets a bit tired in Season 2,
but Season 1 is absolutely recommended.
Best Dark Humor
You: You’d think a show from the point of view of the
obsessive stalker would be icky, but somehow Penn Badgley (Gossip Girl)
has pulled it off. Joe Goldberg grew up an orphan learning how to restore old
books under the tender tutelage of the foster care system (his last guardian
had a vacuum sealed cage in his basement), but his rough upbringing hasn’t
dissuaded him from searching for “The One.” Seemingly mild and charming, Joe
demonstrates his love by infiltrating the life of the object of his affection—in
this case, Beck (Elizabeth Lail), an NYU graduate student trying to be a
writer. Joe woos her with dirt he digs up from her social media, all while
entertaining the audience with his critique of how much of ourselves we put
online. Heaven forbid anyone get in his way, or Joe, knowing what is best for
Beck, will take matters into his own hands. It gets bloody, messy, and thanks
to Joe’s inner monologues—utterly hilarious. Each season has a different
setting (NY, LA, a Californian suburb), giving Joe plenty to criticize and new
frenemies to play cat-and-mouse with. Will he ever find peace with “The One”? Probably
not, but it’s entertaining watching him try!
Best Originality
Sense 8: For those who like a show that defies genre,
check this one out. Eight people around the globe become mentally and
emotionally linked when their “birth mother” kills herself to escape a
mysterious man known as Whispers. This connection gives them incredible
abilities—not only are they telepathic, but they can essentially “download”
their consciousness and abilities into each other’s bodies to make them one
super human—a Sensate cluster. How well they work together will determine their
survival due to the mysterious organization that is after them, and even more
awesomely, there are other Sensate clusters with unique makeups as well (think
ability of fighter pilot, actor, police officer, hacker all rolled into one
person). The show is definitely slow moving and takes its time exploring our
different Sensates and their stories, since they all keep their freewill.
There’s lots of laughs, tears, and a deep dive into what it is to be human, and
it creates a most beautiful story.
