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Netflix’s conflict-heavy anthology series Beef, from creator Lee Sung Jin, just concluded its second season, which saw wealthy country club managers Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan go head-to-head with the help, played by Cailee Spaeny and Charles Melton. That followed up a first season involving Steven Yeun and Ali Wong in a road-rage scenario that developed to operatic levels of chaos before the run of episodes was over. All dramatic, but also funny! Nothing wrong with a little conflict, as long as it’s happening to other people.Dead to Me (2019 – 2022)
Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini make for an all-time-great TV pairing in this dark, twisty comedy about a couple of women who become united in tragedy—and lies. Applegate is Jen Harding, a realtor whose husband was killed in a hit-and-run incident; she’s not dealing well, and takes a bit of inspiration from Cardellini’s Judy, who has maintained a cheery disposition following her fiancé Steve’s death from a heart attack—easier to do, given that Steve’s still secretly alive. And then we discover that Judy has a storage unit with a car that looks suspiciously like the one that killed Jen’s husband—and that’s all just part of the first episode. The show only gets wilder from there—like Beef, but sneakier and more passive-aggressive. Stream Dead to Me on Netflix.
The Other Black Girl (2023)
Nella Rogers is an editorial assistant at the (fictional) Wagner Books, a major publisher in NYC. She’s also the only Black woman working for the company, and is initially thrilled when Hazel-May McCall (Ashleigh Murray) is hired as on as a fellow editorial assistant and, well, the other Black girl. At first the quiet Nella and outspoken Hazel bond, but Nella begins receiving threatening notes, and advice from Hazel gets her in trouble. Is this a comedic show about two Black women who can’t work together without conflict and competition? Or is there a deeper mystery? (It’s very much the second one, FYI). Stream The Other Black Girl on Disney+ and Hulu.
Bad Sisters (2022 – 2024)
A pitch-perfect (and pitch-dark) comedy, the Irish import Bad Sisters picked up several well-deserved Emmy nominations in its first year. Writer and co-creator Sharon Horgan leads the cast as Eva Garvey, oldest of five sisters, including Grace (Anne-Marie Duff), who’s married to John Paul, an abusive and isolating husband. When the dude winds up dead under rather suspicious circumstances, down-on-his-luck insurance investigator Tom (Brian Gleeson) starts poking his nose into things. We know the sisters definitely wanted John Paul dead, but did they actually do the deed? Tom’s family business will go under if he has to pay out on the life insurance policy, so he’s motivated to pin the (potential) crime on at least one of the women. Stream Bad Sisters on Apple TV.
The White Lotus (2021 — )
Another darkly comic, season-long anthology series, the similarities between our subject and White Lotus grew even stronger in the second season of Beef, which finds a couple of managers of a luxury country club in an ever-escalating tiff with the help. The opening episodes of Mike White’s show, meanwhile, begins with a flash forward to the rather horrible outcomes that will be faced by at least some of the holiday makers traveling to one of the title’s White Lotus resorts (each season being a distinct storyline and location, with the occasional recurring character). The first season’s manager, Murray Bartlett’s Armond, makes clear to the staff that the ultra-wealthy guests are little more than overgrown children, and need to be coddled as such. At these very fancy resorts, at which people have paid absurd amounts of money to be pampered, competitiveness and general toxicity ensure that everyone’s going to have a miserable time, whatever the price. Like Beef, The White Lotus attracts A-list talent each outing. Stream The White Lotus on HBO Max.
Your Friends and Neighbors (2025 – )
In Your Friends & Neighbors, Jon Hamm plays Andrew “Coop” Cooper, a recently divorced, recently unemployed New York hedge fund manager. In an effort to keep up an illusion that nothing in his life has changed, he begins breaking into the homes of his wealthy neighbors to steal and sell their stuff, inadvertently catching on to their secrets as well. This dark comedy isn’t exactly about how hard it is to be a once-rich white guy, but neither is it a pointed lesson in the downfalls toxic masculinity. Coop is an insider forced into the role of an outsider (playing an insider), offering him a unique perspective on the artifice at the center of a life based on flaunting wealth. Stream Your Friends and Neighbors on Apple TV.
Barry (2018 – 2023)
Bill Hader won a couple of Emmys for his performance as Barry Berkman, a depressed and anxious hitman who discovers a love of acting that leads him to look for a life beyond killing people, even though he’s rather good at it, and keeps getting drawn back in. Barry’s mentor and father figure in his quest to rebuild his life on the stage is the wildly eccentric Gene Cousineau (Henry Winkler, who also won an Emmy here), who’s entirely supportive of Barry—until he learns of his protégé’s double life. Stream Barry on HBO Max.
Fargo (2014 – 2024)
This season-by-season anthology crime drama finds us in the Midwest, mostly, blending crime drama, small town secrets, and healthy heaps of dark humor (if you’re familiar with the Cohen Bros. movie that inspired the show, you’ll know exactly what’s meant by that). The quirky characters in the shifting cast are sometimes lovable, sometimes reprehensible, but they’re consistently compelling—as with Beef, there’s the sense that characters will get what’s coming to them, while also making room for moments of surprising grace. Stream Fargo on Hulu.
What do you think so far?
How to Get to Heaven From Belfast (2026 – )
How to Get to Heaven comes from Irish playwright and Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee, though that earlier and justifiably beloved show will only moderately prepare you for the latest. Three high school friends from Belfast reunite after learning that their fourth bestie has died unexpectedly—except that maybe she didn’t, a mixed blessing given that they all have secrets that they were hoping to bury. Now they’re off to investigate the mystery of the maybe-murder, and find themselves immediately in way over their heads and in a complex web of lies, secrets, and old vendettas. The tone is all over the place in a way that somehow works, and has a beating heart beneath all the chaos. Stream How to Get to Heaven From Belfast on Netflix.
I Hate Suzie (2020 – 2022)
Popstar turned actress Suzie Pickles (Billie Piper) has just been hired for a new Disney series when she has, in the opening episode of I Hate Suzie, the worst day of her career: a compromising phone hack has left her exposed, literally and figuratively to the world. Support at home is in short supply given that the prominent penis in some of the pictures doesn’t belong to her husband. Lucy Prebble and Piper resume a collaboration that began with The Secret Diary of a Call Girl and the highly acclaimed play The Effect for this dark, funny show about a woman on the verge of a breakdown. Piper is phenomenal, as always, playing a character whose bio is similar to her own—the whole world’s out to get her, but early fame has left her both deeply vulnerable and wildly self-involved. Stream I Hate Suzie on HBO Max.
No Good Deed (2024)
I’m adding this one largely for the Lisa Kudrow of it all, but there’s a similar vein of dark comedy here—plus, No Good Deed is a pretty great show that a lot of people missed. The setup sounds like a juicy crime thrillers: Kudrow is retired pianist Lydia; Ray Romano is her husband, Paul. The two are in rather tricky financial straits and need to sell their home without wanting to seem too desperate to prospective buyers—and also hide a secret involving a death a few years prior. For all that, it’s a comedy, with a great supporting cast that includes Linda Cardellini, Luke Wilson, O-T Fagbenle, and Teyonah Parris. Stream No Good Deed on Netflix.
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