dark comedies

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on dark comedies:

Severance season 2 on Apple TV+ just got a little closer

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Adam Scott in Severance on Apple TV+
Adam Scott plays Mark S. in Severance on Apple TV+.
Photo: Apple TV+

One of the most popular, critically acclaimed and flat-out weird shows on Apple TV+ — the darkly comedic workplace thriller Severance — has resumed production on season two after pausing for the recent writers strike.

Apple posted on X (formerly Twitter) about it Monday. Take a look below.

Apple TV+ greenlights season 5 of popular spy thriller Slow Horses

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"Slow Horses" on Apple TV+ will air a fifth season.
Photo: Apple

The darkly comedic spy thriller series Slow Horses has three seasons ready to binge-watch on Apple TV+ — season 3’s finale aired last week — plus season 4 on the way and now a fifth season planned for production, the streaming service said Tuesday.

The critically acclaimed hit show starring Gary Oldman might as well keep rolling, as there are more novels in Mick Herron’s Slough House book series to base new six-episode seasons on.

Conspiracy looms in first look at spy thriller Slow Horses season 3

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As Jackson Lamb, Gary Oldman is never looking his best.
As rumpled spy Jackson Lamb, Gary Oldman never looks his best.
Photo: Apple

Jackson Lamb and his team of misfit MI5 agents return soon for season three of espionage thriller Slow Horses. Apple TV+ offered a first look Wednesday with some photos and plot tidbits about the trouble they will get into.

The award-winning show debuts December 1 with the first two episodes of the new season. As a big fan of the show and the books it’s based on, I can’t wait.

Patricia Arquette’s dark comedy High Desert hits Apple TV+ in May

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Patricia Arquette dark comedy 'High Desert' hits Apple TV+ in May
Will Patricia Arquette's second show on Apple TV+ be as big a hit as Severance?
Photo: Apple TV+

High Desert will join the collection of comedies on Apple TV+ when it premieres in May. This won’t be light fare, as it follows an addict who decides to become a private investigator.

The upcoming series stars Patricia Arquette, winner of several Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy awards.

Apple TV+ will bring back murderously fun Bad Sisters for season 2

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The Garvey sisters shall return, Apple TV+ said.
The Garvey sisters shall return, Apple TV+ said.
Photo: Apple TV+

Apple TV+ said Wednesday its murderously fun dark comedy Bad Sisters, which ended its first season in October, will return for a second go-round.

That’s good news for fans of the show — myself included — but you have to wonder what will happen with the story. The Belgian show it’s based on, Clan, had only one season. And at the end of season one of Bad Sisters, the Garvey women get what they want regarding their jerk of a brother-in-law.

But perhaps his demise won’t turn out to be the perfect crime it looked like. And that’s no spoiler. You know he’s dead from episode 1.

Sleeper agents threaten London in Slow Horses season 2 trailer

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The gang of third-string MI5 agents from Slough House are back for season 2.
The gang of third-string MI5 agents from Slough House are back for season 2.
Photo: Apple TV+

It looks like something big and bad is about to happen to London, and it may fall to a team of remedial MI5 back-benchers to step up and stop it.

That’s at least according to the season 2 trailer of the darkly comedic Apple TV+ espionage thriller Slow Horses, which dropped Wednesday. The series resumes December 2. Watch the trailer below.

It’s confession time in Bad Sisters’ sensational season finale [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★★

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Bad Sisters recap: The dark comedy delivers in an uproarious season finale.★★★★★
Bad Sisters does not disappoint with its uproarious season finale.
Photo: Apple TV+

TV+ ReviewBad Sisters, the Apple TV+ black comedy about the murder of a bad man and the five women who stood to gain from it, draws its delicious first season to a close this week.

John Paul’s dead. Matthew’s closer than ever to finding the killer, but red herrings abound. John Paul’s widow Grace tells a tale to her sisters. The magnificent show comes to a gripping close in typically brilliant fashion.

