The five best black comedy series to binge on Netflix this weekend
There’s something irresistibly alluring about the absurd and the awkward. What once seemed like an anomaly has long shed its shell to become a trope viewers can’t help but be drawn to. Weekends are forever famous for offering a respite from the relentless hustle of the workweek. And this time around, Best of Netflix has handpicked the five best black comedy series on Netflix to tap the disquieting delight.
These shows blur the lines between right and wrong, and that’s exactly their purpose. Don’t hold back your laugh, after all, that’s exactly what they’re designed to provoke. You might hesitate at first, unsure whether to crack up or recoil. But black comedies are built with these exact motivations in mind.
They shake up comfort zones, they challenge normalcy, and they thrive on confronting the uncomfortable. They bring you face to face with the bizarre and the bizarrely funny – the things that make you gasp, drop your jaws, raise an eyebrow, or squirm in your seat.
When characters lose their grip and spiral into chaos, it no longer triggers discomfort. Instead, it conveys a sense of raw, relatable humanity. This descent into chaos is not just a source of entertainment; it’s a catharsis. So, sit tight with the five best black comedy series on Netflix that will leave you grinning through the weekend.
The five best black comedy series to stream this weekend
After Life (Ricky Gervais, 2019-2022)
Rickey Gervais is famous for breaking the funny bones for bread. But once upon a Netflix era, he turned the notions of grief, loss, purposelessness, and meaninglessness into a black comedy guide of survival with After Life. The show follows Gervais as Tony, who recently lost his wife and, with her, his desire to live. In response to his pain, he intends to make the life around those near him a living hell, only to be returned with pity.
Some moments are too hard to watch, especially the bathtub scene. Yet, the juxtaposition of emotions is so impressive that you’ll find a reprieve when Tony pushes the fence again and again, culminating ultimately in a life-affirming experience. The balance of despair and dark humour is strikingly game-changing, a genre example of the best kind.
Beef (Lee Sung Jin, 2023-Present)
Many Netflix shows conceive unoriginal starting points. But not Beef. It clicks the bounty of absurd from the get-go with a road-rage incident between Amy and Danny that soon turns into a comedic cold war between the two. Unorthodoxly complex, these characters are ridiculously relatable. They teach an unwanted lesson of life, armed with hilarity, unfiltered truth, and discomforting reality.
They erupt like an active volcano, often losing their instinctive foresight, inviting 100 troubles in order to suppress one. Emmy-winning Beef discovers depth in triviality, and with just ten episodes, it doesn’t ask for a day more of commitment than a weekend.
BoJack Horseman (Raphael Bob-Waksberg, 2014-2020)
The adult animated black comedy series BoJack Horseman follows an anthropomorphic horse who is a 1990s star on the decline, planning a resurgence with an autobiography. The tragicomedy enjoys massive success and popularity within showbiz culture, often regarded as the pinnacle of the genre. It infuses dark humour with intense honesty in a way that’s cathartic yet uncomfortable.
Black comedies often have flawed protagonists. But BoJack is more than that; he is broken, traumatised, and grieving. The show walks a tightrope, diving into themes of self-sabotage, depression and addiction. However, the comedy comes from the bleak realism of finding humour in the hopeless against a backdrop of the dark side of fame. BoJack Horseman, in all its suffering, absurdity, and dysfunctionality, is ironically very humane.
Baby Reindeer (Richard Gadd, 2024)
Another perfect black comedy pick that will leave you chuckling and baffled with each new episode is Richard Gadd’s miniseries, Baby Reindeer. With just seven episodes, it will fit perfectly into your weekend schedule. But most importantly, it amusingly fits the bill of the genre. The show follows a shocking tale of stalking that manages to provoke uncomfortable laughter. The humour often comes at Gadd’s own expense from the awkwardness and denial that make Baby Reindeer realistically grounded.
The series doesn’t evoke forced laughter. It’s the other way around. But like most titles on this list, it swiftly transitions from funny to gut-punching. To some extent, the themes of toxic masculinity, therapy culture, and the concept of victimhood might feel controversial. Yet, it has got nothing on the last weekend pill of bizarre we have reserved.
Wednesday (Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, 2022- Present)
If you’re scrolling on Netflix for black comedies, the chances are you’ll stumble on the woeful child, Wednesday Addams. And when you do, your perception of life and death is likely to change once and for all. Wednesday’s deadpan tone, gothic aesthetics, and its irreverent take on the supernatural make it a perfect weekend pick. But do not mistake Wednesday just for danger. She might be an outcast, but she’s also like many of us. Unlike our normal, her’s is to challenge social hierarchy and conformity with satire and irony and sometimes, a sharpened knife.
Moreover, the second season is due for release on August 6th, 2025. So, in case you were derailing your trip to Nevermore, do it before Wednesday comes after you. In here, destruction is the only code of conduct, darkness is the only source of light and laughter, and horror, the only form of hilarity.