Television series

The Letdown

A sharp Australian comedy about a woman trying to hold onto her identity after becoming a mother, while her husband checks out, her mother meddles, and her best friend remains gloriously selfish. It's warm and funny without pretending motherhood is anything other than exhausting. For anyone who's felt unseen in their own life.

TVMaze rating3.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like comedy that finds the sharp, awkward truth in parenthood and lets a messy, funny set of relatives make the mess worse on purpose.

Skip it if you want the new-parent struggle played with warmth and tenderness rather than barbed jokes, since its humour often cuts toward the family around her.

What it asks of you: Thirty-minute episodes that move briskly and stay close to one household, with a light touch that keeps circling the same frustrations over thirteen episodes.

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Catastrophe2015

A British-Irish couple navigates parenthood, partnership, and their own chaos with brutal honesty and genuine tenderness. It finds comedy in the real stuff—resentment, desire, the weight of being needed.

But Relies on cringe humour and sexual frankness that won't land for everyone. Also genuinely sad in ways a comedy isn't supposed to be.

Catastrophe poster

Fleabag2016

A woman trying to survive London life breaks the fourth wall, swears constantly, and somehow becomes completely human. Every episode is a masterclass in mixing comedy with genuine vulnerability and longing.

But The humour is very fast and British; you have to keep up. Also, it works partly *because* its lead is often repellent, which isn't for everyone.

Fleabag poster

Motherland2016

A British ensemble about mothers navigating work, partners, and the impossible guilt of it all. Genuinely funny, genuinely angry, and it never lets any of the men off the hook.

But Ensemble casts mean less focus on individual arcs. The comedy can feel scattered if you're not tuned to its rhythm.

Motherland poster

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

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Trying2020

Both centre women fighting to be more than mothers, but Trying adds the layer of bureaucratic cruelty—motherhood as something that has to be earned and defended, not just survived.

A British couple navigates the gauntlet of adoption—social workers, bureaucracy, their own relationship—with humour, honesty, and real rage at a system that makes parenthood impossible for some. It's funny *and* it matters.

But The heartbreak is real; this isn't a comfort watch. Also, as a show about adoption, it requires patience with people's ignorance before they learn better.

Trying poster
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Schitt's Creek2015

A rich family loses everything and has to rebuild in a small town. Sounds sitcom-standard, but the writing is warm, the character growth is real, and it gets progressively funnier as it finds its heart.

But The first season is genuinely rough. Also, it's fundamentally about privileged people discovering kindness, which isn't everyone's thing.

Schitt's Creek poster

Better Things2016

Pamela Adlon as a single mother and actress—a woman with her own ambitions and mess. It's tender, funny, and completely unsentimental about family life and desire.

But It meanders; plot isn't the point. Some will find that meditative; others will find it slow. Depiction of ageing parents can be unsettling.

Better Things poster

Russian Doll2019

A woman gets trapped in a time loop on her birthday, but it's really about the recursive patterns we repeat in relationships and the work of actually changing. Darkly funny and surprisingly moving.

But The time-loop premise takes a while to reveal itself. Also heavy on existential dread—the comedy serves something bleak underneath.

Russian Doll poster

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt2015

Fast, silly, utterly committed to its own logic. A woman escapes a cult and tries to rebuild her life in New York with relentless optimism. It's a joy to watch something this deliberately unserious.

But The humour is maximalist and sometimes tries too hard. The tone can feel exhausting if you want something quieter.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt poster

Chewing Gum2015

A young Black British woman navigates sex, religion, friendship, and desire with absolute lack of filter and complete commitment to the absurd. Fresh, irreverent, and utterly alive.

But The chaos is relentless and the sexual content is explicit. Not interested in being palatable; that's partly the point.

Chewing Gum poster

Kim's Convenience2016

A Korean-Canadian family runs a corner store in Toronto. Gentle, genuinely funny, and about people trying their best across generational and cultural gaps. It respects its characters completely.

But The stakes are low and domestic. If you need plot momentum or conflict, this won't give it to you. Very warm, which some find sentimental.

Kim's Convenience poster

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