Ellie Kemper as Kimmy Schmidt, Jane Krakowski as Jacqueline White, and Tituss Burgess as Titus Andromedon in 'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.'
In the age of streaming, Netflix was the pioneer in introducing original content to viewers beyond network and cable television. With greater freedom and fewer restrictions, Netflix produced some iconic series.
From Stranger Things to The Crown, Ozark to Squid Game, when it comes to thrillers and dramas, the streamer has it on lock. But what about the original comedies? Why don't they receive the same adoration? Throughout Netflix's history, there have been extraordinary original comedies that broke the mold. Some welcomed Hollywood legends to play and explore characters of a certain age, while others played into the absurdity that wouldn't have resonated on network television. Yet, these 10 out of 10 shows have become victims of time, forgotten as new viral shows arrive. It's time to celebrate the comedies that helped shape Netflix and the genre. 'Bonding' Sex has always been a part of television. Often used as a steamy moment to further the plot, sex sells. So, what happens when you use that premise, but explore a world of taboo? You get the brilliant dark comedy, Bonding. Created by Rightor Doyle, Bonding explores the friendship of Tiff Chester , a psychology grad student who works as a dominatrix, and Pete Devin , her newly out gay bestie, who becomes her assistant. As Tiff and Pete navigate their personal lives by day, at night, they work in the BDSM underworld, where they go by the monikers Mistress May and Master Carter. Allowing audiences to explore the taboo world of kink as they use their exploration to find themselves, Bonding is a dark comedy with heart. Raunchy but light-hearted, Bonding went where very few shows had gone before. Bonding lightened up the dark world of BDSM without compromising the community. Instead, it served as a place where the characters could express vulnerability, learn to communicate, and establish boundaries in all their relationships. With each episode running half the time as a typical sitcom, Bonding was a fast-paced comedy that kept audiences engaged. A short-and-sweet binge that is highly satisfactory, the series was niche without being nonjudgmental. Doyle takes care to ground the story in authenticity while also keeping it fresh and feisty. Levin and Scannell had sensational chemistry that made you see your own bestie in them. Sadly, only running for two seasons, Bonding was a blink-and-you-missed-it comedy. 'Dead to Me' It might be unfair to claim that Dead to Me is a forgotten series, but the truth is, the more time away, the less it remains in the conversation. Over the course of three seasons, Dead to Me centered on the intense friendship between Jen Harding , a hotheaded widow, and Judy Hale , an eccentric optimist she meets in grief counseling. Their friendship takes a turn when the truth is revealed that Judy hid the fact that she killed Jen's husband in a hit-and-run. With secrets galore, tying them closely together, their friendship endures a rocky road as they face more twists and turns. A tragicomedy about grief and whether certain actions can ever be forgiven, Dead to Me masterfully balanced laugh-out-loud humor with immense emotion, anchored by a thrilling plot. Created by Liz Feldman, the series came at the right time for both audiences and the two women in the central roles. Applegate and Cardellini had sensational chemistry in their odd-couple dynamic, bringing out the best in one another as characters and actresses. With a unique spin on female friendship, Dead to Me finds that what should be a complex circumstance is actually a way to bond over trauma. The deeper the series went, the more Jen and Judy faced the ups and downs of their relationship. They both made mistakes while also being present to lift the other up. Trauma and grief are easy themes; Dead to Me tackled them with sharp wit. Dead to Me wanted audiences to decide what makes a person good or bad, but in the end, we all have both inside, thus we have to forgive others for being the same. 'Dear White People' After the success of the film of the same name, writer-director Justin Simien returned to the source material to create a four-season run of Dear White People. Following the lives of several Black college students at Winchester University, a fictional Ivy League institution, Dear White People explored issues of racial tensions, identity, and politics. With themes tackling microaggressions, systemic racism, and cultural appropriation head-on, Dear White People's sharp, satirical tone forced viewers to think and became the ultimate conversation-starter series. An ensemble piece, the ability to generate a diverse group of individuals uniting over a similar perspective was its strongest suit. Though very thematically focused, the characters were richly crafted. From Logan Browning as Sam White, a radio host trying to get people to wake up to society, to DeRon Horton as Lionel Higgins, a highly intelligent aspiring journalist trying to find his voice, the characters you knew from the film were further fleshed out through new stories. Confidently utilizing modern pop culture and social themes to hold up a mirror to society, Dear White People was topical and timeless. 