A full nine days after season four of Arrested Development was released on Netflix, I’d say 80 percent of the people I know online have watched the entire series, while 80 percent of the people I know in real life are still back on episodes two and three wondering when the series is going to get better (soon! I promise). Real-life people, and those of us frequent pop culture sites like this one clearly operate at different speeds, but at least most people I know in real-life and online are watching Arrested Development, which says a lot about the series’ fan base.
However, if you have finished the series already, and you’re aching to find something to watch on Netflix in between Sundays (which is about the only day of the week at the moment with anything worth watching), I’m going to offer 10 suggestions to watch on Netflix. Many of these I’ve made before. Many you may have already seen some of them. So, consider this a reminder of the great sitcoms available on Netflix (and this list is obviously far from exhaustive), and recognize that this is a very good time to catch up on some series that need catching up on. The series here are three season or less, so a devoted marathoner could get through any one of the series in a week or two, while some others you may be able to knock out in a weekend.
Children’s Hospital — I will never not take the opportunity to ring the Children’s Hospital bell, and among comedies that have come since Arrested Development, there’s probably no series that has taken the AD style of humor and stretched it even further. Children’s Hospital is what you might imagine Arrested Development might be like if it were set in a hospital, more detached from reality, and reduced to ten-minute episodes. Even Henry Winkler is on it, and his character is not that far removed from Barry Zuckerkorn. AD’s Michael Cera provides narration, and the series also stars Rob Corddry, Rob Huebel, Megan Mullaly, and Ken Marino, but the surprises of the series are both Malin Akerman and Lake Bell, who are far more funny than they’ve ever been given credit for.
Bob’s Burgers — One of the longer series available on Netflix on this list, I mention it because I, myself, am finally catching up on it. Although I’ve seen a few episodes here and there, it’s Josh’s ringing endorsement (and the fact that he mentions it at least once a day) that finally convinced me to give it a go, and it is fantastic. The show possesses a similar off-the-wall sense of humor to Arrested Development, but it’s also a surprisingly loving family at the center of the series, and while AD is the better show (but not by as much as you think), this one has a lot of heart fueling the comedy.
The League — Closer in tone to the uncomfortable humor on Curb Your Enthusiasm than the layered humor Arrested Development, The League nevertheless lands on this list because still too many people dismiss it because it is ostensibly about fantasy football. It is flat-out hilarious. In fact, what Arrested Development may be missing is a Rafi. They also share Alia Shawkat in common (she was a guest in the second season of The League) and Seth Rogen thinks enough of both shows to do extended cameos in each. Oh, and also, Katie Aselton is perfection, and her real-life husband, Mark Duplass, is one of the most talented and prolific actor/writer/directors working today.
The InBetweeners — There are absolutely no connections between the brilliant British series, The Inbetweeners and Arrested Development, but if you’d like, you can think of The Intebetweeners as a British version of what a series might look like if it centered on George Michael Bluth and his three misfit friends attending a private school in Britian. They’re nerdy, awkward, barely get laid, and yet, nevertheless have the supreme overconfidence of GOB Bluth. The series is also very, very funny, and like Arrested Development may some day do (in theory), The InBetweeners spawned a movie based on the series, which was a huge hit in theaters over in the UK (it was a decidedly mediocre film, however). Don’t be put off by the tepid MTV adaptation.
Better Off Ted — Better Off Ted has a lot in common with Arrested Development, and not just that they shared Portia de Rossi among their cast. Ted has become a huge cult hit post-cancellation, and rightly so. It has the exact same brand of humor you’d expect to see on Arrested Development, only its applied to a workplace. I promise you that if you love Arrested Development, you will also love Better Off Ted. Bonus: When you get to the end, and realize that the show was cancelled after two seasons, you can experience the same sting of unhappiness you felt after AD was cancelled.
Undeclared — Most of us who put together these Netflix recommendations list will usually include Freaks and Geeks, but Judd Apatow’s other sitcom, Undeclared, often gets short shrift. It’s kind of like Freaks and Geeks reduced to a half-hour comedy and set in college. Like Arrested Development, Undeclared was much loved and little watched, and like Arrested Development, Fox cancelled it way too soon. It’s also features great early glimpses into the careers of Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel, and Charlie Hunnam sans facial hair. Also, who knew Timm Sharp (who plays Marshall) was still around, starring in other shows no one watches, like Til Death and Enlightened.
Traffic Light — Traffic Light is less like AD than it is like a little like Happy Endings, and personally, I think the short-lived series was sorely overlooked. It’s rarely even mentioned on shows that were cancelled too soon, but I have a soft spot for the series, which featured David Denman (Roy from The Office), Nelson Franklin (New Girl, Veep) and Liza Lapira, who bounced from this to the weird stalker neighor in Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt. 23 and will next be featured as one of the leads in Rebel Wilson’s Super Fun Night. It’s a super-charged Friends clones, and it takes a few episodes to hit its stride. Sadly, it wasn’t too long after it came into its own that it was cancelled, but I still think it’s very much worth checking out on Netflix.
The Job — Dennis Leary and Peter Tolan’s series prior to Rescue Me is very much like that drama minus all the soap opera plotlines, plus a faster-paced sense of humor. It’s another one of those comedies that doesn’t get mentioned enough when it comes to cancelled-too-soon series. It was a raucously funny, often gritty, documentary-style sitcom that was well ahead of its time, and shows that are ahead of their time are rarely appreciated by the networks.
Raising Hope — I’m throwing Raising Hope on here because it’s one of my favorite sitcoms, and it’s exactly the kind of sitcom many people who watch Arrested Development would typically ignore because it’s not a trendy sitcom. It is funny — often very funny — but it is also earnest, and it never tries to impress with its sense of humor. It’s grounded in a version of white-trash reality, but like Bob’s Burgers, it also has a lot of heart at its center. Plus, Garret Dillahunt and Martha Plimpton are absolute treasures, and if you only know Dillahunt from his dramatic work, he will absolutely blow you away in this.
The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret — Honestly, I haven’t watched this series myself yet, but it’s on my summer watch list, and with David Cross and Will Arnett regulars on the show, it’s the perfect series to wean yourself away from the Arrested Development binge. There are only 12 episodes, and Anthony & Joe Russo — who were the directors of the Community pilot — also directed this pilot. Most people who have seen the series rave about it, and with Jon Hamm as a recurring guest on the show, how could it not be good? I like Heather Havrilesky’s take: “Although every second of this comedy is far from genius, the disturbed mood and unique mean-spirited flavor of it all points to what the network comedies are so often lacking: bold choices that border on the absurd.”
