10 Dark Comedies to Watch If You Love Succession
Finding a good show after Succession can be surprisingly difficult: you may want the money, the ruthless family politics, the comedy, or simply characters who make every conversation feel like a negotiation. The ten recommendations below follow your ranking exactly. We start the countdown at your #10 and leave your #1 pick for last.
These are not ten copies of Succession. They are ten different answers to the same viewing itch: power changing how people love, work, compete and behave. You will find finance, corporate founders, political offices, media companies, family businesses, dark comedies and prestige dramas.
Every entry begins with the premise, so you can meet the main characters and understand the conflict before the opinion. Then we explain what works, why the series holds this particular rank and who is most likely to enjoy it. Streaming availability is linked to current UK listings because rights change.
Keep this list handy if you are searching for shows like Succession, corporate drama, HBO dramas, dark comedy, workplace satire, prestige television or a new series to binge. Choose based on whether you miss the boardroom, the family mess, the jokes or the uneasy feeling that everyone is negotiating. Let’s get into it 👇
Sometimes the part you miss most about Succession is how funny its characters are while making terrible choices. Dark comedy gives that impulse plenty of room: a joke can reveal a person’s self-deception, make a family feud more absurd or let an awkward silence say what a speech would spoil. The ten shows below use that humour in very different settings, from a political office to a resort, an acting class, a church empire and a small-town intelligence cover.
This countdown keeps your exact order, beginning with Patriot at #10 and ending with Veep at #1. We look at the premise first, then the cast dynamics, the tone and the reason each show sits where it does. Some are primarily comedies with dramatic stakes; some begin as mysteries or crime stories and grow stranger as their characters make things worse. The descriptions stay away from major twists so the central hook can remain a hook.
Dark comedy is personal. You might prefer jokes that arrive at speed, like Veep, or a quieter awkwardness that grows more unsettling, like Patriot. You may want a mystery to pull you through episodes, or a character study that can turn a laugh into a moment of recognition. The list explains those differences rather than treating every sharp show as interchangeable.
The UK JustWatch links let you check current availability by service, season and format. Streaming rights move, so confirm the options before settling in. If your favourite kind of Succession scene is a status contest disguised as a conversation, several of these picks will feel familiar while still giving you a fresh world to watch.
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10. Patriot
John Tavner is an intelligence officer sent undercover as a worker at a Midwestern industrial-piping company. He needs the job to support a covert political mission, but he is exhausted and increasingly reliant on folk songs to work through his assignments. His father Tom directs him, while brother Edward is part of the family operation. John must keep the cover, complete the mission and contain a series of small mistakes that keep widening into serious risks.
Michael Dorman plays John’s strain without turning every awkward moment into a gag. The office setting makes the spy plot feel peculiarly ordinary, while the songs let the show express feelings John cannot say aloud. Its humour is dry and patient, and the supporting cast make the piping company feel like a real workplace.
Why it ranks here: It opens at #10 because its deadpan style is distinctive but more idiosyncratic than the broader dark comedies above it. Its spy premise connects less directly to Succession’s family and status games.
Who should watch it: Try it for offbeat workplace comedy and a weary antihero.
Where to watch: UK availability changes, so check the current JustWatch UK listing before you press play.
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9. Search Party
Dory Sief is a self-absorbed young woman living in Brooklyn who becomes fixated on the disappearance of Chantal, a former college acquaintance. Her boyfriend Drew, actor friend Portia and scene-stealing Elliott join the search, each for their own reasons. What begins as a missing-person mystery draws the group into consequences they are poorly equipped to handle. The series keeps changing shape as Dory’s choices make the mystery less about Chantal and more about the friends’ appetite for attention and control.
Alia Shawkat grounds Dory’s self-involvement, while John Early and Meredith Hagner make Elliott and Portia’s performance of confidence part of the joke. The series grows darker as the plot moves forward, rewarding viewers who like a comedy that refuses to stay in one genre. Its characters’ certainty is often more frightening than the mystery itself.
Why it ranks here: It ranks ninth because its tonal invention and character satire are strong, but the shifting premise makes it less consistently focused than the entries above. It beats Patriot on recognisable social comedy and group dynamics.
Who should watch it: Pick it for a mystery that keeps mutating and a sharp ensemble.
Where to watch: UK availability changes, so check the current JustWatch UK listing before you press play.