'Grace and Frankie' Right from the jump, having Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin reunite was an immediate draw. Hoping that Dolly Parton would pop in to complete the 9 to 5 trio was always top of mind. But once the novelty wore off and the story became the central focus, Grace and Frankie proved itself to be an underdog contender as one of the greatest comedies of the 2010s. Created by Marta Kauffman and Howard J. Morris, the seven-season series told the story of two women in their 70s—the stiff, refined Grace Hanson and the eccentric artist Frankie Bergstein —whose lives are upended when their husbands, Sol Bergstein and Robert Hanson , announce they are in love and plan to marry. Forcing a friendship they never thought imaginable, Grace and Frankie was a rare comedy that showcased the realities of life after 70 while exploring how, at any age, new beginnings can arrive when you least expect them. Wonderfully tender and strongly acted, Grace and Frankie became the ultimate comfort watch. This was not The Golden Girls with four Hollywood stars getting a chance to act in a hit again. Grace and Frankie was a fervent exploration of the reality of aging through pathos and humor. As a single-camera comedy, Grace and Frankie was able to weave in dramatic moments to capture the story's authenticity. You could easily have turned this into a multi-cam show based solely on over-the-top scenarios, but grounding it in the resilience of the human spirit made it relatable. Of course, as long as you could get past President Jed Barlet and DA Jack McCoy as a gay couple, Grace and Frankie is perfect. As the series went on, Grace and Frankie lost its novelty, being overshadowed by new original content. What never left was Fonda and Tomlin being at the top of their game within this new demographic. Grace and Frankie was an important, groundbreaking series that invited big-name stars to tackle themes they relate to.Is Your Perfect Movie? Parasite · Everything Everywhere · Oppenheimer · Birdman · No Country Five Oscar Best Picture winners. Five completely different visions of what cinema can be — and what it can do to you. One of them is the film that was made for the way your mind works. Ten questions will figure out which one. 🪜Parasite 🌀Everything Everywhere ☢️Oppenheimer 🐦Birdman 🪙No Country for Old Men FIND YOUR FILM → QUESTION 1 / 10TONE 01 What kind of film experience do you actually want? The best movies don't just entertain — they leave something behind. ASomething that pulls the rug out — that makes me think I'm watching one kind of film and then reveals I'm watching another entirely. BSomething overwhelming — funny, sad, absurd, and genuinely moving, all at once. CSomething grand and weighty — a film that makes me feel the full scale of what I'm watching. DSomething formally daring — a film that pushes what cinema can even do. ESomething lean and relentless — pure tension with no wasted frame. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 2 / 10THEME 02 Which idea grabs you most in a film? Great films are driven by a central obsession. What's yours? AClass, inequality, and what people are willing to do when desperation meets opportunity. BIdentity, family, and the chaos of trying to hold your life together when everything is falling apart. CGenius, moral responsibility, and the catastrophic weight of a decision you can never take back. DEgo, legacy, and the terror of becoming irrelevant while you're still alive to watch it happen. EEvil, chance, and whether moral order actually exists or if we just tell ourselves it does. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 3 / 10STRUCTURE 03 How do you like your story told? Form is content. The way a story is shaped changes what it means. AGenre-twisting — I want it to start in one lane and migrate into something completely different. BMaximalist and genre-blending — comedy, action, drama, sci-fi, all in one ride. CEpic and non-linear — cutting between timelines, building a mosaic of cause and consequence. DA single unbroken flow — I want to feel like I'm living it in real time, no cuts to safety. ESpare and precise — every scene doing exactly what it needs to do and nothing more. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 4 / 10VILLAIN 04 What makes a truly great antagonist? The opposition defines the protagonist. What kind of opposition fascinates you? AA system — invisible, structural, and almost impossible to fight because it has no single face. BThe self — the ways we sabotage, abandon, and fail the people we love most. CHistory — the unstoppable momentum of events that no single person can stop or redirect. DThe industry — the machinery of culture that chews up talent and spits out irrelevance. EPure, implacable evil — a force so certain of itself it becomes almost philosophical. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 5 / 10ENDING 05 What do you want from a film's ending? The final note is the one that lingers. What do you want it to sound like? AShock and inevitability — a conclusion that recontextualises everything that came before it. BEarned emotion — I want to cry, laugh, and feel genuinely hopeful, even if the world is a mess. CDevastation and grandeur — an ending that makes me sit in silence for a few minutes after. DAmbiguity — something that leaves enough open that I'm still thinking about it days later. EBleakness — an honest refusal to pretend the world is tidier than it actually is. