If there’s one thing Netflix is good at, or at least attempts very hard to be good at with varying levels of success, it’s harnessing the collective zeitgeist for a bellyful of laughter in a star-studded comedy special as we try to forget some of the more painful things going on in the world.
The laughter-as-medicine approach had previously been done with Netflix’s special last year and they’re bringing it back for another round with the forthcoming follow-up Death to 2021.
Though a premise such as doing a comedic retrospective of what was a terrible year for many due to issues such as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic may sound like it is at risk of re-igniting our collective trauma, the brief but humorous scene with Diane Morgan portraying an “average British citizen” on lockdown and seeing her virtual dating life culminate in a “Zoom cuddle” certainly teased the chuckles out of us.
The special will follow the same formula as last year, a documentary-style recounting of the events of this year that mixes archival footage from throughout 2021 coupled with commentary from fictitious characters played by household-name actors. We’re sure the special will touch on such 2021 lows as various coronavirus variants and resurgences and a relatively rare attack on the U.S. Capitol that already feels like a century ago but actually occurred within the last 12 months.
Death to 2021 comes to Netflix Dec. 27 and stars Morgan, Hugh Grant, Lucy Liu, Tracey Ullman, Samson Kayo, Joe Keery, William Jackson Harper, Stockard Channing, Cristin Milioti, Nick Mohammed, and others.
