Silicon Valley was an HBO show that ran for six seasons between 2014 and 2019. The series was created by Mike Judge, who also created King of the Hill and Office Space, as well as Dave Krinsky and John Altschuler, both of whom also produced King of the Hill. It followed a group of friends who started their own company in Silicon Valley and was a scathing parody of the tech industry, taking cues from Facebook and Google and turning them into comedic gold.
The comedy series starred Thomas Middleditch as Richard Hendricks, the mind behind the algorithm that pushes the show forward, T.J. Miller as Elrich Bachman, an arrogant man-child who takes credit for other people’s ideas, and Martin Starr and Kumail Nanjiani as Gilfoyle and Dinesh, respectively ⏤ co-workers of Richard’s who he hires to help implement his algorithm.
Fans of the show know how hilarious it was to watch the characters deal with their increasing levels of success while simultaneously navigating the pitfalls they had a habit of falling into. Unfortunately, the great series ended in 2019, but if you’re looking for a similarly funny show to fill the Silicon Valley-sized hole in your life, here are 10 that you’ll undoubtedly enjoy just as much.
Veep
Like Silicon Valley, Veep is an excellent show that also aired on HBO, running for seven seasons from 2012 to 2019. Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and an amazing ensemble cast, Veep was a comedy series that followed Vice President Selina Meyer and her team through her political career. The show was mainly a scathing political satire, portraying most of the figures therein as incompetent while also having some of the most vulgar lines in any series to date.
Veep was for politics what Silicon Valley was for tech. The two series have a lot in common, vulgarity being one of them. Both are beautifully written, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a five-minute stretch in either where one character doesn’t insult another. While they’re both the pinnacle of parody for their respective fields, they also tend to take their subject matters quite seriously. Veep shows the ins and outs of American politics ⏤ albeit less seriously than shows like The West Wing ⏤ and Silicon can get quite honest about the tech industry. At the end of the day, both are fundamentally fantastic comedies, which is why any Silicon fan should give Veep a chance.
Mythic Quest
Mythic Quest is still in production and has at least two more seasons on the way, but the show has currently had two seasons and was first released in 2020 on Apple TV. Created by the team behind It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and starring Rob McElhenney, Mythic Quest is a sitcom that follows the development team of a fictitious video game of the same name.
Aside from being funny and quirky in a similar vein to Silicon Valley, the show also takes place in something of an adjacent industry, though the characters in Mythic Quest seem to be slightly better at their jobs for the most part. Silicon takes place in the tech industry and Mythic Quest in the gaming industry, which was at least touched upon in Silicon. Both series deal with similar stories, too, with Silicon focused on growing its company Pied Piper while Mythic Quest is about growing and sustaining its video game. Think of Mythic Quest as a slightly less absurd Silicon and you have a solid picture of what the series is, which is why fans of Silicon would enjoy it.
The IT Crowd
The IT Crowd was an excellent British sitcom that ran from 2006 to 2013. The series follows two IT support guys, Moss and Roy, played by Richard Ayoade and Chris O’Dowd. The show’s comedy is quite dry and stems mostly from the superiority of its two main characters, especially when they have to deal with anyone who has run into “trouble” with their IT needs or their new manager, Jen.
The IT Crowd and Silicon Valley are similar in theme in that they both have a “tech” element. In Silicon, the characters work in the tech industry, while The IT Crowd is about a couple of guys who essentially work in tech support. In fact, it could definitely be argued that Moss and Roy are almost identical in nature to Gilfoyle and Dinesh from Silicon. The IT Crowd is not quite as vulgar as Silicon, but it shares the quick wit of the latter, opting for a drier delivery. The IT Crowd has 25 episodes of comedic brilliance awaiting any Silicon fan.
Scrubs
Scrubs ran for nine seasons from 2001 to 2010 and starred Zach Braff as the naive and lovable J.D. The comedy follows the inhabitants of the Sacred Heart Hospital as a group of interns, nurses, and doctors navigate the medical field. A large part of the series is devoted to J.D. and Elliot Reid’s will they/won’t they relationship, which makes it less like Silicon Valley than most of the entries on this list. The show is a great comedy but perhaps unlike Silicon, it has a great heart and isn’t afraid to get emotional from time to time.
Scrubs and Silicon feel the most similar when they’re being absurd or serious, though Scrubs does hit both ends of this spectrum harder than Silicon does. Scrubs definitely has more grounded, somewhat sad moments, but when Silicon gets serious ⏤ like when Richard is taken to court or when he’s fired as CEO ⏤ it feels somewhat reminiscent of when Scrubs would do the same. J.D. was quite a comedic character, often disappearing into his own world, which was a great opportunity for some hilarious moments.
Community
Created by Dan Harmon of Rick and Morty fame, Community ran for six seasons (after getting cancelled once or twice) from 2009 to 2015. The show starred Joel McHale as Jeff Winger, a lawyer without a law degree who is forced to join a community college before he can return to the law. The show is famous for its large and talented ensemble cast, which included Donald Glover and Alison Brie. Community was also known for its uniquely absurd situations, like the time a paintball fight was staged at a college and an episode was devoted to parallel universes.
While there are hardly any scenarios in Silicon Valley that reach the hilarious absurdity that Community was known for, the comedy stylings of both shows are somewhat similar. Community, like Silicon, had an interesting way of being witty and somewhat dry while also being quite loud. Community rarely handled any dramatic situations, usually opting for more trivial pursuits when it came to its plot, but it’s the snappy style of comedy that really hits home how alike both shows are.