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 6 / 10WORLD 06 Which setting pulls you in most? Where a film takes place shapes everything — mood, stakes, what's even possible. AA gleaming modern city with a hidden underside — beauty masking rot, wealth masking desperation. BA collapsing suburban life that opens onto something infinite — the multiverse of a single ordinary person. CThe corridors of power and science at a world-historical turning point — where decisions echo for decades. DThe grimy, alive chaos of New York and Hollywood — fame as both destination and trap. EVast, indifferent landscape — desert and highway where violence arrives without warning or reason. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 7 / 10CRAFT 07 What cinematic craft impresses you most? Every great film has a signature — a technical or artistic element that makes it unmistakable. AProduction design and mise-en-scène — every frame composed to carry meaning beneath the surface. BEditing and tonal control — the ability to move between registers without losing the audience. CScore and sound design — music that becomes inseparable from the dread and awe of what you're watching. DCinematography as performance — the camera not recording events but participating in them. ESilence and restraint — what's left unsaid and unshown doing more work than any dialogue could. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 8 / 10PROTAGONIST 08 What kind of main character do you root for? The protagonist is the lens. Who you choose to follow says something about you. ASomeone smart and resourceful who makes increasingly dangerous decisions under pressure. BSomeone overwhelmed and ordinary who turns out to be capable of something extraordinary. CA brilliant, tortured figure whose gifts and flaws are inseparable from each other. DA self-destructive artist whose ego is both their superpower and their undoing. EA quiet, principled person trying to make sense of a world that has stopped making sense. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 9 / 10PACE 09 How do you feel about a film that takes its time? Pace is a choice. Some films sprint; others let tension accumulate slowly, deliberately. AI love a slow build when I know the payoff is going to be seismic — patience for a devastating reveal. BGive me relentless momentum — I want to feel breathless and emotionally spent by the end. CEpic runtime doesn't scare me — if the material demands three hours, give me three hours. DI want it to feel propulsive even when nothing is technically happening — restless energy throughout. EDeliberate and unhurried — I want dread to accumulate in the spaces between the action. NEXT QUESTION → QUESTION 10 / 10AFTERMATH 10 What do you want to feel walking out of the cinema? The best films leave a mark. What kind of mark do you want? AUnsettled — like I've just seen something I can't fully explain but can't stop thinking about. BMoved and energised — like the film reminded me what actually matters and gave me something to hold onto. CHumbled — like I've been in the presence of something genuinely important and overwhelming. DExhilarated — like I've just seen cinema doing something it's never quite done before. EHaunted — like a cold, quiet dread that stays with me for days. REVEAL MY FILM → The Academy Has Decided Your Perfect Film Is… Your answers have pointed to one Oscar Best Picture winner above all others. This is the film that was made for the way your mind works. BEST PICTURE 2020 Parasite You are drawn to films that operate on multiple levels simultaneously — that begin in one genre and quietly, brilliantly migrate into another. Bong Joon-ho's Parasite is a film about class, desire, and the architecture of inequality that manages to be darkly funny, deeply suspenseful, and genuinely shocking across a single extraordinary running time. Your instinct is for cinema that hides its true intentions until the moment it's ready to reveal them. Parasite is exactly that — a film that rewards close attention and punishes assumptions, right up to its devastating final image. BEST PICTURE 2023 Everything Everywhere All at Once You want it all — and this film gives you all of it. The Daniels' Everything Everywhere All at Once is one of the most maximalist films ever made: action comedy, multiverse sci-fi, family drama, existential crisis, and a genuinely earned emotional core that sneaks up on you amid the chaos. You are someone who responds to ambition, who doesn't want cinema to choose between being entertaining and being meaningful. This film refuses that choice entirely. It is overwhelming by design, and its overwhelming nature is precisely the point — because the feeling of being crushed by infinite possibility is exactly what it's about. BEST PICTURE 2024 Oppenheimer You are drawn to cinema on a grand scale — films that understand history not as a backdrop but as a force, and that place their characters inside that force and watch what happens. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is a film about the terrifying gap between what we can do and what we should do, told with the full weight of one of the most consequential moments in human history behind it. You want your films to feel important without feeling self-important — to earn their ambition through sheer craft and the gravity of their subject. Oppenheimer does exactly that. It is enormous, complicated, and refuses easy comfort. BEST PICTURE 2015 Birdman You are drawn to films that foreground their own construction — that make the how of the filmmaking part of the what it's about. Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman, shot to appear as a single continuous take, is cinema examining itself through the cracked mirror of a fading actor's ego. You respond to formal daring, to the feeling that a film is doing something that probably shouldn't be possible. Michael Keaton's performance and Emmanuel Lubezki's restless camera create something genuinely unlike anything else — a film that is simultaneously about creativity, relevance, self-destruction, and the impossibility of ever truly knowing if your work means anything at all. BEST PICTURE 2008 No Country for Old Men You are drawn to cinema that trusts silence, that refuses to explain itself, and that treats dread as a form of meaning. The Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men is a film about the arrival of a new kind of evil — implacable, arbitrary, and utterly indifferent to the moral frameworks we use to make sense of the world. It is one of the most formally controlled films ever made, and its controlled restraint is what makes it so terrifying. You want your films to haunt you, not comfort you. You are not interested in resolution if resolution would be dishonest. No Country for Old Men is honest in a way that most cinema never dares to be. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 'Lady Dynamite' Sometimes, all it takes is your own show where you poke fun at yourself to find a new devoted audience. Such was the case for Maria Bamford and her sleeper hit, Lady Dynamite. Loosely based on her life, the series is a surreal, meta comedy that follows Maria as she attempts to rebuild her life and career in Los Angeles after a six-month break in recovery for bipolar II disorder. Wonderfully chaotic and uniquely Bamford, Lady Dynamite addressed Bamford's bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and rather than make it a show about self-pity, it became an honest portrayal of mental health told through humor. Created by Pam Brady and Mitch Hurwitz for Netflix, Lady Dynamite was a meta masterpiece. The fourth-wall breaking was never a distraction; rather, it was an element that elevated the comedy and allowed Bamford to speak her truth. A journey straight into Bamford's mind, the style in which the stories are presented offers a glimpse of how Bamford experiences life. The non-linear approach was highly experimental, which resulted in the ultimate payoff. Furthermore, she gets to speak her mind about sitcom conventions and the struggles within the industry. Whether you experienced it yourself or know someone who has, Lady Dynamite was a daring show that tackled mental health while network comedies steered clear of it. Lady Dynamite was ahead of its time; the doors the series opened for modern comedy seemed to leave the show on the other side of it. 'Master of None' Fresh off a successful run on Parks and Recreation, comedian Aziz Ansari rode the momentum and created a star vehicle for himself with Master of None. The dramedy follows Dev Shah , a 30-year-old actor in New York navigating his career, romance, and cultural identity. By Season 3, the series switched perspective, giving the lead to Lena Waithe, playing Denise, one of Dev's friends, a 37-year-old lesbian novelist, mostly following their romantic, professional, and personal experiences. The complete millennium experience, anxiety included, Master of None took relatively specific themes, like the gap between first-generation Indian-American children and their immigrant parents, and mixed them with more universal themes, including racism, sexism, and modern romance, to give a platform to minority voices. With high-quality filmmaking and whip-smart writing, Master of None began as a deeply personal project for Ansari, resulting in humanistic storytelling. Mostly adopting a self-contained episode narrative, each episode allowed a specific theme to take center stage. Master of None was a modern comedy that avoided classic sitcom tropes. Diverse storytelling and visibility have become more prominent since Master of None, making it seem like a show of the past. If you haven't watched the series, no time like the present to"treat yo self'" with a forgotten great. 'One Day at a Time' Perhaps the most criminally underrated and underappreciated comedy to ever play on Netflix was the wholesome reboot of the classic sitcom One Day at a Time. Reimagined for a Cuban-American family at the center of the story, the sitcom followed Penelope Alvarez , a newly separated Army veteran and nurse, raising her radical teen daughter, Elena , and socially adept tween son, Alex , with the help of her old-school, Cuban-born mother, Lydia . Bringing the multigenerational stories of a Latino family to the forefront, the show perfectly marries old-school sitcom with contemporary storytelling. Even if the Alvarez family didn’t look like your family, their experiences together as a unit may still have resonated. One Day at a Time was exceptionally heartfelt, tackling important topics respectfully. Equally as progressive as the original Norman Lear series was at its time, the show brought classic tropes that made multi-camera series so beloved while ensuring such themes of PTSD, racism, and sexuality were handled with care. One of the most rewarding elements of the series was the comedic masterclass coming from Machado and Moreno. Despite receiving critical acclaim, One Day at a Time sadly didn't earn the respect it deserved when it was forced to end its run on Pop rather than Netflix. Beyond poignant, One Day at a Time is an exceptional series for the entire family. 'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt' The 2010s became a time when single-camera comedies took daring risks. In