Copyright Screen Rant
Netflix has some excellent original comedy TV shows, so it's easy to forget about some of the truly standout ones. The list of Netflix originals just keeps on growing. As one of the original streaming platforms, some of the first original shows to appear on the service are now over a decade old. It's easy to forget about some of those shows that came early on Netflix, particularly the comedies, a genre that, in general, never seems to get the same attention as dramas or thrillers. There's a case to be made that comedy is what Netflix does best, and these forgotten TV shows are a testament to that. Easy (2016-2019) Easy comes from the mind of Joe Swanberg, the director who helped spearhead the mumblecore genre that seemed to be everywhere for a couple of years in the late 2000s and early 2010s. His comedy Easy, an anthology series, owes a lot to the mumblecore genre. The series is set in Chicago, Illinois, and follows several individuals trying to navigate all the common issues that affect young people, including love, relationships, and what to do in their lives. Though there are some recurring narratives, each episode can be watched independently of the others. Easy is a modern love story in the vein of the Modern Love adaptation that can be found on Amazon Prime Video, but with a lot more comedy in its DNA. The series is packed with stars as well, including Zazie Beetz, Aya Cash, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Orlando Bloom, Aubrey Plaza, and more. Dear White People (2017-2021) Based on and a continuation of the 2014 film of the same name, Dear White People follows several black college students attending a prestigious and fictional Ivy League university. As the name suggests, the series dives headfirst into touchy political, cultural, and societal issues. Logan Browning stars as Sam White, a black student who is unafraid to speak out in order to make her points heard about the issues she sees on college campuses. It's a thoughtful and philosophical series that often veers in unexpected directions. One second, you may be agreeing with Sam, the next, you may be vehemently shaking your head. Episodes have a loosely connected feel as well, making each feel like a mini-movie. They tend to follow only one character, with their story taking place before and after the events of the previous episode, giving Dear White People a little bit of fun mystery to keep the show engaging. Wet Hot American Summer: First Day Of Camp (2015) In 2001, we got the cult satirical comedy Wet Hot American Summer that mocked the summer camp and sex comedy tropes of the 1990s. That film was forgotten about until a cult following later developed, so it makes sense that the prequel series would also be slow to gain traction. Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp is set before the events of Wet Hot American Summer, which takes place in 2001. However, First Day of Camp uses all the same actors, which means that, despite being 15 years older, the actors are pretending to be younger than they were in the film. It's one of those absurd decisions that just works so well. Seeing characters wearing terrible wigs and pretending to be much younger never fails to produce a laugh and just gets funnier the longer the joke goes on. It's a who's who of comedy stars and an easy, smart, and cozy series. American Vandal (2017-2018) American Vandal was a bit ahead of its time, parodying the true-crime documentaries and podcasts that were popular at the time. What the makers of American Vandal couldn't have guessed is that people were not even close to getting tired of the genre, so the parody didn't hit quite as hard. Filmed in the style of Netflix's own Making a Murderer with plenty of tropes from the Serial podcast thrown in, American Vandal is an incredibly accurate send-up of true crime. The series is set in Hanover High School, with each season following a group of teen investigators trying to uncover the real culprit behind a vandalism incident. Season 1 involves a case of cars being spray-painted with phallic imagery, and season 2 involves a batch of cafeteria lemonade being dosed with a laxative. American Vandal isn't exactly the classiest TV show ever, but it's very funny and tightly written to ensure the crimes are actually intriguing. Sex Education (2019-2023) Sex Education is a British teen sex comedy series that follows the teens and adults in the fictional town of Moordale, with a focus on the goings-on at Moordale Secondary School. Asa Butterfield stars as Otis Milburn, a socially awkward teen whose mother, Jean Milburn (Gillian Anderson), is a sex therapist. Despite his awkwardness and ambivalence towards sex, the knowledge he gleams from his honest and blunt mother inspires him to set up a sex therapy clinic with his friend Maeve (Emma Mackey). Together, the pair helps the other teens at Moordale Secondary get a better handle on their emotional feelings. Sex Education takes big swings, and it almost always works. The series is unafraid to be bawdy and explicit, but also leaves plenty of room for warmth and understanding. The series is filled with hilarious sexual misadventures, but it never feels mean-spirited; it's just an honest depiction of maturity. GLOW (2017-2019) To be fair, when GLOW was running, it did have a properly invested fanbase, but its sudden cancellation at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have erased it from people's collective memories. Even with its unsatisfying ending, GLOW is still a comedy worth watching. The Netflix series premiered in 2017 and stars Alison Brie as Ruth Wilder, a struggling actress in Los Angeles in 1985. Fed up with never getting an acting gig, Ruth tries out for something else: a professional wrestling promotion called Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, or "GLOW".
