Best workplace comedies to stream

Find some humour in the place you spend most of your waking hours suggests CONSTANTINOS PSILLIDES

With the number of sitcoms exploding in the 90s and 00s, it was only a matter of time before someone switched the home environment where almost all of them take place for something else. And where do people spend most of the time? What? At a beach, living life as it was meant to and not slaving away for someone who doesn’t care? No, no, no. Work, work is where people spend most of their time.

Workplace comedies arose as a sub-genre and gave us some of the best TV around. If you are in the mood for a laugh and silently wonder which one of the characters reminds you of an actual colleague, here are suggestions for the best workplace comedies available on streaming platforms in Cyprus.

The Office (US)

When talking about workplace comedies, The Office tops any list. It helps that it is also one of the best comedies ever made for TV. Originally aired on BBC in 2001 starring comedian Ricky Gervais, The Office tells the story of a company that has been selected by a TV station to be filmed for a documentary. Gervais stars as David Brent, the department manager, who is utterly useless, somewhat of a bully and completely full of himself.

The side-splitting comedy ran for two seasons in the UK but in 2005 a US version premiered, starring Steve Carrel as the manager. The US version had a rocky start as for the entirety of the first season the show was trying to strike a balance between recreating the success of the UK show and being its own show.

The series achieved huge success, running for a total of nine seasons. If you are looking for something chill and funny that doesn’t require much of a commitment, The Office is the way to go.

Parks and Recreation

The Office was a revelation for US audiences, so it was only natural that it would spawn similar series. And who better to create them than people who worked for The Office?

In 2009 Greg Daniels and Michael Shur premiered a series about the work life of local government employees in the fictional city of Pawnee, Indiana and much like the series it was inspired by, it had a rough first season. Led by Amy Pohler, who was supposed to be a Michael Scott knock off but was rewritten in the second season as a capable, dependable, caring, problem-solving boss. In fact, much of the comedy in the series comes from Leslie (Pohler) trying to do her job while coping with her less than stellar staff. Among them Nick Offerman’s Ron Swanson, who despises his work, undermines the government and is given all the stereotypical traits of men and the loveable idiot Andy, played by Chris Pratt in his breakout role.

After finding its footing, the series ran for a total of seven seasons and if you liked the The Office you are guaranteed to love Parks and Rec!

Brooklyn 99

While not your typical workplace comedy, Brooklyn 99 makes our list by taking place in the fictional 99^th police precinct of New York. Led by Adam Samberg, who plays the brilliant but immature detective Jake Peralta, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is an amazing series with a bunch of misfit cops and a dedicated fan-base. That dedication actually saved the series from cancellation. When Fox decided to axe it after five seasons, fans launched a massive online campaign that led to NBC picking the series up and running with it for three more seasons.