We need a new show to watch, and apparently we're way too picky

Cafe Society
#1

We keep trying new shows and hating them, or at least not liking them enough to continue past the first episode. And it seems we have a list of criteria that make it hard to find a good show:
We’re only interested in comedies

As few foreign accents as possible. Especially English. My wife has a hard time hearing as it is, and says she has too much difficulty following when there are too many accents ( I know, everyone recommends shows to us and says "oh, but the accents aren’t bad on this one—but I promise you as soon as she hears the main characters speaking with an English/Irish/Scottish accent, she’s going to bail. They may not be too bad for you to understand—but it’s not an argument I’m willing to get into)

No reality TV.
Preferably not shows about relationships.

Here’s what we’ve watched (and liked): 30 Rock, Arrested Development, Raising Hope, The Guest Book, Chicago, Ill, Malcolm in the Middle, My Name Is Earl, Veep, Lodge 49, Strangers With Candy, Seinfeld, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Parks and Recreation, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Reno 911, The Other Two, Tacoma FD, Angie Tribeca, Schitt’s Creek, Nathan For You, Space Force, Lovespring International, The Office, AP Bio, The Mick

Shows we’ve recently tried to watch:
Shrill (we got one episode in—this is a comedy??? It just seemed like a day in the very miserable life of the main character)
Search Party (again—this was listed as a comedy, but I didn’t see them even attempting to be funny in that first episode)
Casual (nope. Too much centered on relationships)
Kevin From Work (Ok, first episode wasn’t bad, but it seems like this one is going to be way too much about relationships —we may give the next episode a chance though )
White Lotus—we were told this was funny too, and made it through maybe two or three episodes before deciding that this too can’t possibly be meant to be funny
Mr. Mayor—OK, I can see why they think it’s a comedy. Jokes, just not very funny ones, except for Bobby Moynihan’s parts)
Superstore–didn’t make it more than a few episodes before giving up. Just not very funny (although I can see why some people would think it is)
I Think You Should Leave–don’t remember why we didn’t like this one, just that we didn’t.
Brooklyn 99–we watched most of this, but once the show became entirely centered around the main character’s relationship and wedding we stopped watching.
The Goldbergs
Modern Family
The Middle—all of them started spending way too much time being serious and not funny.

So given all that—what’s left for us to watch? I tried looking through Netflix last night, and it seemed like every show we tried was either British, subtitled, not a comedy (despite Netflix saying it was—like Dead To Me).

I guess we like shows where the characters don’t learn anything or grow—the cast of Veep, It’s Always Sunny, and Seinfeld are the same awful people at the end of the series that they were at the beginning. The episodes we didn’t like on AP Bio were always the ones where the teacher started showing that he cared about the kids.

#2

Both the British and the US version of Ghosts are really good and funny shows. The British version is on HBOMax. The US Version is top new sitcom this year and is on CBS.

Roku which is free has News Radio. I’m just finishing up the 5 seasons it ran. These people never learn of get better.

#3

Given the shows you like (we like many of the same) I think you’d like The Good Place. Really well done, especially after you get into it a little bit.

Others: 6 Feet Under, The Orville.

#4

Bojack Horseman

#5

Should have added the wife doesn’t like animated shows (I love them, but she won’t watch Bojack Horseman)

We may get to the Good Place–but Mr. Mayor left such a bad taste in our mouth, I doubt the wife is going to give Ted Danson another chance for a while.

I’ve already seen Six Feet Under (she hasn’t, but we’re looking for something neither of us has seen)

We turned the first episode of the Orville off halfway through, thinking we had misunderstood the premise of the show and that it was not, in fact, a comedy. Does it get better?

#6

Make it your most sacred mission in life to convince her otherwise. The Good Place is one of the best shows of the last decade, if not more.

#7

Silicone Valley on HBO Max has a cast of characters that despite pretensions can’t ever seem to get past their specific character flaws.

#8

We tried Silcone Valley —we watched the first few episodes and gave up. It wasn’t bad, it’s just that (at that time) we hadn’t watched quite a few of the shows I mentioned and we knew there was something better to watch. Maybe we’ll return to it, now that the pickings are getting so slim.

#9

I would call it a “dramedy” and much of the humor depends on previous knowledge of Star Trek tropes.

#10

I will also agree with The Good Place, especially with your previous enjoyment of 30 Rock, Parks & Rec, and The Office. NewsRadio is another good one. And I’m quite enjoying catching Frasier reruns on one of the old-sitcom-sub channels … really good writing in that series.

Ted Lasso would probably be right up your alley - except the accents will be a dealbreaker for you. I had to watch a lot of that with subtitles on.

#11

Silicon Valley … Silicone Valley would be something entirely different. :wink:

#12

yeah, and we don’t have Apple TV. I can watch any of the cable premium channels (I work for the cable company, so I get them all free), or Netflix, or Hulu, or Amazon Prime.

#13

The first season of The Good Place might be tough going, but it all pays off after that.

#14

Me, I always keep the subtitles on. Not just because of the Scousers and Geordies, etc., but because of the mumblers and “talk fast to convey urgency,” or when the plot gets boring and I drift (as in Netflix murder docs that take a half-hour Forensic Files case and pad it to six 44-minute episodes).

#15

Another big thumbs-up on both versions of this one. And RE: accents and your wife, you could put subtitles on to glance at if you or your wife don’t catch any of the dialog. My wife and I often have subtitles on just because we have two loud teenagers who have absolutely no regard for us trying to watch TV.

I didn’t like this a few episodes in either, but I gave it another chance and it really grew on me (and my wife). YMMV, but it may be worth another chance.

I’m currently rewatching ‘The Santa Clarita Diet’ on Netflix (3 seasons before it was inexplicably cancelled) and it is, if anything, even funnier than I remember from the first time around. The humor is very snappy and fast paced, and Timothy Olyphant and Drew Barrymore are really good comedic actors.

#16

If we have to read to enjoy a show, we’re not going to watch it. If I’m too bored to listen, I’m definitely too bored to read.

#17

I think the premise of Santa Clarita diet is going to be enough to dissuade her. And the fact that our daughter watched it and told us how much she hated it.

#18

We seem to share a common taste in shows (though accents don’t bother me at all, but I use CC for every show). I would call it “smart or sophisticated comedy”.

Quadruple-ditto on The Good Place. Especially the last episode of season 1, I really really began to appreciate Ted Danson’s acting ability.

How about a miniseries? Good Omens was fantastic. It’s…a fantasy comedy, I guess. Great story, superb production, with a lot of sophisticated humor, but which might be labeled as “black humor” but…well, it’s as light a humor as you can have at the apocalypse. And now I just realized it’s British and the accents might be a problem; sorry!

#19

Good call! Given the OP’s list of criteria and liked shows, I’d put this at the top of the list.

#20

My hearing is pretty awful. I can’t imagine watching television without captions.