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A few years ago I saw a clip from season one of Crashing in a lesson from Judd Apatow's Masterclass series (yes, I was one of those people). I thought nothing of it; at the time I was becoming a bit stultified by the wave of "comedy-for-comics" podcasts, opinion-pieces, and twitter rants, so a show about a wanna-be comedian doing stand-up with cameo appearances from actual comedians was really the last thing I wanted to willfully engage with. But recently--after finally checking off on my list of "must watch" comedies on HBO (Veep, Righteous Gemstones, Curb...again) assigned to me by other people--I decided to give Crashing a try.

Part of the reason I enjoyed watching the whole series in a span of 24 hours was because I really didn't have any solid expectations for this show. I thought it was going to be more of a Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee showcase, but I was pleasantly surprised by this semi-autobiographical portrayal of an aspiring comic who struggles to reinvent his life on stage. In general the show focuses more on character-driven humor rather than relying on cameos to deliver comedic substance. Though the series coincided with the rise of the Me Too movement, it doesn't cover the darker nature of the stand-up circuit until the third season, but does a solid job of addressing issues pertaining to comics (does comedy necessarily have to wound to be funny? are vision boards actually useful?)

While I do think the show had maybe another season in it (not a film, as Pete Holmes suggests), we'll have to make do in the meantime with this 24-episode tale of a young-ish man experimenting with the finer things in life: sex, cigarettes, fedoras, and stand-up.

After finishing Blackadder (another BBC1 classic), I found myself in a bit of a British sketch comedy drought (for literally 3.4 seconds) until Amazon suggested this marvelous 26-episode series. Composed of disjointed and often bitingly-satirical vox pops, musical bits, and innuendo-ridden sketches, Fry and Laurie make for a quick laugh and easy watching, though as an American you might feel occasionally left out of a joke (it is British humor, after all). The two have an undeniable on-camera chemistry and offer a different kind of comedy than what you'll find on American television today. Perfect for fans of The Office (UK) and old-school (or "classic," to those of you over 40) Saturday Night Live.

From Metacritic -- Set in a neo-Victorian city where supernatural war refugees have settled, Detective Rycroft Philostrate (Orlando Bloom) reconnects with faerie Vignette Stonemoss (Cara Delevingn) and investigates a number of murders in the fantasy drama.

This series blends relevant social dilemmas (refugee crises, violent prejudice, identity and class politics) with a steampunk'd fantasy world. Based on the script A Killing on Carnival Row, this show features impressive special effects/costumes, impressive acting from Bloom and Jared Harris, and also delivers a substantial narrative that manages to navigate the tropes of urban fantasy while offering a fresh interpretation of the genre. Don't let the trailers fool you; it's actually quite watchable!