From a surreal show about a broken chair to a charming rom-com about film buff friends with unspoken feelings, these are the funniest comedy series to stream now.
The Chair Company
“It is quite something to build an entire comedy series around a broken office chair,” said Carol Midgley in The Times. But that’s exactly what kicks off Tim Robinson’s “utterly original” eight-part comedy series. The star of “I Think You Should Leave” plays Ron: an Ohio corporate manager with an “extremely short fuse”, who is “furious” when the office chair he is sitting on collapses, ruining his speech. He becomes hell-bent on “tracking down the company” who made it to call out their “shoddy workmanship”. The premise might sound “dementedly thin” but, if anyone is able to transform a “middlingly embarrassing office occurrence into a crazed theatre of the absurd, it is Tim Robinson”.
Sky
Film Club
This “deeply intelligent comedy about two film buff friends with unspoken feelings” is “impeccably cast”, said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. The show follows Evie (Aimee Lou Wood) and Noa (Nabhaan Rizwan) who have been best mates since university, and continue to hold their weekly film club every Friday night. Now, though, it’s held in Evie’s mum’s garage, and is “usually just the two of them”. The garage has become something of a “cocoon” and “refuge” for Evie, who “hasn’t been able to leave the house since her ‘wobble’” a few months before. But when Noa is offered a job in Bristol, it becomes harder to ignore how they really feel. “Film Club” is “quietly confident TV that brims with insight”. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable watch.
BBC iPlayer
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Paper
This mockumentary about an Ohio newspaper is a “charming” spin-off of the US version of “The Office” that “deserves to be just as big a hit”, said Caryn James on BBC Culture. With the same “droll humour” and a “similar ensemble of characters”, it is nonetheless “distinctly itself”, reflecting how times have changed in the two decades since the US version of “The Office” was adapted from the British original. Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleeson) is the “earnest” new editor at the “pointedly” named Tolledo Truthteller. Less “acerbic” than both David Brent and Michael Scott, he gives the show a “warmer” feel and helps make it “just the kind of soothing escapism today’s fraught times might call for”.
Sky
Funboys
“Fans of quirky, off-the-wall comedy” are in for a real treat with “Funboys”, said Vicky Jessop in London’s The Standard. This “heartwarming” show about a group of young men living in a “tiny” Northern Irish town is “well worth a few hours of your time”. A “worthy successor” to “Our Country”, the show’s success hinges on the excellent “chemistry” between the main characters. “Beautifully bizarre, quirky and desperately bingeable”, it’s one to add to your watchlist. “Four episodes isn’t enough: more please.” BBC iPlayer
Platonic
Season one of “Platonic” made for a “slyly surprising” show that was “all the better for refusing to follow the predictable rules of engagement”, said Rebecca Nicholson in the Financial Times. The action followed Sylvia (Rose Byrne) and Will (Seth Rogan), two estranged friends who reconnected in their early 40s after an earlier falling out. Somewhat refreshingly, viewers expecting a “will they/won’t they dynamic” instead discover a thoughtful exploration of male/female friendship. In the second season, Will is preparing to wed Jenna (Rachel Rosenbloom), Sylvia is planning his engagement party and the old friends “get involved in a series of low-stakes capers”. This is “silly, self-aware slapstick” at its best, held together by the “charm of its two leads”. Don’t be fooled by its “laid-back” feel, though; the twist at the end of the second episode reminds us of the show’s “darker side”, sets up “Platonic” as “one of the better comedies of the year”.
Apple TV
Such Brave Girls
Kat Sadler’s Bafta-winning series about a dysfunctional family is back for more. The show’s appeal lies in watching the mother-daughter trio “plumb the lowest emotional depths” and make some “frankly woeful decisions”, said Katie Rosseinsky in The Independent. From mental illness to parental estrangement, “nothing is off limits here, and it’s all attacked with an almost feral comic energy”. Watching the siblings – played by Sadler and her real-life sister Lizzie Davidson – spur each other on to make dreadful life choices is an “unhinged delight”. Darkly humorous and “refreshingly realistic”, it’s “truly brave TV”.
