10 beautifully weird comedy shows you can stream right now
Perhaps one of the greatest gifts of the streaming era is the abundance of truly weird and wonderful TV available at our fingertips. In the 2010s and beyond, TV comedy took a distinct turn for the weird, inspired by shows like 30 Rock and Community as we entered a new decade.
It's easy for weird shows to struggle with finding an audience while on-air, either because they lack the broad appeal to entice networks and advertisers, or even after they're finished, with thousands of other titles to compete with for your attention. With that in mind, we decided to honor our favorite weird TV comedies. You can find The Office on some other list. (You also won't find any sketch comedy of animation, since weird is so often in their purview.)
1. Man Seeking Woman
Simon Rich's absurdist series, based on his own short stories, follows Josh (Jay Baruchel) on his painstaking journey to finding love. He goes on a date with an actual troll, gathers a task force to send a text message, even lands an enviably attractive woman who turns out to be "just friends" with an intergalactic penis monster. Dating is rough!
Where to watch: Hulu
2. Kidding
We've said a lot about our love for Showtime's pitch-black comedy about children's TV host Jeff Pickles (Jim Carrey) trying to course correct after the death of his young son. With Jeff as a protagonist, his unbridled imagination seeps into every part of his life, infusing the most painfully real moments with phantasmagoria and humor. There is no reason at all that a musical number about donating a kidney to your ex's new lover should work, but on Kidding it is pure art — complete with puppets.
Where to watch: Showtime
3. Nathan For You
Nathan Fielder's faux reality show about using his business degree to rehabilitate struggling enterprises thrives on subverting every expectation one can have about human behavior. The center of this subversion is Fielder himself, who behaves like someone who has only read about business, people, or social interaction in a series of inaccurate textbooks before throwing himself into a career that revolves around helping others. He's a hilariously uncomfortable character and a master of secondhand embarrassment, making Nathan For You the pinnacle of cringe humor. — Alexis Nedd, Senior Entertainment Reporter
Where to watch: Hulu
4. American Vandal
American Vandal successfully lampooned the era of overly serious true crime documentaries with two seasons of fake documentary goodness. The first season is framed as the personal project of two high school students as they attempts to solve the mystery of "who drew the dicks" on cars in the school parking lot, and its deadpan tone and pitch-perfect impression of true crime pacing made it an instant parody classic. The second season, which asked "who is the Turd Burglar," is a masterpiece of gross-out humor. — A.N.
Where to watch: Netflix
5. Los Espookys
Los Espookys centers on a group of horror enthusiasts who start a business staging spooky scenarios for various clients -- a fake sea monster to drive tourism to a seaside town, for instance. But the "real" world the characters live in is pretty damn strange already. On any given day, this gang might find themselves showing a water demon the 2010 Colin Firth drama The King's Speech, or figuring out how to break an American ambassador out of a supernatural mirror world, or fending off the advances of a duke whose greatest flaw is that he is not a cartoon prince. Whatever comes their way, you can bet on these besties to take it in stride and live to haunt another day. — Angie Han, Entertainment Reporter
Where to watch: HBO
6. Review
Sometimes the absurd is found in the mundane, as with Comedy Central's "reality show" about Forrest MacNeil (Andy Daly), a critic of all things in life. From pancakes to prom to divorce, Forrest puts himself out there for his work, often withstanding intense emotional and physical pain in order to fully experience the subject of his review. Who among us is this committed to any job?
Where to watch: Amazon
7. Galavant
Many weird comedies are parodies of other formats, which makes sense considering it's easier to get funky with jokes when the audience thinks they know what to expect. Galavant is a parody of many things — Broadway musicals, Arthurian legends, and Game of Thrones, to start — but its silly musical humor is all its own. On Galavant, it's equally as likely that a character will burst into song, anachronistically mention Mad Men, or flip the bird at real-life people who criticize the show. It really keeps you guessing, and the songs are pretty great too! — A.N.
Where to watch: Netflix
8. Santa Clarita Diet
Netflix may have tragically canceled this comedy about a California real estate agent who becomes a zombie (Drew Barrymore), but it remains undead in our hearts. The Hammond family, completed by Timothy Olyphant as the straight side of the comedy couple and Liv Hewson as a dry and disbelieving daughter, engages in classic sitcom shenanigans with a heaping dose of blood, murder, and f-bombs. Have you known true joy until you've watched Drew Barrymore feast on the carcass of another human or the artist formerly known as Raylan Givens talking to Nathan Fillion's decomposing head? We'd argue no.
Where to watch: Netflix
9. What We Do in the Shadows
This FX series based on the 2014 film follows the day-to-day (or rather, night-to-night) of a band of vampires living in today's human society. What We Do in the Shadows accomplishes the lofty feat of executing a respectable mockumentary while also paying tribute to the long history of the vampire stories. Luckily the original film was written by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, so it's got a more than solid base to build a beautiful, weird empire.
Where to watch: Hulu
10. Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell
Some of the best weird TV comes from genre mashing, like this workplace comedy set in the bowels of Hell (think Workaholics meets eternal suffering). Created by Aqua Teen Hunger Force writers Dave Willis and Casper Kelly, every part of the dark comedy is a purposeful exploration in stupidity. Gary (Henry Zebrowski) deals with all the superfluous bureaucracy of corporate life in the mortal realm, but with ludicrous stakes that make it tempting to check out some underworld job boards.
Where to watch: Hulu
Alison Foreman contributed to this article.
Proma Khosla is a Senior Entertainment Reporter writing about all things TV, from ranking Bridgerton crushes to composer interviews and leading Mashable's stateside coverage of Bollywood and South Asian representation. You might also catch her hosting video explainers or on Mashable's TikTok and Reels, or tweeting silly thoughts from @promawhatup.
