british telly recs
somebody's gotta do it!
American adaptions of British sitcoms are a tried and true tradition, giving us hits like The Office and okay that’s pretty much the most successful one, unless you’re a big Call Me Kat fan (adapted from the vastly superior Miranda). I guess reality shows and dramas fare better in translation. We could count Veep, let’s count Veep. Veep! And currently, Ghosts on CBS.
I’d like to think I was a Ghosts OG, by which I mean, I watched the British version when it was streaming on Max and haven’t seen the American one because it isn’t streaming anywhere, but I’ve heard it’s good, or at least popular.
As a person who is often asked for TV show recommendations, I consider it my duty — nay, my privilege — to tell America(ns) what other British sitcoms should be adapted or at least viewed stateside. For the sophisticated comuedy1 enthusiaste! Here they are:
Stath Lets Flats
I have a difficult time explaining this show to people, mostly because they ask me to repeat the title twelve times, but the mouthful title is the point. Socially awkward “lettings agent” Stath (Jamie Demetriou; the “rodent teeth” guy from the first season of Fleabag) fumbles his way through life alongside his sister (Natasia Demetriou, whom you may recognize from What We Do In The Shadows) and a gangly gang of British weirdos. It was created by a real-life friend group who started out making sketches and little movies together, and their improv-y chemistry is fantastic.
Much as I scream about this being one of the funniest shows…ever? People tend to get turned off because there’s a lot of “cringe.” But there’s no mean streak here, no winners and therefore no losers. Instead, the comedy is found in the particulars of its characters’ weirdnesses, like Stath’s strange syntax, which is reflected in the episode titles. For example:
“A Absolutely Garden”
“It’s A Manager Day”
“A Stressfully Date”
“A Drink Because of Friendship”
“A Literally Year Earlier”
You get it. Or you don’t! Some don’t. I think it’s brilliant and unique. IYKYK.
An American version of the show for Fox, Bren Rents, was announced in 2020. Two years later, that had sputtered out, and the production team behind the British version announced it would go back out to U.S. networks…and that’s the last we’ve heard of Bren Rents.
Which I wouldn’t mind so much if SLF were still streaming, but it ain’t, unless you have a British Channel 4 sign-in or you’re using Apple TV in Canada.
Joe Biden, please address this.
Extraordinary
This absolutely delightful little show — available on Hulu — bills itself as being about a world where everyone has one “superpower,” which I think gives some would-be viewers the impression that this is a Marvel-ish show about saving the world. It’s not! It’s a little bit like X-Men in that everyone’s “power” is unique, but it’s much closer to, I dunno, Sky High or Miracle Workers, a genre-tinged comedy that’s ultimately grounded in Earth-level stakes. Or What We Do In The Shadows.
No one’s power is a secret, no one has an alter ego. They use their powers at work, or don’t. Their powers inform their personalities, as they lean on what makes them special to give them value. Everyone got their power around their 18th birthday. Except, 25-year-old Jen doesn’t have one. Millennial I’m-so-lost feelings turned up to 11. Jen and her friends navigate the usual 20something ups and downs — relationships, friendships, ambitions, parents, being broke — in an absurd way that’s also dry and witty because, not sure if I mentioned this, the show is British.
And it’s got the nun from Derry Girls.
And Jen gets to date her cat, which is kinda my dream!
Starstruck
It’s a rom-com about a regular degular girl who has a one night stand with a movie star and then they fall in love. It’s extremely cute! Why are you still here! Go watch it! On Max! Written by and starring Rose Matafeo, who is actually from New Zealand, so, two accents for the price of one.
Cheerio,
Lizzie
adding a U to a word makes it British, btw