Okay, so you’ve just watched the last episode of Your Friends and Neighbours and now have no idea what to watch next? Here are a few shows that share some similarities with Your Friends and Neighbours that you may be into – once you’ve had a chance to have a lie-down and a cup of tea to get over that ending!
Whether you’re looking for a new TV recommendation, what to read next, or what to line-up next in your podcast queue, we’ve got you covered, with our new entertainment series, ‘So You’re a Fan Of’. We’ll be working our way through new or popular TV shows, movies, books/authors and podcasts and will then match-make you with other suggestions for you to try!
If you’ve missed the hype around Your Friends and Neighbours – or, you’ve been trying to gauge whether it’s worth using the free trial of Apple TV for – first, let us tell you a bit more about the show. If you’ve already watched it – and were a fan – feel free to skip right ahead because below we’ve got five shows we think you’ll love!
Okay, if you haven’t watched the show, it centres around Coop – played by Jon Hamm – a New York hedge fund manager who is used to living an uber privileged life, full of country club visits, golfing, high end whiskeys and cigars. He has two kids in high school and lives on his own after his wife of many years had an affair with his best friend. So, his best friend (who happens to be a famous ex-basketball player) now lives in his old (ridiculously OTT) house with his wife and kids.
But early into the first episode, Coop gets another kick in the teeth when his company takes issue with his conduct and gives him the boot. His restraint of trade means he can’t get another job for two years – not that anyone else wants to hire him.
So, what does Coop do? He decides to turn to petty crime, ripping off his friends and neighbours, taking their ludicrously expensive watches and jewelry, he knows they likely won’t even miss.
There’s a little wrinkle – or a rather massively large issue though, that’s introduced at the beginning of the show: at some point during this series, a dead body is going to turn up… but just what the heck happens?
I did like this show – it’s slick and well made – but I wouldn’t say I absolutely loved it. It stars Jon Hamm – who is, how do I put this… very Jon Hamm in it?! – Amanda Peet (an absolute joy) and Olivia Munn. I found everyone – absolutely everyone – in this show extremely unlikable, but I also think that was likely the point. Jon Hamm’s character is completely maddening, but I kept on watching. Mainly because the show veers from what I thought it was in the synopsis (basically a rich white dude turning to petty crime) into a full murder mystery (to the point that in one episode I thought we were back in the Apple’s big show of 2024, Presumed Innocent).
It’s fun enough though, and there’s already a second season out. This time around, it – spoiler alerts – seems Coop is up to his old tricks, but there’s a new guy in town who may complicate things. Series two operated in a similar way to the first season in that just as I was starting to wonder if this show was going anywhere, it suddenly ramps up and gets interesting. It’s just a shame it takes so long to get there.
If you’re a fan of the general premise or style of the show, here’s five terrific shows I think you should try next!
Weeds
Okay, the most obvious show to watch next if you loved Your Friends and Neighbours, is Weeds. It’s an oldie – this show ran from 2005 – 2012, but it still stacks up.
It’s the obvious next watch because it’s also a dark comedy/drama, but the premise is familiar – someone turning to crime to keep their head above water. In this case, that person is Nancy. She’s just lost her husband and now has two boys to raise on her own – in her desperation to make ends meet, she decides to start selling marijuana. It turns out, she’s pretty darn good at it, and is soon deep in the criminal drug trade.
She deals with those similar overarching themes of Your Friends and Neighbours, but obviously from a more upper-middle class lens – she’s a good person, now technically turned ‘bad’ as she tries to keep up appearances, whilst keeping her drug dealing on the down low, leading to some heavy and comical situations.
Watch it on: Netflix
Bad Sisters
If you’re looking for a very well executed black comedy – which serves up a slice of suspected murder (already some similar themes here!), Bad Sisters is a seriously good watch.
It’s Irish and wonderful – it picked up a slew of nominations when it aired in 2022. Written, co-created and starring Sharon Horgan (watch the trailer above – when you see her face, you’ll no doubt go, ‘oh that woman!’ But likely still not be able to place what you’ve seen her in!?!), it follows Eva Garvey, the oldest of five sisters. One of those sisters is Grace, who is married to John Paul – and about the worst husband you can imagine. He’s constantly trying to isolate Grace from her sisters – who, yes, of course, absolutely despise him. So, when John Paul dies in rather unusual circumstances and it looks like Grace might inherit a large sum of money thanks to his life insurance policy, an insurance investigator starts looking into things. We know the sisters wanted John Paul dead… but did any of them actually do it?
This show is brilliantly made – with plenty of laughs and heart.
Watch it on: Apple TV
Beef
If you enjoyed the dark humour of Your Friends and Neighbours and that element of messy, but rich people making terrible life choices that continue to escalate and snowball over the series – you’ll likely love Beef.
It’s very slick and beautifully made like Your Friends and Neighbours – plus most of the characters are equally unlikeable.
Season one of Beef is – in my opinion – far, far better than the second (the two tell completely different stories with a whole different cast). It follows two strangers, Danny (played by Steven Yeun) and Amy (Ali Wong) who have a petty little exchange whilst driving in a car park, that could have been the end of this story. But instead, it launches into a full road rage incident and then an insane car chase. And it still doesn’t end there – this little exchange ends up consuming the pair in an all-out war of destruction against one another.
Season two sees a seemingly affluent couple, Joshua (Oscar Isaac) and Lindsay (Carey Mulligan) being blackmailed by a younger couple after they inadvertently record footage of the two having a heated argument, which would threaten their reputation at the ritzy country club they all work at. The beef between the two – like in the first season – escalates over time into a prolonged feud with wild consequences.
Watch it on: Netflix
Big Little Lies
This was the show that really kicked off this run of shows we’ve had about ridiculously rich, attractive people who seem to have it all – but surprise! – they’re actually all miserable / in terrible relationships / secretly on the verge of bankruptcy / alcoholics / murderers, or all of the above!
Big Little Lies is pretty similar to Your Friends and Neighbours in the premise of rich folk keeping up a facade, whilst chaos is erupting in their inner worlds. In both shows there’s the woman who doesn’t quite belong because she’s not from money, plus there’s also that now very familiar plot line of a body at the beginning of the show – but who is it and who is the murderer? Both these shows also have a ridiculously A-list packed cast – but Big Little Lies definitely edges out Your Friends and Neighbours as the better show.
Watch it on: NEON
The White Lotus
Aaaaaaand, if we’re talking about rich Americans trying to keep up appearances, you really can’t go past The White Lotus. Each series is, well, absolutely batsh*t, but wonderful. Each series visits a different, insanely extravagant resort in The White Lotus chain of luxury accommodations. But bizarrely, it doesn’t seem to matter whether you’re checking into the lush Hawaiian White Lotus, or the breathtaking Sicilian White Lotus – someone is going to wind up dead. But who is it and how did it all unfold?
This show is brilliantly hilarious and captivating. It’s funnier and faster moving that Your Friends and Neighbours, but it also explores those similar themes of wealth, class and what some people are willing to do to hold on to the lifestyle they lead – or at least what they outwardly lead others to believe they lead.
Watch it on: NEON
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