Entourage
Entourage ran for eight seasons between 2004 and 2011 and was also adapted into a film in 2015. The comedy followed a group of friends as they navigated the tumultuous ups and downs of Hollywood. The lead of the group, Vincent Chase (played by Adrian Grenier) finds success as an actor and as a rising tide lifts all boats, he brings his friends Ethan ‘E,’ Turtle, and his brother Johnny ‘Drama’ with him. The show was both a little ahead of its time and extremely of its time, as some of the show’s jokes probably wouldn’t hold up as well today.
Like Silicon Valley and Veep, Entourage satirized the world on which it was based, poking fun at real-world actors and directors while satirizing the film industry as a whole. It may have focused on the more dramatic at times, but it’s the satire that makes it similar to Silicon. A prime example of this is the entire character of Ari Gold. He was an abusive, outlandish agent who would often shout expletives and outrageously belittle people ⏤ most notably his assistant ⏤ just because he could. This type of character is represented multiple times in Silicon in the forms of Gavin Belson and Russ Hanneman, both of whom were outlandish and outrageous in their own ways.
Avenue 5
The shortest show on this list, Avenue 5 (created by Veep creator Armando Iannucci) has only one season to its name but has thankfully been renewed for a second. Starring Hugh Laurie, Josh Gad, and Zach Woods of Silicon Valley fame, Avenue 5 is a comedy set on a cruise ship in space. Of course, all hell breaks loose when the ship is suddenly thrown off-course. Somewhat sillier than Veep, Avenue 5 operates in something of a similar vein in that the people who are in control are bad at their jobs. It doesn’t hurt that some of the best comedic actors at work today are in the series, either.
Avenue 5 is a little drier than Silicon Valley, but it has the same style of humor, opting to build jokes through situational occurrences and allowing funnier moments to breathe and become slightly outrageous. Like many other shows on this list, it’s also a satirization but more one of the corporate world, which is similar to Silicon in a few ways. For example, both involve the shifting of blame. Because the show takes place in space, the series also has a sci-fi element that might appeal to Silicon fans who liked the show for its tech element. There are only 10 episodes so far, so it’s worth checking out before you have to get too involved, but chances are Silicon fans will enjoy what Avenue 5 has to offer.
BoJack Horseman
The Netflix series starring Will Arnett as everyone’s favorite talking actor-horse, BoJack Horseman ran for six seasons between 2014 and 2020. The animated show was basically the cartoon equivalent of Entourage in that it openly satirized Hollywood. In addition to being extremely funny, it also dealt with the themes of addiction, depression, and mental health. The show used its animation and comedy to unique effect, telling stories that were impactful, meaningful, and somewhat profound while also managing to make us laugh. For example, BoJack’s mother is a problematic figure in the show, and in a standout episode from season five called “Free Churro,” BoJack goes to her funeral to give her eulogy and try to make peace with the fact that the woman he hated for so long is finally gone. In true BoJack fashion, however, he turns out to be in front of the wrong casket and at the wrong funeral.
BoJack Horseman is like Silicon Valley in that both use comedy to delve into somewhat darker themes ⏤ BoJack with depression and Silicon with anxiety and, to an extent, greed. As his company grows, Richard’s anxiety increases and he deals with panic attacks. He also deals with rival CEO Gavin Belson trying to financially ruin him, take control of his company, and steal his algorithm. BoJack is remarkably brilliant, unique, and funny, and any Silicon fan should love it.
30 Rock
Starring Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock is a sitcom that takes place in 30 Rockefeller Plaza and follows Liz Lemon, the head writer of a sketch comedy show. The comedy ran from 2006 to 2013 for seven seasons and is a fantastic parody of the life of a television writer as she tries to wrangle talent as well as her boss to make her show a winner. While the greatest strength of the show was its writing, it also shines because of the chemistry of the actors involved. Fey, Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jack McBrayer, and Jane Krakowski are absolute standouts.
The series was never more dramatic than Silicon Valley and was also rarely more absurd. It shares the most common style of parody exhibited on this list, as it satirizes the television industry much like Silicon satirizes the tech industry. What makes 30 Rock more similar to Silicon is that it wasn’t afraid to poke fun at itself and never took itself too seriously, which is something that Silicon tended to do as well. Like Silicon, it also has one of the strongest comedic ensemble casts on this list, making 30 Rock perfect for any Silicon fan.
Succession
Featuring a large ensemble cast including Brian Cox as Logan Roy and Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy, Succession is a fantastic series that has currently had three seasons so far. An HBO Original, Succession follows the Roy family as Logan tries to figure out what’s next for his billion-dollar media empire, Waystar Royco. The series is a scathing satire of how the filthy rich live and contains a smattering of dramatic moments while managing to be extremely cringe-worthy and hilarious.
The series is definitely more dramatic than Silicon Valley, but Succession manages to be on a similar level comedically. Succession’s comedy comes from not only its vulgar dialogue and awkward character interactions but also its absurdity. For example, the first episode saw Roman Roy, played by Kieran Culkin, offer a young boy a million dollars if he would hit a home run in their baseball game. Of course, Roman was completely serious, but it didn’t stop the situation from being outrageous. It feels reminiscent of when companies or people would be bought out in Silicon, though on a lesser scale.
Most of the shows on this list are strictly comedies, with a few of them venturing into and in some cases fully embracing the dramatic. However, every one of them should satiate fans of Silicon Valley now that your favorite tech comedy has come to an end.
Published: Mar 4, 2022 12:58 pm