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7 Shows Like What We Do in the Shadows
These are worth spending your eternal life with
What to Watch if You Like What We Do in the Shadows
What We Do in the Shadows is so easy to love. The horror-comedy mockumentary, based on Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement's 2014 film, follows a group of ancient vampire roommates living together in a house on Staten Island. Watching such powerful, immortal beings try to navigate the mundanity of everyday life in the modern world never really stops being funny, which is exactly how this series has mined six seasons of gold.
As What We Do in the Shadows prepares to wind down with its final season, you might be on the hunt for something new to enjoy. Are you looking for more horror comedies? Or another show with a killer ensemble? Or maybe you just want more Matt Berry — who among us can't say the same? No matter what you're looking for, our list has them all.
Wellington Paranormal
Did you know the What We Do in the Shadows film actually spawned two TV spin-offs? Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement, and Paul Yates co-created this mockumentary series that gives the movie's two clueless cops — Officer Minogue (Mike Minogue) and Officer O'Leary (Karen O'Leary), the same ones that Waititi's Viago hypnotized — a spotlight of their own. Each episode follows the pathologically incurious pair as they investigate a new supernatural case around Wellington, New Zealand. It turns out the city is overrun with not just vampires and werewolves, but demons, aliens, and zombies as well. It's quirky, it's silly, and it's the perfect amount of spooky.
Flight of the Conchords
Years before he created What We Do in the Shadows, Jemaine Clement was one half of Flight of the Conchords, a two-man band from New Zealand that served as the inspiration for the HBO sitcom of the same name. The dryly comedic series stars Clement and Bret McKenzie as the fictional Jemaine and Bret, a pair of struggling musician roommates hustling to get famous in New York City. The centerpiece of each episode tends to be the songs, all written by Clement and McKenzie, which usually serve as the internal monologues for the characters: "The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room)" follows Jemaine's mission to seduce a woman at a party; "Hurt Feelings" allows Jemaine and Bret to express, you guessed it, their hurt feelings. You'll recognize plenty of Clement's collaborators here, including Kristen Schaal as the band's biggest (and only) fan, and Rhys Darby as the band's middling manager.
Santa Clarita Diet
Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant star as Sheila and Joel Hammond, a pair of married realtors determined to stay together after Sheila is turned into a bloodthirsty zombie. Bumbling but loving, the two fight to keep their life with their daughter Abby (Liv Hewson) as normal as possible as they search for a cure for Sheila's condition. But in the meantime, Sheila has to eat, meaning that bodies — and poorly kept secrets — quickly start piling up. Santa Clarita Diet is slightly campier than What We Do in the Shadows, but if what you really want is another show that's as funny as it is bloody, look no further than this one.
Los Espookys
HBO's zany and underrated Spanish-language comedy Los Espookys follows a group of friends who turn their love of horror into a bizarre business. Julio Torres, Ana Fabrega, and Fred Armisen co-created and star in the series, which takes place in the dreamy cross-section between the real and the surreal, and relishes in its own oddness. It has a droll, off-beat, and eerily funny energy, and if you're looking for another ensemble comedy with goth-adjacent themes, Los Espookys is your best bet.
Toast of London
From The IT Crowd to Snuff Box, you can pretty much take your pick of Matt Berry's pre-What We Do in the Shadows work if you want a guaranteed laugh. But for the purpose of this list, we're highlighting the absurd Toast of London, which he co-created and co-wrote. In the series, Berry plays Steven Toast, a struggling British actor who sees himself as an important and successful thespian despite his obviously failing career. No one is better than Berry at playing this particular type of delusionally confident blowhard, and Toast of London luckily has four incredibly funny seasons to dig into.
Our Flag Means Death
The fanbase for Our Flag Means Death, David Jenkins' pirate comedy, might be even more passionate than the fanbase for What We Do in the Shadows, which is really saying something. Taika Waititi and Rhys Darby lead the series as highly fictionalized versions of the real 18th century pirates, Edward "Blackbeard" Teach and Stede Bonnet, who fall into a sweet, awkward, and turbulent romance aboard Bonnet's ship. Our Flag is primarily a love story, but with its cast of colorfully quirky characters and droll humor, it makes for a strong companion piece to What We Do in the Shadows.
Arrested Development
Perhaps the closest to What We Do in the Shadows in terms of joke payoff, Arrested Development is a cult hit that really earns its status as one of the best TV comedies of all time. The series revolves around the Bluths, a formerly wealthy family who have their way of life thrown into turmoil after their real estate developer father (Jeffrey Tambor) goes to prison for white collar crime. It gave us a full library of timelessly quotable lines like "I've made a huge mistake," as well as Jessica Walter's Lucille, the original meme queen. It's more grounded in reality than What We Do in the Shadows, but if you're looking for another show with spiky and dimwitted characters, great performances, and clever writing, Arrested Development is your ideal next watch.