Cable TV, Primetime television, and streaming services are at the height of competing for viewership. We are here to assist you in sifting through the murky waters when it comes to the latest shows. In this post we’ll be covering some of the black comedy options that viewers really must watch.
Only Murders In The Building Season 2
This campy whodunit centers on two of yesteryear comedy’s masterminds and one ex- Mouse House muse. It’s become one of this year’s number one dark comedy hits, thanks to the fact that it capitalizes on most viewers’ obsession with other people’s business and true crime podcasts, bringing a deadpan humor mixed with homicide-filled delight.
The second season outing explores the cliffhanger where the first season left off, with the characters trying to figure out who killed Bunny Folger.
Premise: The show is set in the apartment building whose former board president (Folger) was found stabbed with a knitting needle that belongs to Gomez’s Mable. Folger is by no means well-liked among the show’s hero trio, (Mable, Steve Martin’s Charles, and Martin Short’s Oliver). This leaves the three as “people of interest”, and it doesn’t help that proof of Folger’s murder persistently pops up in their messy lives.
The overall mystery appeals greatly to a generation who turn to true crime podcasts to get away from the horrors they see in modern society. Only Murders lives in that space—of using one horror to flee another. The show provides a satire of this age, where a pair of boomers can set out to solve crimes with a millennial, start a well-received podcast, and end up becoming suspects the next week in a whole other murder, for which they are set up.
This odd premise nevertheless works, mainly owing to the chemistry the group is able to muster. Short relays an exaggerated theater director, playing well alongside Martin’s ego-tripping artiste who has a heart of gold. The duo is stacked in with Gomez’s stony young artist who goes along with their zaniness.
Although the story revolves around murder, the trio’s antics are more than enough to keep a viewer engaged. Their occasional impassive attitude to human life, and asshole behavior, can be forgiven because we want to be part of their mission. Doing so allows us to know the victim, instead of just the vulgar details that most podcasts focus on. The morbid curiosity may be enough to hook us, although it’s the glimpses into the characters themselves that display the heart of the show.
Loot Season 1
You wouldn’t normally root for a show that aims for black comedy if the premise is a woman who finds her husband’s infidelity decades into their marriage. What makes Loot work though, is that the same woman has a million dollars and is played by Maya Rudolph, and that the show explores human insecurities surrounding the “right thing”.
Rudolph’s Molly is found in a Bezos-esque fix where her husband John (played by Adam Scott) is discovered cheating, and there’s no prenup. Devastated, she takes half his fortune and goes on a shame spiral of sorts. This is when a charity which she founded (and forgot about) asks her to bring it down a notch so as not to make them look bad. This makes her divert her whole attention to the foundation, which they don’t like one bit.
Rudolph is a perfect casting choice for the character, who is blissfully ignorant for the most part, but also quick to despair given the slightest amount of time to contemplate her reality. She first uses the foundation to find purpose, and with help from coworkers manages to turn it into her life’s work. Molly is always seen as trying not to get crushed by her inner demons, all while striving to find her way through life.
What We Do In The Shadows Season 4
For its fourth season, the show’s group of Staten Island vampires have come back to wreak havoc in the neighborhood of Forgotten Borough, complete with their basic incompetence and monstrous abilities. This season, their main goal is the nightlife scene. And there’s also the matter of marriage and raising a “child”.
Natasia Demetriou’s Nadja has exited the Vampiric Council to pursue her dream of opening a nightclub. Kayvan Novak’s Nandor is in search of companionship, aided in the effort by Djinn (Anoop Desai). Laszlo (Matt Barry) is busy raising the children of the newly deceased Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch). The vampire familiar Guillermo keeps trying to go with the flow, just a little bit happier with the improvements in his life.
In the four years since the shows began, it has raised black comedy’s bar to new heights. You’ll find the Fangoria fans, horror hounds, and fang bangers appreciating the pitch black humor, but these aren’t the only people who enjoy What We Do In The Shadows. This is evident in the number of accolades the show has garnered, including an Emmy nomination for Best Comedy Series.
Everyone in the crew and cast should be praised for the brand of macabre, mad hijinks this show has brought to television. The little bit of bloodshed it makes you watch is nothing compared to what’s happening out in the real world today. Plagues, pestilence, and panic: we have all of those even in this era. What We Do In The Shadows is definitely a welcome escape from today’s world.