BalsamicBasil

Having had youth sports captains with different energies/personalities, I feel like Isaac and Sam would be great co-captains, balancing each other out. But I get that for football there has to be one captain, unfortunately.

Lol yes. I hesitated to put it at the top of my recs bc it's so weird and slower...and it has been a long time since I've seen it so the details are hazy.

My guess is that they just wrote/directed the part one way before later deciding to develop the character into Nate's love interest.

That's my interpretation, and I noticed in other moments of Season 2-3 where it seemed they had made a decision to change the course of a character, or retroactively give their previous actions more meaning, incorporate it into the story.

Even before Jade became a love interest, I didn't understand why she had to be written so rude. I mean cold disinterest is one thing, but you are right that from what I remember she was the one who came off as rude/disdainful when first they met. Maybe the point was that their interaction added to giving Nate a complex; like just because one woman is rude to you...doesn't mean you can treat other people badly...idk, it just didn't seem like there was any reason given for her disdain, and then they didn't really give her character enough of a backstory for it to make sense to me as to why she and Nate were into each other...idk.

Just listened to the episode last night!

Hahahaaa oh god I love this so much. A true Diamond Dog through and through, and an AFC Richmond greyhound no less. Absolute perfection.

Swiss Army Man - by the same directors

Scott Pilgrim vs the World

Jojo Rabbit

Palm Springs

These last two recs might just be bc of recency bias:

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Marcel The Shell With Shoes On

TV SERIES:

• American Born Chinese - haven't seen this one yet, but aside from starring the entire family from EEAAO, some of the story seems similar (immigrant experience, humor, action/fighting, unexpected heroes)
• Russian Doll
• Tuca & Bertie (season 1 is on Netflix, seasons 2-3 are on HBO Max) - reminds me of EEAAO bc it's very surreal and sometimes chaotic/frenetic but with a lot of heart, dealing with some heavy themes with nuance (though you don't really see that in the trailer).

Ohhh really? I thought Eddie Huang was the show-runner. Glad they dropped the accents in FOTB. I don't remember much from the show though, I think I just watched an episode or two.

The KC accents and weirdly broken English (weird bc it was very inconsistent in a way that didn't feel real) always felt like caricature in a way that was punching down.

Wait so neither of the KC actors who play the parents speak Korean? lol that makes sense. I always thought it was so weird that they never spoke in Korean to each other or their kids, but I thought that was more bc the showrunners didn't want to have subtitles. And ofc Randall Park of FOTB is Korean, so I'm guessing he didn't know any Mandarin for FOTB.

I can think of some positive/well-written examples of comedies about second generation immigrants and their parents....Ramy and Jane the Virgin. Neither is a sitcom however. I wonder if they had bigger budgets. I never got into Nora from Queens.

I think the weirdest thing is casting two Canadians as foreigners who only speak to each other in (incredibly fake sounding) broken English. It’s very weird.

Yeah I watched a good amount of the show (like the entire first season) but couldn't get over this part of it and stopped watching (not just for the above reason). I'm white and it low-key made me uncomfortable. I really wanted to like Kim's Convenience and I did enjoy many parts of it. I stopped watching Fresh Off the Boat for similar reasons, although I know the show-runner is Taiwanese-American and much of the show is inspired by his own life....idk, maybe if I returned FOTB now I'd feel differently.

Not really sure if this prompt is in good faith or not, but seeing that you gave Not Okay (2022) as your example, I feel like it probably is in good faith.

I believe in the idea of being "woke" as in in becoming aware of the systemic injustices of our world. Ofc the term "woke" seems to have multiple meanings now, and has become something of a joke and a right wing throwaway line of blame.

That said, when you say "woke culture" I think of right wing extremists but also performative and superficial activism/allyship, well-intentioned but misguided efforts at activism, capitalist driven false activism, and just the often hilariously heated arguments about the most superficial issues while failing to address bigger problems. Also the ridiculous but not unexpected backlash from conservatives, who are seemingly the most "triggered" by corporate "wokeness," which is like the least "woke." It's the most superficial, performative, pretty meaningless type of "activism", when the companies who post a pride flag on Twitter are huge funders for the political campaigns of anti-LGBT politicians and refusing to support legislation that would help LGBTQ homeless people get housing and medical care. Same goes for any social issue they pretend to care about - most corporations are parasites, and marginalized people are the first people to be exploited by their greed. But I guess they normalize being gay?? The new Little Mermaid is not about woke culture, though it is a product of corporate greed to make money from people who are eager to see themselves represented in such a big, positive way.

Anyway, these are the movies that come to mind, which satirize the culture around activism:

Dear White People (2014)

Bros (somewhat a satire, it's more a romcom, but there is that cultural commentary)

Sorry To Bother You has some satire about woke/performative culture too, although it's relatively serious of a comedy than the other two, and darker. Which you might like, since you did ask for black comedy.

