What to Watch After Silicon Valley
What to Watch After Silicon Valley
There’s no show quite like Silicon Valley, HBO's raunchy satire of stupid things done by smart people in the world of tech startups. If you've watched all of Silicon Valley’s three seasons and are thirsty for more television with a startup-savvy view, quirky characters and sick burns that scar like a grease fire, here are 13 shows you'll want to watch.
Party Down
Where Silicon Valley satirizes north California's brilliant, competitive coder industry, Party Down jokes aim a little lower — specifically, down to Los Angeles. A group of Hollywood failures that includes actors, writers, comedians and just plain mopes get together for odd jobs as party caterers in and around America's hollow entertainment mecca. What follows is a hilarious ensemble of idiots who get into humiliating scenarios.
Seasons: 2
Where to Watch: Netflix
Party Down: Casey Should be More Discrete
Veep
This look at the Washington, D.C., political elite, told from the viewpoint of U.S. Vice President Selina Meyer, pulls absolutely zero punches. Shallow, foul-mouthed, uncompassionate and self-serving, Meyer is everything a politician shouldn't be. And that's what makes the savage barbs Meyer, and her sheep herd of a staff, hurl ruthlessly at one another so much fun to watch.
Seasons: 5
Where to Watch: HBO Go
Veep Season 5: Clip Tease (HBO)
Betas
Even if you don't recall the Amazon Studios comedy about startup culture that launched a year before Silicon Valley, you can still get acquainted. Betas follows Trey, a driven young project manager with big algorithmic dreams and a cast of geeky, maladjusted friends to help him, each oddly antisocial in his or her own way. One friend, Hobbes, is played by Jon Daly of the Kroll Show.
Seasons: 1
Where to Watch: Amazon
Amazon Originals: BETAS pilot trailer
Happy-ish
The legendary Steve Coogan stars in this single-season Showtime comedy-drama about a middle-age advertising director who's generally dissatisfied with everything in his perfectly wonderful life. Thom Payne (Coogan) and his wife Lee (played riotously by Kathryn Hahn) butt into annoyances everywhere and can't help but ruminate on — or aggressively attack — the frivolity floating in front of their faces.
Seasons: 1
Where to Watch: Hulu (with Showtime add-on)
HAPPYish | 'Not Sunday' Official Clip | Season 1 Episode 1
Dreamland
Dreamland, an Australian show about the endless bureaucracy of city planning, derives comedy from stupidity and perversity, like Silicon Valley. Its cast of characters rotate in and out of an office called the Nation Building Authority. The NBA's job is overwhelming, and in each episode the team deals with chaotic, mind-numbing mix-ups. It's a testament to the show that you keeping rooting for this weary band of sandbagged bureaucrats.
Seasons: 2
Where to Watch: Netflix
Dreamland Series 1 (Trailer)
Halt and Catch Fire
Halt and Catch Fire isn't a comedy, but if you like the door that Silicon Valley opens into the world of tech-corporate boardrooms, you'll enjoy this well-acted AMC drama about three dreamers hunting greatness in the early '80s computer boom. The show offers a twisty, enthralling narrative that also shines a light on the inner workings of the PC industry way before Apple and Microsoft.
Seasons: 2
Where to Watch: Amazon
Sneak Peek Scene From the Season 2 Premiere: Halt and Catch Fire
King of the Hill
King of the Hill, Silicon Valley creator Mike Judge's longest-running and most acclaimed project, is an animated sitcom that provided an alternative to the cartoony hijinks of the Simpsons. The Hill family is nowhere near as smart or as ambitious as the characters on Silicon Valley, but red-state suburbia has its own brand of hilarity, not to mention a heart-warming type of community that makes the show intelligent and entertaining.
Seasons: 13
Where to Watch: Netflix, Hulu, YouTube
King Of The Hill Full Theme
The IT Crowd
If you like the socially challenged characters of Silicon Valley, the IT Crowd should go on your binge-watch list. This British export is set in the basement of a purposeless corporation. There, Roy, a work-shy slacker, and his best friend, Moss, a geek savant with little grace and few friends, work with a know-nothing boss named Jen. The IT Crowd finds comedic water the overdrawn well of geek tropes.
Seasons: 4
Where to Watch: Netflix
Best scenes IT crowd
The Goode Family
The Goode Family, Mike Judge's animated comedy about a family of ultra-liberal do-gooders, landed some laughs about just how far political correctness can go. When Gerald Goode suggests to his wife that "people of color" is an acceptable way to refer to their nonwhite neighbor, she scoffs: "That's just 'colored people' in reverse, and I know that's not right." The punchlines get even more uncomfortably funny from there.
Seasons: 1
Where to Watch: Netflix, Amazon, Crackle, YouTube
The Goode Family Pilot
Battleground
Battleground focuses on the unpolished campaign team of a Wisconsin state senator looking to win a seat in the Congress. Shot in the mockumentary style of The Office, Battleground follows campaign manager Chris "Tak" Davis as he labors to earn his losing candidate a win. As with Silicon Valley, you'll immediately root for Tak and his team of diligent volunteers as they take on much bigger forces.
Seasons: 1
Where to Watch: Hulu
Battleground - A Hulu Original Series (Trailer)
The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret
If you like Silicon Valley for the shaky heroes who aren't always equipped to handle the challenges of managing their own company, get ready for Todd Margaret, who's equipped to handle absolutely nothing. The linchpin to this show is just how increasingly poor the title character's decisions become. No matter how deep the hole Todd digs, he'll tell a boldly stupid lie that digs him even deeper.
Seasons: 3
Where to Watch: Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Crackle
Brent Wilts (Will Arnett) at Todd Margaret's trial
Mr. Robot
Though there's not much to smile about in Mr. Robot, there is a server-load of well-researched digital espionage. By day, Eliot Alderson works in corporate cybersecurity but by night he's trying to bring down the very corporation that signs his paychecks. The show has garnered praise, for both its intense, moody directing and its accurate representation of hacking culture, which was even hailed as authentic by hackers in Anonymous.
Seasons: 2
Where to Watch: Amazon (Season 1 only)
Mr. Robot: Official Extended Trailer - Season 1
Start Up
Start Up's title might imply San Jose sunshine and bright young coders, but the show is anything but. Martin Freeman plays a Miami FBI agent chasing down a team of digital thieves that includes a hacker named Izzy. Izzy knows how to digitize cash via bitcoin, and so the plot begins. If you love a good cop drama/tech thriller, Start Up might be up your dark, gritty alley.
Seasons: 1
Where to Watch: Crackle
StartUp - Official Teaser Trailer - Crackle
As social media editor, Kenneth Butler arms readers with Tom’s Guide’s limitless advice and know-how. In the past, he’s worked as a fact checker, staff writer and production director. His off-hour hobbies include early morning runs, writing about pop culture, and an unending quest to try every flavor of Oreo. Lemon Double-Stuff is still the best.