8. Dead to Me
Jen Harding is a recently widowed mother trying to manage grief and raise her sons when she meets Judy Hale at a support group. Their friendship develops quickly, but Judy is carrying a secret connected to Jen’s husband’s death. As Jen pursues the truth and Judy tries to keep the friendship intact, they become entangled in decisions that make honesty increasingly difficult. The central question is whether friendship can survive when one person has helped create the other’s pain.
Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini give the mismatched friendship warmth and friction. The show’s mystery hook keeps episodes moving, while grief and anger make the jokes land with a painful edge. Its suburban setting looks calm beside the increasingly complicated events, which is a useful comic contrast.
Why it ranks here: It takes eighth because its premise and performances make an accessible dark-comedy binge, but its emotional register is more heartfelt than Succession’s colder satire. The titles above are more formally daring or tightly tied to power.
Who should watch it: Watch for a friendship story, secrets and humour in the middle of grief.
Where to watch: UK availability changes, so check the current JustWatch UK listing before you press play.
Before #7
7. Bad Sisters
The Garvey sisters—Eva, Grace, Ursula, Bibi and Becka—are close, but Grace’s marriage to controlling John Paul causes increasing concern. In the present-day story, insurance brothers Thomas and Matt Claffin investigate John Paul’s death because their company may owe a large payout. The series moves between the sisters’ efforts to protect Grace and the investigation that tries to understand what happened. Each sister has a different history with John Paul, so family loyalty becomes both motive and shield.
Sharon Horgan and the ensemble make the sisters feel like people who know one another too well to hide their feelings. The two timelines create a smart mystery, while the comedy comes from family arguments, insurance bureaucracy and the sisters’ imperfect plans. Its Irish setting and strong sibling bond give it a warmer center than Succession even when the story is dark.
Why it ranks here: It sits seventh because it combines murder mystery and family comedy with a strong ensemble, but its moral center is more sympathetic than Succession’s. The entries above push satire further or make character flaws more central.
Who should watch it: Choose it for sisterhood, a dark mystery and comedy with emotional warmth.
Where to watch: UK availability changes, so check the current JustWatch UK listing before you press play.
6. Arrested Development
Michael Bluth tries to keep his family’s property business alive after his father George Sr. is arrested for financial wrongdoing. His siblings Gob, Lindsay and Buster keep generating new problems, while Michael’s son George Michael wants a stable life. The family has money and a name, but not the focus or cooperation required to rescue the company. Michael’s conflict is that he wants to act like the responsible parent, yet he cannot stop being pulled into his relatives’ schemes.
Jason Bateman’s exasperated Michael anchors a tightly plotted comedy where small details return as jokes much later. The Bluths’ wealth and selfishness make the business collapse an ongoing family farce. It is much broader than Succession, but it shares the pleasure of watching relatives fight over status while pretending the family brand is intact.
Why it ranks here: It ranks sixth because its company-and-family premise is an obvious thematic connection and its rewatchability is high. It sits below Fleabag because it favours elaborate sitcom mechanics over a central character’s emotional development.
Who should watch it: Best for viewers who want joke-dense family comedy and chaotic rich relatives.
Where to watch: UK availability changes, so check the current JustWatch UK listing before you press play.
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5. Fleabag
Fleabag is a woman in London running a struggling guinea-pig café while navigating grief, debt and relationships with her sister Claire and their difficult family. She speaks directly to the audience, using jokes and asides to control what we see of her life. When a priest enters her orbit, their attraction complicates the way she uses charm to avoid uncomfortable feelings. The series’ central conflict is whether she can be honest with herself and the people close to her without turning every intimate moment into a performance.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s writing moves quickly between sharp humour and painful recognition. The fourth-wall device is not just a gimmick; it shows Fleabag controlling the scene until a moment arrives that she cannot turn into a joke. Its two short seasons make it an easy binge, and the supporting characters have their own vivid comic rhythms.
Why it ranks here: It earns fifth because it pairs dark comedy with emotional precision better than most of the list, but it is more intimate and less ensemble-driven than the shows above.
Who should watch it: Choose it for a short, funny and emotionally direct character study.
Where to watch: UK availability changes, so check the current JustWatch UK listing before you press play.
