If you are after a comedy that actually makes you laugh out loud, Maniac is available in Australia on Netflix, and in the US on Netflix right now. The 1-season run is exactly the right length for what it is doing. A 7/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Emma Stone sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. Available now on Netflix — press play and find out why people keep recommending it.

Maniac arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. Maniac gets the fundamentals right first, then finds room to get weird with it. Two strangers are drawn to a mysterious pharmaceutical trial that will, they're assured, with no complications or side-effects whatsoever, solve all of their problems, permanently. Things do not go as planned. The chemistry Emma Stone and Jonah Hill bring to it does a lot of the heavy lifting. It was aired in 2018. What keeps Maniac from feeling disposable is a cast that clearly understands the material better than the format usually demands. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Maniac is the kind of thing you put on in the background and end up fully watching. Fans of Black Mirror will recognise the sensibility here immediately. A contained run means every episode is doing real work. Emma Stone anchors an ensemble with real chemistry. Genuinely funny, consistently, across the whole run.

Maniac wrapped up in 2018, created by Patrick Somerville and Cary Joji Fukunaga — and 1 season is available to watch from start to finish. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.