Bad Sisters goes rogue and serves up a delicious switcheroo [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★

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Bad Sisters recap Apple TV+ ★★★★
John Paul (played by Claes Bang, left) and Grace (Anne-Marie Duff) have something to celebrate.
Photo: Apple TV+

TV+ Review Apple TV+’s Bad Sisters has one last twist of fate in store for the Garvey girls and their target, dastardly brother-in-law John Paul.

This week, Roger finds out who’s the architect of his misfortune, Ursula swears it’s over with Ben, Theresa’s in the hospital, Matthew’s dripping with determination, Becka’s a liability, and Eva makes a choice.

The best part? Nothing, somehow, is at all what it seems. It’s another magnificent installment of the delectable dark comedy.

Bad Sisters keeps killing it with icy murder plots and revenge [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★☆

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Bad Sisters recap: What will the Garvey sisters get up to this week?★★★★☆
What will the Garvey sisters get up to this week? A chilling plan!
Photo: Apple TV+

Bad Sisters, the Apple TV+ black comedy about Irish women who might have killed their terrible brother-in-law to save their whole family from him, takes a cold turn this week.

Becka has a new plan for offing John Paul. Ursula’s lover finds out about the blackmail. Gabriel thinks Eva betrayed him, Roger’s in hell. And John Paul is finally getting some of the revenge he deserves after a life of doling out misery to everyone else.

It’s highs and lows all the way to the grave with this one.

New suspicions simmer on Bad Sisters [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★☆

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Bad Sisters recap: Gabriel (played by Assaad Bouab) saves John Paul's life, unfortunately.★★★★☆
Bad Sisters recap: Gabriel (played by Assaad Bouab) saves John Paul's life, unfortunately.
Photo: Apple TV+

Twisted Apple TV+ comedy Bad Sisters recovers from a few nasty falls this week. The series, which centers on Irish sisters determined to put their brother-in-law on ice, circles the wagons and waits for bad news as insurance inspectors get closer to the truth.

In a typically great episode from the show’s marvelous artistic team and cast, John Paul survives another murder attempt in the past, and Becka makes a shocking discovery.

Bad Sisters hatches its funniest murder scheme so far [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★

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Bad Sisters recap Apple TV+: The Garvey sisters are up to no good again, and that's great.★★★★
The Garvey sisters are up to no good again, and that's great.
Photo: Apple TV+

Bad Sisters takes a look at John Paul’s mental health in a particularly solid episode of the murderously funny Apple TV+ hit. The series, about a family covering up a murder in the present — and trying to commit it in the past — takes a madcap turn this week.

Bibi is mad with grief, Grace is a broken woman, Roger’s going to jail and Becka’s falling in love. Plus, we get the funniest scene of the season. A fine showing from the cast helps this week’s episode get a good head of steam going in time for a great final sequence of dark slapstick.

Another murder scheme goes wrong in all the right ways on Bad Sisters [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★☆

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Bad Sisters recap Apple TV+: A paintball murder plot? What could go wrong?★★★★☆
A paintball murder plot? What could go wrong?
Photo: Apple TV+

It’s Bibi Garvey’s time to shine this week on Bad Sisters, Apple TV+’s dark, depraved and hilarious comedy. She deals with the insurance investigators and hatches a new plan to kill the Garvey sisters’ brutish brother-in-law John Paul. But is she the crack shot she remembers?

Bibi and Eva both must overcome personal trauma to make it to their next appointment with death, while Grace starts to crumble as nothing in her life goes even remotely well. This week’s fine episode flirts with hitting risky subtextual bull’s-eyes.

On Bad Sisters, everyone’s got a motive for murder [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★

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Bad Sisters recap Apple TV+: Revenge is a family matter in Bad Sisters.★★★★
Eve Hewson and Eva Birthistle are good to each other on Bad Sisters.
Photo: Apple TV+

Apple TV+ hit dark comedy Bad Sisters takes us through Becka’s motive for a murder this week. In the devilishly good series about the murder of a selfish bastard, we flash back to witness the fourth sister’s experience with bad brother-in-law John Paul — and the dispiriting effect it had on all of Garveys.

Meanwhile, in the present, Becka deals with her complicated romantic entanglement with the man trying to bring her and her sisters down.  Elsewhere, Eva gets serious with Gabriel, Ursula runs out of options, and JP finds a new target in a truly stellar episode.