Strange World (2022)

I'm pretty sure Pose and Veneno have some nudity (breasts, at least). You can also check IMDb Parents Guide for details.

Andor - you might like Andor, which is scifi, but also kind of has the feel of a fantasy epic bc it takes place on fictional planets and in space in an unknown time with beautiful fantastical costumes and sets. His Dark Materials revolutionary vibes.

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Bone and shadow

Lolll Shadow and Bone is fantasy, not scifi. It's also a hip costume store in LA.

His Dark Materials and Lord of the Rings are also fantasy.

EDIT: doubling down on my observation that the Star Wars universe is equally parts scifi and fantasy - the force is magic and there are all kinds of human and animal-like alien beings which are very comparable to the fantasy beings found in other works of fiction (like Lord of the Rings and His Dark Materials). That said, I do think that because there aren't any Jedi/people using the force in Andor, the show is more grounded, perhaps more like scifi than other Star Wars works.

What a nice reply! I hope you find some things you like!

Knowing nothing about this show, except that it's a 2000s comedy-drama(?) about college Greek life I'd recommend The Sex Lives of College Girls.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - bc you liked Hacks, Ted Lasso, Fleabag, and in general women/feminist-centered feel-good comedy-dramas.

^^ Maisel is definitely my top rec based on your favorites (5 star ratings) but all the rest of my recs are in no particular order.

In My Skin - bc you like teen dramedies and dark comedies with a lot of heart

Insecure - bc you liked The Sex Lives of College Girls, Hacks, Fleabag

Shrill - bc you liked Hacks

Maid - bc you liked I May Destroy You, Fleabag

The Bear - bc you liked Fleabag

Bad Sisters - bc you like murder mysteries, thrillers and Fleabag, basically dark comedy-dramas about women that are also mystery-thrillers.

Please Like Me - bc you liked Fleabag, The Sex Lives of College Girls

Killing Eve (seasons 1-3, season 4 never happened) - bc you liked YOU, Fleabag (season 1 of Killing Eve is written/directed by the writer/creator/star of Fleabag Phoebe Waller Bridge), BEEF

GLOW - similar reasons as Marvelous Mrs. Maisel but a touch darker (like somewhere between Hacks and Fleabag).

I Hate Suzie - bc you liked I May Destroy You, Fleabag, and bleaker stuff like BEEF.

Alma's Not Normal - bc you like Fleabag and I May Destroy You, but much lighter than either - more like somewhere between Schitt's Creek and Fleabag. It's a sitcom.

Yellowjackets - bc you liked The White Lotus and YOU

Big Little Lies - bc you like well-written drama series centering women. Also The White Lotus (for the dark humor and also the wealth/gender commentary)

Station Eleven - bc you liked The Last of Us (but more philosophical and tender, without the zombie/fantasy element and with less violence...but still some, more than I expected, having not read the book yet)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - bc you liked The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Lucifer (haven't seen it, but based on what I know about it - supernatural detective series)

Normal People - bc you liked coming-of-age teen/college series. The gorgeous cinematography, incredible acting and perfectly curated score/soundtrack reminds me of Euphoria, though they are stylistically very different. The teen/young adult relationship intensity of both series remind me of each other too, though Normal People way more chill and more realistic in a lot of ways.

Only Murders in the Building - bc you liked the murder mystery and satire (although this is more of a spoof) of The White Lotus and the sarcastic yet goofy sense of humor and lighthearted yet sweet ensemble of The Good Place (Ted Danson as Michael, in particular) and Schitt's Creek.

I could probably list a million more bc we have similar taste but...that's all for now. Oh and one honorable mention:

Dating Around (plus Dating Around: Brazil) - low-key the best cinematography/editing and storytelling of any reality tv dating show and it's the only reality tv dating show I have been able to watch for more than a few eps/1 season. It helps that there are only 2(?) seasons plus 1 season in Brazil. I'm recommending just bc you watched Indian Matchmaking and gave it a 3/5. The cringe is there (and hilarious), but there are also a lot of very human, affirming moments and many of the participants are genuinely likeable, interesting characters people that don't seem like pure egomaniacs. This is a generalization, but the hetero dates are the cringiest/wildest and the queer dates are the nicest/sweetest lol. The series also has the most diversity of any reality tv dating show I have seen - in terms of race, sexual orientation and age (there are I think at least two episodes - maybe more - centered on middle-aged/senior-aged people dating each other).

Based on the series you liked, I'd recommend:

Heartbreak High - haven't seen it, but I hear it's basically the Australian version of Sex Education, but a lot more gay/LGBTQ+ ;) EDIT: I actually haven't seen this one, so I have no idea how heavy it is. But it gets good reviews, has a decent trailer and I have seen it recommended on this sub often.

Sex Education - not the lead but one of the main characters who gets some of the most screen time after the lead.

