Friday, July 19, 2019
Fri-Yay: Beyond Friends and The Office: Other Great Sitcoms on Streaming Services; Mad About You Launches During Holiday 2019 Season

by Vincent
The past few weeks have brought news that Friends and The Office will be leaving Netflix within the next few years. This is a big deal for many people, as Friends and The Office are reportedly the two most-streamed sitcoms in our current era. But while both of these shows deserve titles as classics in their respective decades, there's no reason your search for great comedy needs to end there. If you're someone who has spent all of your time at Dunder Mifflin or at Central Perk, consider giving these similar comedies a try:
Parks and Recreation (streaming on Netflix): Parks and Recreation is another popular mockumentary comedy similar to The Office - in fact, helmed by longtime Office writer Michael Schur and co-created by Office exec Greg Daniels, the series is in some ways a little sister to the show. It's a warm, sunny series about the workers of the Pawnee parks department that, like The Office, puts big stock in its characters and cares deeply about them under its silly exterior.
30 Rock (streaming on Hulu): 30 Rock and The Office were timeslot partners for much of each of their lives, and it makes sense why: both are fast-paced, smart and well-crafted comedies that demonstrate the single-camera, 21st century sitcom at its finest. 30 Rock, like The Office, follows a workplace that seems too ridiculous to be true much of the time. If you like the fly-on-your-seats humor of The Office, you'll love 30 Rock.
New Girl (streaming on Netflix): New Girl follows the relationship/friendship model of Friends very closely - there are definitely parallels between Jess/Nick and Ross/Rachel - and is set up, in many ways, like Friends, following a group of young professionals in the big city (except this big city is LA, not New York). However, New Girl has the humor stylings more in line with The Office or 30 Rock - the characters are all incredibly funny and silly people, who make you laugh, cringe, and cry. The humor is also fast-paced and bizarre in a way similar to The Office, so if you're looking for a show that melds the best of the two worlds, New Girl is a great choice.
Happy Endings (streaming on Hulu): You've probably heard of the other shows on this list, but you may not have heard of Happy Endings. Although the series was cut short after three seasons, its legacy has lived on via internet memes by its most ardent supporters. In many ways, Happy Endings can be thought of as a millennial Friends. The set up is very similar - six friends living near each other in Chicago - but the humor is over-the-top, ridiculous and cutting, in a way that feels very appropriate for our current era. If you love Friends but want something that's a bit more reflective of our times, check out Happy Endings.
Better Off Ted (streaming on Hulu): Another short-lived series (cut down after just 2 seasons), this show is like an even more satirical version of The Office that takes a real look at how the workplace runs. I won't give too much away, but it's the sort of comedy where you can't believe what's happening much of the time, much like the cringiest episodes of The Office. If you like that side of the show, you'll love Better Off Ted.
Winner of a coveted Peabody and a Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series, Mad About You aired its final episode in May 1999. Now, 20 years later, Spectrum Originals reunites stars Paul Reiser and Emmy(R) Award winner Helen Hunt for a new limited series, debuting for the Holidays in late 2019. To set the stage for this comedic return, Spectrum will make all 164 episodes of the original series available free on-demand, exclusively for Spectrum subscribers beginning August 1. Over seven seasons of the beloved original series, Reiser and Hunt played Paul and Jamie Buchman, a married couple in New York City who mine the gentle humor in domesticity and life's everyday situations. For its limited-series return, Mad About You will explore the fertile ground of modern marriage through the eyes of the Buchmans as empty-nesters. Spectrum Originals is a premier destination for premium original series available exclusively to Spectrum video subscribers on-demand and ad-free. This free service launched with the Sony and Bruckheimer-produced drama L.A.'s Finest, starring Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Friday, May 9
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 5)
Friday, May 9
- Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Watch Paul on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Matt Bomer (Mid-Century Modern) - Matt appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Asif Ali (Deli Boys) and Saagar Shaikh (Deli Boys) - Asif and Saagar are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Busy Philipps (Girls5eva/Vice Principals/Cougar Town/Love, Inc.) - Busy chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Christine Baranski (The Big Bang Theory/Happy Family/Welcome to New York/Cybill) - Christine talks about Nine Perfect Strangers on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Holly Robinson Peete (Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/For Your Love/Like Family/Love, Inc.) - Holly swings by for a chat about her new film Hats Off to Love on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Sarah Michelle Gellar (The Crazy Ones) and Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother/Free Spirit) - NBC's Today catches up with Sarah and Alyson in the 9am hour.
- Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - In this a little bit extra episode Drew shares more of her conversation with Brooke at the news desk on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Rebel Wilson (Super Fun Night) - Rebel joins Sherri to talk about starring in the new film Juliet & Romeo, so check your local listings.
- Terri J. Vaughn (She the People/Mann & Wife/Meet the Browns/All of Us/The Steve Harvey Show) - Terri talks about starring in the new Netflix series She the People on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Julia Sweeney (Shrill/Work in Progress/Maybe It's Me/George and Leo) and Marsha Mason (Grace and Frankie/The Middle/Sibs) - Julia and Marsha talk about My First Ex-Husband on PIX11 Morinng News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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