BBC iPlayer
The Studio
This “witty, knowing and cameo-jammed” satire follows “hapless” Hollywood exec Matt (Seth Rogen) as he struggles to produce a “billion-dollar blockbuster while not pissing off ‘the talent’”, said Nick De Semlyen in Empire. A “fizzy, acidic” spoof of the “inherent daftness of the movie business”, it's a “triumphantly funny” series that feels like it could easily “run and run”. At the point Martin Scorsese is “sobbing in the arms of Charlize Theron”, “The Studio” will likely have you hooked.
Apple TV
Hacks
When this scooped its “thoroughly deserved” Emmy for best comedy last year, I “cheered”, said David Mack in Slate. The “hilarious” show follows the lives of two women, at very different stages of their comedy careers, who form an unlikely friendship. Now in its fourth season, “Hacks” is a “masterclass in meta-exploration”, thoughtfully examining the “very same questions as its characters”: “what do you do when you’re on top?” The latest batch of episodes is a “riot”, cementing its status as one of the “funniest shows” on TV.
Amazon Prime
Amandaland
“Spin-offs are always a risk,” said Chitra Ramaswamy in The Guardian, but “Amandaland” was a “sure bet”, with the “best character” in the BBC winner “Motherland” providing ample opportunity for exposing “the worst excesses, blind spots and hypocrisies of the posh, white, west London middle classes”. Following her divorce, Amanda has upped sticks from Chiswick to the far less chi-chi south Harlesden. Gone are the old gang of Julia, Liz and Kevin, but Anne is back as the put-upon best friend. Amanda’s mother is played by Joanna Lumley “with Ab Fab levels of relish” and with gags covering the likes of “Gloria Hunniford, the Just Seventeen problem page and Sinn Féin”, this is a very British comedy.
BBC iPlayer
Man on the Inside
Michael Schur's latest comedy about a retired professor (Ted Danson) who goes undercover in a retirement home to catch a jewel thief is “funny”, “sweet” and “heartwarming”, said Ferdosa Abdi on ScreenRant. The show doesn’t shy away from tackling the “anxiety and fear of growing old” – but it does so with plenty of “fun”. Danson has “perfect comic pitch” and brings just enough sadness to his portrayal of Charles to turn the “retiree-turned-amateur shamus” into a believable character, said Benji Wilson in The Telegraph. “Mawkishness and nostalgia are rarely breeding grounds for hilarity” but Schur (one of the creators of “Parks and Recreation”) has pulled it off, delivering a “winning amalgam of sharp lines and heart” that balances “trenchant commentary on ageing” with a “regular drumbeat of good gags and daft set-ups”.
Netflix
Sign up to the Arts & Life newsletter for reviews and recommendations.
-
Rothermere’s Telegraph takeover: ‘a right-leaning media powerhouse’Talking Point Deal gives Daily Mail and General Trust more than 50% of circulation in the UK newspaper market
-
The US-Saudi relationship: too big to fail?Talking Point With the Saudis investing $1 trillion into the US, and Trump granting them ‘major non-Nato ally’ status, for now the two countries need each other
-
Sudoku medium: November 30, 2025The daily medium sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
The 8 best dark comedies of the 21st centuryThe Week Recommends From Santa Claus to suicide terrorism, these movies skewered big, taboo subjects
-
8 of the best horror comedy films of all timeThe Week Recommends From parodies to ‘requels,’ these movies will make you laugh and scream at the same time
-
Leonard and Hungry Paul: ‘beautiful, heartfelt’ televisionThe Week Recommends Julia Roberts narrates this ‘charming’ and ‘unexpectedly profound’ adaptation of Rónán Hession’s novel
-
I Swear: a ‘warm-hearted’ comedy-dramaThe Week Recommends While ‘inescapably hilarious’, the drama also lifts the lid on John Davidson’s experiences with Tourette syndrome
-
Is The Inbetweeners reboot a good idea?Talking Point The cult classic sitcom is set to return over a decade after its final episode – but not everyone is happy
-
Saudi comedy fest exposes free speech schism in stand-upIN THE SPOTLIGHT The decision by some of stand-up’s biggest names to attend a festival in a nation infamous for its censorship has the comedy world picking sides and settling old scores
-
Sing songs with Sandler, gawk at Gaffigan: These are the comedians to catch on tour this fallthe week recommends Laugh to keep yourself from crying
-
Alan Davies: Think Ahead – 'gifted' comedian's first stand-up show in a decadeThe Week Recommends The QI panellist 'rawly' discusses childhood abuse in this 'compelling' show