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4. The Righteous Gemstones
The Gemstones are a family of televangelists whose large church brings money, public influence and staff. Jesse, Judy and Kelvin each want more authority, while their father Eli tries to keep the ministry and family under control. Their polished stage image hides jealousy, resentment and bad decisions that threaten the family’s reputation. As the siblings compete and scandals emerge, the church becomes a business that they are all trying to inherit or reshape.
Danny McBride and Edi Patterson give the show a bold comic voice, while John Goodman makes Eli a formidable parent. The series uses crime and farce alongside its family story, creating a bigger, noisier world than Succession. Its best jokes reveal how privilege can disguise selfishness as a calling.
Why it ranks here: It sits fourth because it matches Succession’s legacy-business theme and has a strong sibling ensemble. The three comedies above it are more formally precise or consistently focused on the central workplace.
Who should watch it: Watch for dark family satire, televangelist culture and big comic performances.
Where to watch: UK availability changes, so check the current JustWatch UK listing before you press play.
After #3
3. Barry
Barry Berkman is a contract killer who travels to Los Angeles for a job and discovers an acting class led by Gene Cousineau. He wants to leave his criminal life and become an actor; classmate Sally Reed seems connected to that possibility. But handler Fuches and Barry’s violent work keep drawing him back. Barry’s conflict is whether a new role can give him a new identity when he avoids facing the people hurt by his old one.
Bill Hader gives Barry an awkwardness that makes the character funny, then unsettling, often in the same scene. The acting class provides comedy, but the criminal story keeps consequences close. Henry Winkler and Sarah Goldberg add characters with their own ambitions, so the series is not only a portrait of Barry’s wish to start over.
Why it ranks here: It takes third because its tonal balance and character writing are superb, though its crime setting is less directly about workplace or political power than the top two. The dark humour also gets harsher as the series develops.
Who should watch it: Choose it for antihero comedy, acting-world satire and crime tension.
Where to watch: UK availability changes, so check the current JustWatch UK listing before you press play.
2. The White Lotus
Each season follows guests and staff at a luxury resort, introducing a new group of vacationers and a fresh location. The guests arrive expecting service, but employees carry their own pressures and relationships. A death suggested near the start creates a mystery, while the season explores how money and privilege shape who gets listened to and who is expected to adapt. The resort is a temporary community where status differences become difficult to ignore.
The show finds comedy in the small frictions of wealthy people on holiday: a room, an excursion or a conversation can reveal the power imbalance underneath the resort’s friendliness. The ensemble performances give each character a private agenda, and the changing cast makes every season feel like a new social experiment. Its humour can be uncomfortable without losing its entertainment value.
Why it ranks here: It ranks second because it is an exceptional dark satire and close in spirit to Succession, but Veep’s full concentration on ambition and comic dialogue makes it an even tighter fit for this list.
Who should watch it: Best for viewers who want class satire, an ensemble and a stylish mystery frame.
Where to watch: UK availability changes, so check the current JustWatch UK listing before you press play.
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1. Veep
Selina Meyer is a vice president hoping to turn her office into a route to greater political power. Her staff—Gary, Amy, Dan and Mike—try to deliver on shifting plans, repair press problems and protect their own careers. Selina treats public appearances as opportunities, while the people around her learn that proximity to power can be valuable and exhausting. The show’s ongoing story follows the group through campaigns, offices and political reversals as each person tries to improve their position.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus makes Selina’s ego both the comic engine and the reason her staff keep getting dragged into trouble. The series has an unusually focused ensemble: each character has a distinct way of failing upward or bargaining for access. Its insults are sharp, but the strongest satire comes from a workplace where the staff know how unserious their leaders can be and still need the job.
Why it ranks here: It wins #1 because it combines ruthless ambition, fast dialogue, institutional absurdity and a consistently strong ensemble more tightly than the other dark comedies here. The White Lotus has broader social satire and Barry has a more dramatic character arc, but Veep best matches the office-power comedy that many Succession fans miss.
Who should watch it: Watch if you want political workplace satire, rapid jokes and ambitious people in every scene.
Where to watch: UK availability changes, so check the current JustWatch UK listing before you press play.
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Conclusion
The strongest shows on this list understand that power is personal. A career, family business, political office or restaurant can become a place where people bargain for love and respect as much as money. That is why Succession fans often enjoy series with sharp dialogue, shifting alliances and characters who cannot separate ambition from identity.
