We all need a laugh sometimes. There’s a reason why sitcoms are always in syndication and topping streaming metrics — everyone loves to kick back, have some giggles and hang out with their favourite comedic actors for a while.
Playwright Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s exceptional half-hour series Fleabag is a raw, honest, and often uproarious portrait of a young single woman’s life in London that somehow manages to avoid all of the genre’s tropes and pitfalls. Waller-Bridge stars at the title character, narrating her life and giving knowing glances to the camera, using it to make us confidants and partners in crime, as well as to admonish our assumptions, or to confirm how absurd it it a situation is. And while the likeable and relatable Fleabag likes pointing out other’s faults, she’s not always easy on herself, either. Struggling through modern dating (where there’s plenty of humour to be found), she’s also haunted, increasingly over the first season’s 6 episodes, by the recent and unexpected death of her best friend. It’s a dark river coursing through the season that, as in real life, floods over in unexpected moments.
Amazon Prime India’s Mind the Malhotras is a fine addition to the array of sitcoms that have entertained us over decades. Ye Jo Hai Zindagi, Shrimaan Shrimati, Tu Tu Main Main, Sarabhai vs Sarabhai became popular among the masses because they featured relatable characters and highlighted struggles faced by the common man of the time they were set in. The Mini Mathur and Cyrus Sahukar starrer, produced by Dia Mirza and Sahil Sangha have a similar flavour. The 9-episode series, an adaptation of the Israeli series La Famiglia is a delightful watch for stressed minds as well as a commentary on modern relationships and families struggling to find perfection in their super-complicated lives.
Current events have conspired to make HBO’s show about the inner workings of the White House more of a sobering documentary than a half-hour comedy, but that doesn’t mean the jokes are any less funny. As a matter of fact, we tend to think Veep‘s Jokes Per Minute ratio is pretty impressive.
Veep is a truly funny show and is somehow getting even better as seasons go along. Julia Louis Dreyfuss rightfully picks up every comedy acting award in existence but the rest of the ensemble is equally impressive. It takes a lot of wits and works to execute Sorkin-ian fast-paced dialogue including dick jokes and the folks at Veep make it sound like Shakespeare.
Transparent is one of TV best comedies full stop. It’s also secretly one of the best “punned” titles on TV. Not only is Transparent about a parent, in this case, Maura Pfefferman (Jeffrey Tambor), coming out as a trans woman but also a family itself struggling to be more transparent with one another.
Tambor is another worthy awards target as his performance flashy, respectful and authentic. That doesn’t distract from the rest of the show, however. Transparent is an authentic, emotional experience that still doesn’t skimp on laughter. By any metric, it’s one of Amazon’s best original comedy shows.
If you let most comedies run long enough, they’ll eventually resemble self-parody. In its later years, Entourage became one of those shows. Late year Entourage episodes follow the same general model: impossibly inconsequential Hollywood problem pops up, it’s handled by high-powered agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) or manager “E” (Kevin Connolly) and movie star Vince (Adrian Grenier) bangs a model to celebrate.
The thing is though: that same formula in earlier seasons is awesome. Entourage for much of its running time with the rarest of breeds: a comedy that remained funny and exciting despite little to no meaningful conflict.
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