Television series

Review

Name: Review
Genre: Comedy
Released: 2014
Cast: Andy Daly, Jessica St. Clair, Kaden Gibson, Casey Simpson, Jelena Mrdja

Comedy
Action
Strange
Relentless

Review follows a man committed to experientially rating life's most intense experiences for television. It's a dark comedy that weaponizes Andy Daly's deadpan sincerity, asking what happens when someone takes absurd instructions literally and without hesitation. For people who love shows that mine comedy from moral compromise and escalating chaos.

TVMaze rating

4.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy deadpan cringe comedy where a man's earnest commitment to a bad idea keeps making things worse, and you laugh hardest at discomfort played completely straight.

Skip it if you want big laughs or a story that moves forward, since its humor rests on a single running gag and the awkwardness can feel relentless across a full season.

What it asks of you: Half-hour episodes you can binge in a sitting, but it wants a tolerance for squirming silence and a deadpan delivery that never winks at you.

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

If you liked this

Arrested Development2003

Shares Review's DNA of comedy built on characters who refuse to learn from consequences. Each episode layers new absurdities onto existing disasters, and the ensemble cast's commitment to terrible choices is the whole joke.

But The later seasons lose focus, and the humor relies heavily on callback density. If you prefer straightforward comedy over intricate webs of recurring gags, it can feel exhausting.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia2005

Five terrible people make consistently worse decisions in pursuit of small victories. Like Review, it mines profound discomfort from protagonists who lack self-awareness or conscience, and keeps finding new depths of moral bankruptcy.

But The humor is deliberately crude and nihilistic. If you need characters you can root for or respect, you'll spend thirteen seasons waiting for growth that never comes.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia poster

Curb Your Enthusiasm2000

Larry David's commitment to social awkwardness parallels Forrest's commitment to experience-review. Both shows find comedy in watching someone follow illogical logic to its worst conclusion, with minimal plot structure and maximum uncomfortable escalation.

But The humor depends entirely on cringe and second-hand embarrassment. Many scenes are deliberately uncomfortable to watch, and there's no warm emotional payoff to balance it.

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

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Nathan for You2013

Both shows use a single-minded commitment to a flawed premise as their entire engine, but Nathan for You grounds it in reality and actual people, making the awkwardness real rather than performed.

Nathan Fielding plays a consultant who pitches absurd business ideas to real business owners who somehow agree to them. Like Review, it's built on a person's unwavering commitment to a premise, but the comedy comes from reality colliding with delusion rather than from the premise itself.

But It's often painfully awkward to watch, and the humor depends on the discomfort of real people being put in uncomfortable situations. If you find cringe unbearable, this will test your limit.

You're the Worst2014

Centers on two fundamentally selfish people destroying each other and everyone around them, all played for both comedy and unexpected tenderness. Matches Review's willingness to let characters face real consequences while keeping things funny.

But The rapid-fire dialogue and indie-rock soundtrack date it. If you're not drawn to millennial Los Angeles characters or prefer slower pacing, the show's energy might feel exhausting.

Strangers with Candy1999

A cult classic about a con artist posing as a high school student. Like Review, it pairs dark subject matter with deadpan delivery and a protagonist whose relentless commitment to a premise generates the entire comedy.

But It's shot on a low budget with deliberately cheap aesthetics, and the humor is often transgressive in ways that haven't aged gracefully. The pacing is slower and less polished than modern comedy.

30 Rock2006

Liz Lemon's constant life chaos and the show's willingness to let characters be selfish and dysfunctional creates a similar comedy frequency. It moves quickly and trusts the audience to keep up with rapid jokes and escalating disasters.

But The show is densely packed with jokes, which means some land better than others. If you prefer comedy that breathes or emotional beats that resonate, the relentless pace can feel hollow.

The Rehearsal2022

Both explore what happens when someone becomes obsessed with quantifying or controlling human experience. Where Review weaponizes that obsession for comedy, The Rehearsal weaponizes it for something closer to tragedy.

Nathan Fielding's follow-up is more elaborate and philosophically unhinged. He stages full reconstructions of life events to help people prepare, but the show becomes increasingly unclear about what he's actually trying to accomplish. It's Review's philosophical darkness without the jokes.

But It's only four episodes and feels deliberately unfinished. The tonal shifts between comedy and something bleaker are jarring, and if you want resolution or clarity, you won't get either.

Synecdoche, New York2008

Both are about men trying to systematize and capture the texture of life itself, only to discover that the attempt inevitably destroys everything it touches, including themselves.

Charlie Kaufman's film about a theater director building an increasingly elaborate replica of New York inside a warehouse shares Review's core obsession: the impossibility of capturing experience and the destruction that comes from trying. It's darkly funny and philosophically unsparing.

But It's a dense, difficult film that rewards patience but doesn't offer comfort. If you need clarity or emotional resolution, this will frustrate you. At two hours, it's also slower-burn than Review's quick episodes.