For finance and corporate life, try Industry or Billions. For family rivalry, The Bear, Yellowstone or Arrested Development offer very different temperatures. For satire, Veep and The White Lotus turn status into comedy. Our #1 wins because its world, characters, performances and ongoing conflict make the best overall match for the specific reason behind this watchlist. Tell us what you would move up or down, and which show we missed.
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Before FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I watch after Succession?
Start with the #1 pick if you want the closest match to this article’s ranking criteria. Industry is a strong choice for finance and workplace hierarchy; The White Lotus is better for class satire; Veep suits viewers who mainly miss the sharp jokes. The rest of the list gives you more specific options by mood. For the quickest decision, match the show to the element you miss most: family conflict, workplace manoeuvring, class satire or rapid dialogue. The #1 choice is the strongest overall fit for this list, while the other entries serve narrower moods.
Which show is most similar to Succession?
The closest match depends on what you liked. Industry shares the financial setting and ruthless career ladder. Billions focuses on wealth and legal power. For family rivalry and social satire, Yellowstone, Arrested Development or The White Lotus offer different versions of that tension. Similarity is a matter of emphasis. A shared subject does not guarantee a shared tone, so look at the premise and cast dynamics in the entry before choosing. That will tell you whether you want a close thematic cousin or a change of pace.
Are these ranked from worst to best?
Yes. The list follows the titles in the order you supplied. Your first title remains #1 and appears last in the countdown; the tenth title begins at #10. Each entry includes a reason for its exact position. The countdown begins with your #10 selection and ends with your #1. We explain the trade-offs at each position, including when a title is excellent in its own right but less aligned with the core theme of this particular list.
Where can I stream these shows in the UK?
Streaming rights vary by title, season and subscription. Each ranked entry links to a JustWatch UK search where you can check the current subscription, rental and purchase options before watching. The linked JustWatch UK search is the most practical starting point for current options. Check the exact season and format, since a service may offer only part of a series or list it for digital rental rather than as part of a subscription.
Which show is best for a quick binge?
Limited series and short seasons are easiest to finish quickly. Check the JustWatch UK page linked in each entry for season availability and current providers. If you want a longer character journey, choose one of the multi-season dramas. A shorter run can make a show easier to finish, but the best quick binge also needs a clear story engine. Use the premise notes to decide whether you want a contained mystery, a single workplace season or a longer ensemble you can spend time with.
Which show has the strongest workplace drama?
Industry and Billions focus on finance; The Morning Show centres on a broadcast newsroom; The Bear puts its crew in a restaurant kitchen. House of Lies and Veep use workplace politics for comedy. The strongest choice depends on whether you want realistic professional pressure, comic office politics or relationships that spill from work into family life. The article points out those distinctions so you can select the workplace rather than just the genre label.
Are these recommendations spoiler-free?
The descriptions cover each show’s starting situation and ongoing conflict without revealing major endings. They may mention an early inciting event needed to explain the premise, but avoid late-season twists. We include the setup and early conflict because readers need enough context to decide whether a show is for them. Later turns, finales and major character outcomes are left out, so you can start with the central question still intact.
Can I watch these without having seen Succession?
Yes. The shows work on their own. The article explains the main characters and conflicts, and the comparisons are there to help you decide what to watch next. Each recommendation introduces its own characters and story, so no previous knowledge of Succession is required. The comparisons refer to themes and tone only; they do not depend on having memorised the Roy family’s business history.
Which show has the best ensemble cast?
That depends on whether you prefer drama or comedy. The White Lotus, Industry, The Bear and Veep each build a distinctive group whose characters want different things. The entries explain the cast dynamics before recommending them. Look for the entry whose supporting characters have goals beyond reacting to the lead. A strong ensemble gives each conversation more than one agenda, which is one of the qualities Succession fans often want from a new drama or comedy.
Why does the #1 show rank above the others?
The top spot goes to the show that best combines a clear premise, memorable performances, sustained character conflict, entertainment value and a close fit with the reason a Succession fan is searching for another series. The top-ranked title wins because its premise, character dynamics and tone line up most closely with the purpose of this watchlist. The comparison also accounts for what it does better than the other nine choices, while recognising the different strengths that make those shows worthwhile.
More Places to Find Great Movies and TV Shows
IMDb is useful for cast and episode details. Rotten Tomatoes gathers critic and audience reviews, while Metacritic compares reviews across publications. JustWatch UK tracks current streaming and digital rental options.
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