An absolute must-watch.
Originally airing on Channel 4 from 2015 to 2019, Catastrophe doesn’t have an exceptional premise.
As per its almost hilariously unfunny Wikipedia synopsis: “Irish primary school teacher Sharon is single and lives in London. She meets single American advertising executive Rob in a bar whilst he is visiting London on a business trip. They have a six-day fling and he returns to his home town, Boston. She discovers that she is pregnant by him. After she informs him of that, he moves to London and they become a couple. They marry shortly before she gives birth to their son. They later have a daughter.”
Not a lot to go on there, admittedly. But what the show does have in spades is an unforgettable central duo of Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney, working off some absolutely astounding screenplays that they wrote themselves.
They both would go on to bigger things – Horgan had both Bad Sisters and Game Night, while Delaney is popping up in megablockbusters like Deadpool 2 and Hobbs & Shaw – it is tough to think of it ever getting any better than this.
Netflix has just added Catastrophe, one of the best comedy shows of the decade.
As per Rotten Tomatoes, Catastrophe has been pretty much universally loved for its entire run, with Season One scoring 100%, Season Two scoring 100%, Season Three scoring 100% and Season Four scoring 95%.
TIME – “The characters’ wicked senses of humour, the genuine care they lavish on one another, and the stars’ electrifying chemistry create a durable bond…”
The Independent – “It celebrates the small, warm moments of a relationship, but truly rejoices in the fingernail-digging anger that surges when your other half takes too long to reach for the door key.”
Slate – “Catastrophe is hilarious, dirty, quick, and very satisfying-not unlike the sex lives of its protagonists.”
Vanity Fair – “The show can be vulgar and dark – Sharon jokes that getting married will only make it harder to sleep with other men – but also heart-meltingly sweet, sometimes at the same time.”
All 24 episodes of Catastrophe are available to watch on Netflix from today (Wednesday 26 April).
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