Television series

Togetherness

Name: Togetherness
Genre: Comedy
Released: 2015
Cast: Amanda Peet, Mark Duplass, Melanie Lynskey, Steve Zissis, Abby Ryder Fortson

Comedy

Togetherness is a half-hour comedy about marriage, friendship, and creative ambition that sits in the uncomfortable space where they collide. It's warm and funny but genuinely unflinching about how proximity—even to people you love—can chafe. Built for viewers who don't need laugh tracks, who recognize themselves in small failures, and who appreciate mess that doesn't get tidied up too quickly.

TVMaze rating

3.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like grown-up domestic comedy that is uncomfortable and tender at once, the way Duplass and Lynskey let silences and small humiliations sit a beat too long.

Skip it if you need fast jokes and tidy plots; this is slow, talky and sad about the same people it teases, and its middle can drift.

What it asks of you: Half-hour episodes, sixteen in all across two seasons, that linger on awkward pauses and let characters stay stuck longer than is comfortable.

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

If you liked this

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Frayed2019

Australian dark comedy about a woman rebuilding her life after divorce, juggling family expectations with wanting something just for herself. Warm but unsentimental, adult without being grim. Sarah Kendall is magnetic.

But It's drier than you might expect from the premise. If you need overt jokes and a brighter tone, the rhythm won't land.

Russian Doll2019

A woman caught in a time loop, smoking on her birthday, surrounded by the people who love and irritate her in equal measure. Philosophically smart and genuinely tender underneath the chaos. Natasha Lyonne is perfect.

But The first episode is deliberately uncomfortable. It takes a moment to trust where it's going, and some people bounce before it clicks.

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

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Scenes from a Marriage2021

Both examine how living with someone you love can become a form of quiet attrition. The humour in Togetherness comes from recognizing yourself in small failures; here that same failure becomes tragedy, but the anatomy is the same.

Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain play a couple across five chapters of intimacy and dissolution. It's Swedish director Ruben Östlund updating Bergman's miniseries for now. Devastating and weirdly funny about how little we understand the people we share beds with.

But It's sexually explicit and emotionally brutal. There's no lightness here, no comedy relief. It's watching something real break in real time.

Better Things2016

Pamela Adlon plays a single mother working as an actress while raising her kids. It's funny because real life is funny—not because of setups, but because of how people actually speak and fail. Deeply humane.

But Plot is almost beside the point. If you're looking for narrative momentum or resolution, you'll be frustrated. It's about texture and moments.

Master of None2015

Aziz Ansari's show about ambition, relationships, and growing up in your thirties. Generous toward its characters, visually inventive, willing to be sincere. Dev is likeable even when he's being dumb.

But The second season loses some of the first's momentum. And Ansari's persona can wear on people—not everyone finds him endearing.

The Good Place2016

An ethics professor in what might be heaven, or might be hell, surrounded by likeable disasters trying to be better. Clever and kind without feeling saccharine. Kristen Bell is warm even when the plot twists.

But It gets increasingly high-concept as it goes on. If you're watching for intimate comedy, the later seasons veer toward philosophy.

Catastrophe2015

Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney play a couple who get pregnant after a one-night stand and decide to try making it work. Filthy and honest and genuinely about what commitment actually costs. Their chemistry is rare.

But The sex and language are relentless. It's not shock for shock's sake, but if you need a show that's verbally gentler, this isn't it.

Schitt's Creek2015

A rich family loses everything and has to move to a small town they once bought as a joke. It sounds like a fish-out-of-water premise but it's really about people learning to love each other. Genuinely joyful.

But The early episodes are broader than what comes later. You have to give it time to find its heart, and the first season is harder work than the rest.

Veep2012

Political satire structured like a pressure cooker. The writing is intricate, the insults are Shakespearean, and everyone is failing at everything simultaneously. Julia Louis-Dreyfus anchors absolute chaos with perfect comic timing.

But It's relentlessly cynical. There's no warmth, no learning, no moment where anyone becomes better. Some people find that exhausting rather than funny.

Maniac2018

Both are about people at the end of their rope trying to perform being fine while living with others. Maniac just pushes that into fever dream; Togetherness stays in the living room where it gets worse.

Emma Stone and Jonah Hill are broke and desperate, enrolled in an experimental pharmaceutical trial. It's surreal and formally wild—each episode in a different genre almost. Sad and hallucinogenic and occasionally hilarious.

But It's strange in ways that don't resolve neatly. If you need narrative clarity, this will frustrate you. The dreamlike quality is deliberate, not a bug.

Please Like Me2013

Both locate comedy in how people disappoint each other most when they're trying hardest. The same scene could be played as tragedy or comedy depending on where you're standing—both shows know exactly where to stand.

Josh Thomas plays himself, dealing with his mother's depression and his own sexuality, surrounded by friends who love each other messily. Australian, half-hour, utterly unsentimental about sentiment. The writing is so precise it hurts.

But It's extremely specific to a very particular kind of young Australian melancholy. If that doesn't resonate, you might find it too slight. Also it ends, which some find unforgiving.