the mockumentary style, you had shows like The Good Place that played with the surreal and the absurd for a delightfully hilarious premise. Enter Tina Fey and Robert Carlock with a hilariously absurd comedy, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. After 15 years of captivity in an underground bunker in Indiana, where the Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne held her, and three other women, 29-year-old Kimmy Schmidt decides to leave her past behind and start over in New York City. Adjusting to life in the concrete jungle after life in a doomsday cult, she rooms with Titus Andromedon , a flamboyant, self-absorbed, struggling actor; deals with eccentric, crime-prone landlady Lillian Kaushtupper ; and works as a nanny for wealthy, insecure socialite Jacqueline White . Like a cartoon strip come to life, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt balances the dark with the light for an outrageously comical satire with gags galore. Subscribe to the newsletter for forgotten Netflix comedies Rediscover overlooked Netflix comedies by subscribing to the newsletter for curated coverage, deep dives, and rediscovered favorites that spotlight the best hidden original-comedy gems worth revisiting. Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. Like 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt uses every waking moment to offer social commentary where no one is safe. With a character as the eyes and ears of a brand-new world, unafraid to speak her mind on anything and everything, the show pokes fun at the mundane. New York City plays a character, but in this version, it's as colorful as the characters. The ensemble lifts the show to great heights. Even at their worst, each character is a delight. They have such wonderful idiosyncrasies that pop through the screen. With bits in every episode, from Pinot Noir to the origin of Jacqueline's identity, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was a laugh riot. There's no doubt the show could have run longer than four seasons, but alas, the series went out on a tremendous high. 'Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp' The hype was real, and it was warranted. Upon the announcement of a serialized version of Wet Hot American Summer with many original characters reprising their roles, those who hadn't signed up for Netflix purchased a subscription. Serving as a satirical prequel to the cult classic film, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp follows the counselors and campers of Camp Firewood on their chaotic first day of summer in 1981. With the original ensemble playing younger versions of themselves, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp was as absurd as it sounds. As it should have been. For fans of the characters, the series provided extra tidbits into the origins of the characters' relationships and behaviors seen in the original movie. By having adult-only time, the over-the-top hilarity flows naturally. As a serialized show, the plot centers on saving the camp from toxic waste dumped by a company. But it’s the individual subplots that shine brightest. The brilliance of this series lies in the reunion of actors whose careers blew up after the film. With the likes of Elizabeth Banks, Bradley Cooper, Janeane Garofalo, Amy Poehler, and Paul Rudd joined by new cast members including Jason Schwartzman, Chris Pine, Jon Hamm, and Kristen Wiig, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp was nonstop laughs. No matter where they are in their careers, every star is committed to the bit, in on the absurdist meta jokes. It mocked teen comedies while then poking fun at investigative journalism, political thrillers, legal dramas, and spy films within the context of an '80s camp life. Though only a season, the follow-up show Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later brought back much of the series' cast, along with new stars Adam Scott, Melanie Lynskey, and Dax Shepard. The legacy of the franchise remains in our hearts. 'W/ Bob & David' Outside of legacies like Saturday Night Live and MAD TV, finding success as a fledgling sketch comedy show can be difficult. Then Netflix took a beloved '90s HBO sketch series and rebooted it. In 2015, Bob Odenkirk and David Cross paid homage to Mr. Show with Bob and David with four episodes of W/ Bob & David. In the spiritual successor, Odenkirk and Cross bring on the laughs in four 30-minute episodes. Combining live-on-stage studio segments with pre-recorded digital shorts, W/ Bob and David saw the stars head back to their humble beginnings while proving that, even with higher-profile fame, they still have the comic goods. 17 years after the original ended, W/ Bob and David retained the anarchic spirit while introducing more nuanced, refined scripts. The series thrives on both actors' natural chemistry and comedic tension. Perhaps a major reason the show has been forgotten over time is that Netflix removed the third episode for a sketch featuring blackface. Though the stars objected to the decision, arguing it was satire, the growing racial tension in the country in 2020 left the streamer with no choice. Though there was a desire for more, the single season came and went with little fanfare. Like W/Bob and David TV-MA Comedy Release Date 2015 - 2015-00-00 Network Netflix Directors Jason Woliner Writers Bob Odenkirk, Brian Posehn, David Cross, Dino Stamatopoulos, Eric Hoffman, Jay Johnston Cast See All
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