Television series

The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret

Name: The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret
Genre: Comedy
Released: 2010
Cast: David Cross, Will Arnett, Blake Harrison, Sharon Horgan

Comedy

A brutally funny show about an incompetent American adrift in London, tasked with running a sales office he has no business running. David Cross plays Todd Margaret as a walking catastrophe—relentlessly awkward, culturally clueless, and capable of destroying everything around him through sheer ineptitude. It's cringe comedy as tragedy, told backward from disaster. For anyone who finds uncomfortable humor darkly satisfying.

TVMaze rating

3.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like a sitcom built on a single, relentlessly unlucky man who digs deeper with every well-meant move, and you enjoy cringe comedy where the awkwardness is the point.

Skip it if you want jokes that land quickly, since this one leans on slow-building humiliation and its British-office-versus-American-outsider setup can feel familiar.

What it asks of you: Each half-hour episode is a tight, escalating loop, so you need to sit through his awkward silences and stubborn optimism rather than waiting for a plot to take over.

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

If you liked this

Arrested Development2003

Ensemble comedy built on the same principle: watch smart people engineer increasingly ridiculous situations through bad decisions. The same fractured family dysfunction, just with more money and less self-awareness.

But The comedy is often buried in nested jokes and callbacks. If you're not tracking everything, you'll miss the laugh entirely.

Flight of the Conchords2007

Two incompetent guys bumbling through life in an indifferent city, befriended only by their hapless manager. Deadpan, patient humor about people who are fundamentally unequal to their circumstances, and that's the joke.

But It moves slowly and deliberately. There's not much plot—just hangout comedy, which some find slack and others find perfect.

30 Rock2006

Fast-paced ensemble workplace comedy where chaos is constant and everyone's slightly deranged. Tina Fey's Liz Lemon has the same fumbling desperation Todd Margaret carries, just in a TV studio instead of London.

But It sprays jokes so thick that comedic rhythm drowns out character. Some episodes feel more like sketch collections than episodes.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Nathan for You2013

Both are about deeply unsuited people tasked with sales, escalating into uncontrollable disasters. But where Todd Margaret is heightened and fictional, this is real people experiencing real consequences.

Nathan Fielding approaches real struggling businesses with increasingly insane schemes to boost sales. It shares Todd Margaret's DNA—incompetence applied with conviction—but it's real, unscripted, and far more uncomfortable. The tension is genuine.

But It's documentary-adjacent and verges on mean-spirited. You're watching real people be gently humiliated. Also gets weird in ways that aren't always funny, just unsettling.

Party Down2009

A crew of failed actors working catering gigs, each event a small disaster. The same tone of ambition crushed by circumstance, with dark humor about dreams deferring indefinitely. Ken Marino is effortlessly terrible.

But Only two seasons, and they got cut short. Feels incomplete. You'll wish there was more, which is worse than wanting less.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia2005

Five incompetent people making decisions that destroy their lives, episode after episode. The same escalation logic: each bad choice leads to three worse ones. Relentless and filthy.

But It gets broader and more cartoon-like as it goes. Early seasons have more cringe; later ones prioritize shock. Also genuinely offensive sometimes, without much point to it.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia poster

Curb Your Enthusiasm2000

Larry David's unstructured cringe comedy about a man constitutionally incapable of navigating social convention. Same DNA as Todd Margaret—watch a competent person fail upward through their own stubbornness.

But Larry David is the only consistent presence. Some seasons feel scattered. It's also been on so long that the formula can feel tired and repetitive.

Community2009

A misfit study group constantly scheming and failing. Less dark than Todd Margaret but same structure: watch people with zero authority make terrible calls. Rapid-fire comedy with real character affection underneath.

But The first two seasons are tighter than the later ones. Some episodes get too clever for their own good and forget to be funny.

Veep2012

Incompetent political operatives trapped in mutual career self-destruction. Dense, aggressive comedy about people drowning in their own inadequacy. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is masterful; the insults are genuinely creative.

But Very dark and cynical—not much warmth, even by dark comedy standards. Some viewers find the relentless cruelty exhausting after a while.

Svengali2013

Same setting, same desperation, same cultural fish-out-of-water dynamic—but compressed into two hours instead of stretched across episodes. Proves the Todd Margaret premise works as tragedy if you let it.

A Welsh film about a struggling music manager trying to make it in London. It's a feature, not a series, so the story accelerates and closes—but the tone is identical: British awkwardness, career failure, and a protagonist digging himself deeper. Deeply funny and unexpectedly moving.

But It's indie Welsh cinema, low-budget and unglamorous. If you need narrative momentum and a proper ending, this might feel formless. Also actually requires you to like the protagonist, which isn't everyone's jam.

Peep Show2003

Both are structured around catastrophic decision-making and both feature men whose own narration contradicts their competence. But Peep Show is far more intimate and psychologically dark—we're inside the delusion, not watching it from outside.

British comedy told entirely through the eyes of two delusional men, their inner monologues constantly contradicting what they're actually doing. It's darkly hilarious and claustrophobic in a way Todd Margaret isn't—you're trapped inside failure with no escape.

But It's visually claustrophobic and conceptually demanding. Nine seasons. The humor is often stomach-turning rather than laugh-out-loud funny. Very bleak about human nature.