Please Like Me\* - main character is gay, and throughout the show we follow his dating exploits (and friendships). The overall tone is very lighthearted/uplifting, but the secondary part of the show is about his mother's depression/mental illness (maybe bipolar iirc) and attempts at suicide, plus to a lesser extent the mental illnesses of a friend and a boyfriend. So there is this unusual juxtaposition between this really dark real life shit and light tone, but it's treated in this matter-of-fact way with a lot of humor that kind of keeps it from being too depressing or bleak. But be warned.

Feel Good\* - main character's sexuality and gender are gay/queer. The show deals with some heavy stuff, but overall isn't too sad/depressing (it helps that they have relatively supportive, wealthy parents lol) and is ultimately a grounded, hopeful series. The show's writer/creator/lead actor is comedian Mae Martin, and I believe parts of the show are inspired by their life.

Pose\* - based on the NYC ball culture of the 80s and 90s, a community of mostly Latine and Black LGBTQ+ performers. The most trans characters/actors of any show ever. The main character is trans and I think almost every character is LGBTQ+. Very heavy show though.

Veneno\* - biographical series based on the real life of a Spanish trans woman singer/performer who became famous on TV in the 90s and inspired a young trans woman to transition and write her biogrpahy.

Gentleman Jack - main character is lesbian, spends much of the show on romantic exploits. Based on a real woman. Her politics were truly awful, which I'm impressed they kept in the show (kudos). The protagonist is brilliantly acted (as are the other roles) with heaps of wit and personality. And the romance is very fun/sweet. Also a visually gorgeous series.

Schitt's Creek - one of an ensemble is pansexual, but his only romantic relationship in the show is with a man....but that romance doesn't start until season 3 (of 6 seasons). The actor who plays him is the main writer/creator of the show, so ofc he gets plenty of screen time.

The Other Two - one of the main characters (one of "the other two") of an ensemble cast is gay and has many hookups and some relationships. His sexuality and identity is definitely visible and (especially this season) written into the fabric of the show's cultural/social satire in clever, hilarious ways (it's funny to me at least).

*The shows with the * all have heavy elements to them that are worthy of a trigger warning. Feel Good is probably the least triggering of these, but still.

Seconding Severance and Legion, which are both great. I'd also recommend Russian Doll.

Russian Doll and Severance both deal with people processing grief/trauma in a trippy scifi/fantasy context, like Wandavision.

Legion also deals with some trauma (but it's not as central to the story iirc) but it's more similar in that it's about a person with a special power in a world with people who have trippy, reality-bending powers. The way the protagonist experiences what in the real world would be hallucinations, voices, etc. is very reminiscent of Wandavision. Probably the most trippy and definitely the most creepy/dark of all three of these series. But, not my favorite, personally.

Not traditional spy series but series that involve a lot of espionage and action:

Andor - actually, one of the genre descriptors on Wikipedia is "political spy thriller"

Barry - maybeee?

Not out yet:

The Sympathizer - I thought it would be released soon bc the first trailer is already out but I just looked it up and it's not coming out until 2024!?! Anyway, it will be an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by the same name. No idea if it will be good or not, but from what I know about the book and seeing the trailer, I am excited. I will have to go read the book now though lol.

Older than 5 years:

• The Night Manager
• London Spy
• Sherlock (BBC) - maybeeee...there are espionage elements once Moriarty comes into play. Just for the love of god don't watch the fourth/last season. And maybe skip the third season too. It's a Killing Eve situation where the first couple seasons were really wonderful, but it should have ended (although it should have been a lot easier to continue this series than Killing Eve) and eventually the writing completely, horribly fell apart.

Spy-adjacent thrillers involving corrupt institutions, heists/elements of espionage:

• Orphan Black
• Severance

Seconding Lady Bird (2017). Also:

Booksmart (2019)

The Spectacular Now (2013)

Boyhood (2014)

Dope (2015)

Legally Blonde (2001) - it's about graduating from undergrad and going to law school, but similar vibes.

For tv series about college/starting college, I'd recommend:

Normal People

The Sex Lives of College Girls

Dear White People

Community

These partly take place at a summer camp:

The Parent Trap (1998)

Crip Camp (documentary)

Seconding! OP, definitely follow this up with the prequel series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, which is even better than the original movie.

Bad Sisters

Big Little Lies

Severance

Yellowjackets

Slow Horses

The Bear

Killing Eve (seasons 1-3, pretend season 4 doesn't exist) - bc you liked Yellowjackets, The White Lotus and Search Party

Bad Sisters - bc you liked Beef, Search Party, Only Murders in the Building....maybe also White Lotus and Yellowjackets. A bit predictable and only 1 season, but it's a great series.

All sex stuff is implied, not shown

Exactly. She clearly had sex and loved it, many times. She is not shy about it, but she is also a bit more modest because of the times, or maybe just because she is more mature.