Bad Sisters delves deeper into poison and plots [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★

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Bad Sisters recap Apple TV+: Bibi (played by Sarah Greene, left) and Eva (Sharon Horgan) have a plan to get rid of their evil brother-in-law, John Paul.★★★
Bibi (played by Sarah Greene, left) and Eva (Sharon Horgan) hatch a plan to get rid of their evil brother-in-law, John Paul.
Photo: Apple TV+

Apple TV+ dark comedy Bad Sisters regroups and strikes back harder this week. The Irish series about five sisters and their common enemies keeps winning — by losing.

After the untimely death of Grace’s no-good husband John Paul, Becka won’t let potential new boyfriend Thomas take “no” for an answer. And Thomas’ brother, Matthew, does the same in opening an insurance investigation into the death of Becka’s brother-in-law. In the past, Ursula gets on board with the murder plot as Bibi and Eva reassess after their first botched effort.

Bad Sisters is a delightfully dark comedy [Apple TV+ recap] ★★★★☆

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Bad Sisters recap: All the Garvey sisters had reason to dislike the recently deceased John Paul.★★★★☆
All the Garvey sisters had reason to dislike the recently deceased John Paul.
Photo: Apple TV+

New Apple TV+ dark comedy Bad Sisters follows a family of Irish women who vow to help each other through thick and thin. Thick comes in the form of a miserable brother-in-law, who’s lying in a coffin and represents loose ends for all of them.

Can they outmaneuver a desperate insurance investigator and keep from turning on each other? This is good TV. Let’s just watch it cook.

Slow Horses turns up the heat in a real potboiler [Apple TV+ recap]

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Slow Horses recap
Things turn deadly serious this week, but thankfully there's still room for humor in this spy series.
Photo: Apple TV+

Slough House’s Slow Horses are on the run in this week’s installment of the Apple TV+ dark comedy about rogue failed spies working at the bottom of the British intelligence circus.

Slough House chief Jackson Lamb makes a Faustian bargain with Standish. River can’t help but check on Sid. Min’s crush on Louisa deepens. Struan gets picked up. Ho is in the wind. And everyone’s afraid of Taverner.

It’s another cracking potboiler of an episode this week as the noose tightens around everyone.

Catastrophe‘s Sharon Horgan brings dark comedy Bad Sisters to Apple TV+

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Eve Hewson, Sharon Horgan, Anne-Marie Duff, Eva Birthistle and Sarah Greene in “Bad Sisters,” coming soon to Apple TV+.
Eve Hewson, Sharon Horgan, Anne-Marie Duff, Eva Birthistle and Sarah Greene in “Bad Sisters,” coming soon to Apple TV+.
Photo: Apple TV+

Irish actress, writer and producer Sharon Horgan is known for some darkly funny stuff. Shows like Catastrophe and Pulling. If you like those, you’ll be glad to hear the Emmy Award nominee and BAFTA Award winner is bringing a new dark-comedy-thriller called Bad Sisters to Apple TV+.

The streaming service offered a first-look photo and cast list on Wednesday. The show’s acting ensemble includes Horgan, of course, but also an interesting lineup of collaborators.

Remedial MI5 agents bumble and thrill in Slow Horses Apple TV+ trailer

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Actor Gary Oldman plays the fairly dissipated man in charge of the MI5 unit.
Actor Gary Oldman plays the fairly dissipated man in charge of the MI5 unit.
Photo: Apple TV+

Apple TV+ released its first trailer for Slow Horses, its darkly comic espionage thriller series starring Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas. And judging by the 2+ minute preview, the show looks like it will be both hilarious and thrilling — a rare feat — as it depicts the fates of “screw-up” MI5 agents sent to “Slough House.”

“Bringing you up to speed’s like trying to explain Norway to a dog,” section chief Jackson Lamb (Oldman) says to a group of his hapless charges at one point. The scene is intercut with the Scott Thomas character explaining, with characteristic elegance and wit, that no agent has ever returned from Slough House to respectable duty.