Television series

Corporate

Name: Corporate
Genre: Comedy
Released: 2018
Cast: Matt Ingebretson, Jake Weisman, Adam Lustick, Anne Dudek, Aparna Nancherla

Other titles called Corporate: the 2006 film, the 2017 film.

Comedy

Corporate is a pitch-black workplace satire where two junior executives navigate the absurd moral compromises of corporate life. Sharp, cynical, and genuinely inventive, it mines dark comedy from the gap between corporate values and actual practice. For people who've felt the specific humiliation of corporate culture, or just enjoy watching smart people destroy themselves systematically.

TVMaze rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy workplace satire that is mean, deadpan and unafraid to make its corporate monsters truly monstrous, with two hapless junior executives you keep rooting for even as they sink.

Skip it if you want warmth or a sympathetic office family, since the characters are mostly self-serving and the cynicism stays relentless across all three seasons without much relief.

What it asks of you: Each half-hour episode moves briskly and asks you to stay alert to dry lines and small absurd details, with a bleak tone that rarely pauses to let you breathe.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Veep2012

Rapid-fire insult comedy in a recognisable institution where everyone is terrible and competent in equal measure. If you loved Corporate's scathing view of power, Veep's political version is equally vicious and funnier.

But Later seasons lose momentum and rely on shock value over wit. The finale divides people sharply.

Succession2018

A high-wire act of power play and family dysfunction at a media empire. Corporate's dry satirical eye applied to a drama with genuine stakes—watching people rationalize cruelty feels heavier and funnier.

But Very long seasons demand patience. The bleakness can feel suffocating rather than liberating.

Parks and Recreation2009

A workplace comedy that finds genuine warmth beneath the bureaucratic absurdity. If Corporate's nihilism feels a little relentless, Parks and Rec offers the same world but with characters you actually root for.

But It takes a full season to find its voice. Early episodes feel generic compared to what it becomes.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Corporate

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Network1976

Both treat corporate logic as a system that destroys meaning. Corporate mines dark comedy from the same premise Chayefsky treated as apocalypse.

Paddy Chayefsky's prophetic nightmare about media corporations consuming ethics for profit. Shot like tragedy, structured like satire, it has Corporate's DNA but with the weight of lived corporate tragedy behind every scene.

But Made nearly fifty years ago, the formal style feels slow. It's angry in a way that can read as dated, or worse, prescient.

30 Rock2006

Sketch-comedy sensibility applied to workplace chaos. Rapid jokes, absurdist tangents, and a genuine love for the people trapped in nonsense. Tina Fey's energy matches Corporate's controlled mania.

But Jokes come so fast some will land awkwardly. The pacing exhausts some viewers.

The Office2005

The spiritual ancestor of workplace comedy, mining pathos and comedy from office life. Where Corporate is cynical, The Office is melancholic—both approaches find truth in the same broken system.

But American version can feel sitcom-flat in early seasons. It's gentler than you might want if Corporate made you angry.

Severance2022

Corporate horror made literal. Takes the psychological toll of corporate life deadly seriously, with the same visual precision and gallows humour. A different tone but the same moral anatomy.

But Builds dread rather than laughs. If you want pure comedy catharsis, this skews dramatic and unresolved.

Workaholics2011

Three idiots destroy their workplace from the inside. Cruder and looser than Corporate, but shares the same view of work as sanctioned chaos where nobody should be trusted.

But Humour is broader and less precise. It can feel like sketch comedy on autopilot by season three.

The Morning Show2019

Corporate behaviour at a media institution, tackling real scandals. Where Corporate is absurdist, this grounds the same dynamics in actual consequences and institutional rot.

But Leans melodramatic. The prestige-drama earnestness can undercut the satire.

Superstore2015

Workplace comedy set at a big-box retailer, finding humanity in low-wage survival. Gentler than Corporate but equally observant about how systems grind people down.

But Tonal shifts between heartfelt and comedic feel uneven. The earnestness can clash with the setup.

In Good Company2004

Both believe corporations are where meaning goes to die, but Corporate is too cynical to end with a kiss—this film still has hope.

A romantic comedy about corporate restructuring that takes the human wreckage seriously. Topher Grace and Dennis Quaid navigate generational workplace tension with real stakes underneath the formulaic rom-com shell.

But It's a rom-com first. The corporate satire is secondary and the ending prefers sentiment to honesty.

Sorry to Bother You2018

Both understand that corporate culture asks you to become someone else to survive, and measure the toll precisely.

A surrealist satire about sales, race, and the cost of climbing. Visually inventive in ways Corporate isn't, but spiritually aligned—both understand that corporate success requires a kind of psychological self-destruction.

But Gets increasingly weird and experimental. The metaphorical reach exceeds what some viewers will accept.