Television series
The Scottish Play
Other titles called The Scottish Play: the 2020 film.
A divorced theatre director and his scrappy ensemble tackle Scotland's most cursed play, wrestling with superstition, ego, and the kind of chaos that happens when artists decide they have something to prove. It's warm-hearted backstage comedy that loves its characters even as they self-destruct, told in brisk 28-minute episodes that feel like hanging out with theatre people you actually like.
If you liked this
Episodes2011
A fractious creative partnership between a British and American TV writer spirals into mutual destruction with mordant wit. Sharp, cruel, and genuinely moving about ambition eating itself.
But Relentlessly bleak about show business; the humour is acerbic rather than warm, and the main characters are frequently contemptible.
30 Rock2006
Liz Lemon's chaos at a live sketch show captures that same loving exasperation with theatre people, eccentric bosses, and the impossible alchemy of making live performance work. Fast, affectionate, ridiculous.
But Some of the cultural references have aged unevenly, and the tone lurches wildly between broad slapstick and surprisingly tender character work.
Fleabag2016
A chaotic British creative disaster navigating family dysfunction and her own terrible decisions. Whip-smart, funny, and surprisingly heartfelt about people who are genuinely trying, even when they fail.
But The tonal shifts from comedy to genuine sadness can feel jarring; also, it's very focused on romance by season two, which may not be your thing.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Scottish Play
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum1966
Both are comedies *about* the act of putting on a show—the gap between what you plan and what actually happens, and learning to love the chaos.
Sondheim and Burt Shevelove's farce about a slave staging an elaborate con is theatre people *knowing* theatre—meta, silly, constructed like a magic trick, but with genuine warmth underneath the mechanics.
But It's a 1966 film of a Broadway show; the pacing is theatrical rather than cinematic, and the humour relies on you enjoying elaborately constructed bits.
More like this (8)
Slings & Arrows2003
A Shakespeare company in Canada balances artistic ambition with financial ruin and actor egos. Genuinely knows theatre, genuinely loves the people doing it, and finds comedy in the gap between the two.
But It's Canadian; the pacing is deliberate and the humour is often understated, which reads as slower than you might expect.
Curb Your Enthusiasm2000
Larry David's documentary-style cringe comedy finds humiliation in social friction and unspoken rules. The format is loose enough to follow creative whims, much like theatre itself.
But The protagonist is aggressively unlikeable and often genuinely awful. If you need to root for your lead character, this will exhaust you.
Russian Doll2019
A woman caught in recursive chaos with deadpan humour and an ensemble of weird, talented people. New York theatre vibes, actual intelligence, a willingness to be strange and tender at once.
But Season two strips away the high-concept hook for something more experimental and meditative; not everyone wants their comedy that ambitious.
The Comeback2005
Mockumentary about an actress and her hapless entourage chasing relevance in an industry that doesn't want them. Awkward, affectionate, genuinely innovative for its time.
But The format is relentlessly uncomfortable; it predates mockumentary comedy glut, so some jokes land oddly now. Also only runs two seasons.
Veep2012
Political staffers with outsized egos destroying each other with increasingly baroque insults. Structurally it's about teams pulling in opposite directions, same as any theatre company.
But The humour is profane and nasty in ways that can feel exhausting; there's less warmth than in The Scottish Play, and more pure contempt.
Dream Corp LLC2016
Surreal ensemble comedy about a dream-harvesting office; absurdist, weird, genuinely inventive. Made by people who understood that creativity often lives in chaos.
But It's genuinely strange and harder to follow than conventional comedy; the humour is oblique and some episodes feel like they're missing scaffolding.
Our Flag Means Death2022
An ensemble of misfits discovering they're better together than apart, held together by affection rather than talent, learning that vulnerability is the point.
A gentleman pirate and his motley crew bungle their way to found family while everything falls apart. Genuinely funny, genuinely weird, and fundamentally about people choosing each other over competence.
But It's a romance hidden inside a comedy inside a historical romp; if you're resistant to earnestness or queer relationships, you'll find it saccharine. Cancelled after season two, so no ending.
PlayTime1967
Both understand that comedy lives in the gap between intention and reality, and that ensemble moments—multiple things happening at once—are where the real magic lives.
Tati's masterwork: a silent-ish comedy staged across a gleaming Paris soundstage where the geometry of space *is* the joke. Watching it is like watching theatre through a cinema camera—performance as architecture.
But It's two hours of mostly-silent observation comedy with minimal plot; if you need traditional narrative momentum or witty dialogue, you will be bored and possibly frustrated.
