Television series

I'm Sorry

A half-hour comedy about a comedy writer and mother whose public competence is thoroughly undermined by her private chaos. Andrea Savage plays a woman caught between performing adulthood and being swallowed by anxiety, impulsivity, and the specific insanity of parenting. Cringe comedy that earns its winces.

TVMaze rating3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like sitcoms where the joke is a grown woman's pettiness, and the squirm of watching her dig deeper is the reward.

Skip it if you want a laugh a minute or a tidy plot; this runs on awkward silences and a lead whose self-absorption can grate over a full season.

What it asks of you: Half-hour episodes, twenty in all across two seasons, so it's a short commitment, but each one leans on long pauses and uncomfortable beats that need you to sit still.

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Fleabag2016

A woman talking directly to camera about her disasters while the world collapses around her. Same DNA: the gap between how someone looks from outside and their actual internal state. Savage has cited it as an influence.

But Each episode is only 25 minutes, and the show can feel thin if you're not tuned to its wavelength. The humour is often uncomfortable rather than laugh-out-loud.

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Catastrophe2015

Another half-hour about people who seem like adults making terrible decisions that somehow create something real. Boozy, messy, funny about relationships and parenting without sentimentality or lesson-learning.

But It ends on a note that divides viewers hard. Some find it perfect, others feel robbed. Four seasons is all you get.

Catastrophe poster

Arrested Development2003

A family where no one is competent and everyone's self-image is a fiction. The comedy comes from that gap, and from how they keep failing upward. Sharp, inventive, deeply rewatchable.

But The later seasons lost their way. The first three are flawless; after that, it chases its own mythology. Also very quotable, which means you'll hear other people's favourite lines before you find them.

Arrested Development poster

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More like this (5)

Transparent2014

A family implodes when a parent comes out as trans. It's serious and absurd in equal measure, and completely refuses sentimentality. Savage guest-stars, but the whole ensemble is exceptional.

But It demands emotional labour. This isn't something you watch passively. Some episodes will hurt more than they make you laugh.

Transparent poster

Schitt's Creek2015

A wealthy family loses everything and has to move to a small town. The comedy is in watching them adapt and in their gradual discovery that they like each other. Warm without being saccharine.

But It takes a season or two to find itself. The early episodes feel more mean-spirited. Also: if you go in after hearing how beloved it is, you might find it slight. The hype is real, but still hype.

Schitt's Creek poster

Curb Your Enthusiasm2000

Larry David improvising his way through social disaster. It's pure cringe comedy: the humour is entirely in watching someone's obliviousness cause cascading problems. Addictively uncomfortable.

But It's been going for over 20 years, and some seasons are better than others. Also, Larry David is playing a version of himself, which can feel wearisome if you don't like the character.

Curb Your Enthusiasm poster

Forever2018

Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph as a married couple after their wedding. Deadpan, strange, genuinely smart about how people actually talk to each other. So underrated it's almost unknown.

But It's only eight episodes and it's utterly strange. The humour is quiet and particular. If you want conventional comedy beats, you'll be disappointed.

Forever poster

Louie2010

Louis C.K. playing an exaggerated version of himself, dealing with parenting, dating, and shame. Early seasons especially are brilliant at moving between comic bits and genuine melancholy. You can feel the care.

But Later seasons become unfocused and occasionally indulgent. Also: the subject matter is sometimes very dark. It's not consistently a comedy.

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