What We Do in the Shadows
The funniest thing about immortality is how petty you'd still be.
Vampires have had a pretty good run over the years. Sexy vampires. Scary vampires. Brooding vampires falling in love with high schoolers. What We Do in the Shadows looks at all of that gothic mythology and asks a much more important question:
What if vampires were just deeply annoying roommates?
Based on Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi's cult-classic film, the series follows a group of ancient bloodsuckers sharing a crumbling Staten Island house while bickering over chores, house meetings, relationship drama, and who forgot to properly dispose of the body downstairs.
Because here's the thing… immortality doesn't fix your personality. These vampires may be able to transform into bats, hypnotize humans, and drain people's blood — but they still spend most of their time being jealous, needy, passive-aggressive weirdos.
And nobody sells that better than this cast. Matt Berry was born for this material – every line sounds like Shakespeare trapped inside the world's horniest theater kid. Kayvan Novak and Natasia Demetriou are equally great, and Mark Proksch as Colin Robinson — an "energy vampire" who feeds by boring people to death in conversation — is the show's secret weapon. It's one of the funniest comedy concepts we can remember.
For all the supernatural nonsense, the show ends up being weirdly human – a comedy about friendship, codependency, and the depressing reality that even immortality won't stop people from annoying the hell out of each other.
Yes, it's mockumentary style. For those exhausted by the format – we feel you. But the writing is funny enough to win you over anyway – especially if this wacky wavelength of humor clicks for you.
Like all great roommate comedies, it's about living with people who drive you insane while becoming incapable of life without them. These people just happen to drink blood.
The Rundown
Performances
Matt Berry talks like Shakespeare got blackout drunk at a Ren Faire, while Mark Proksch turns aggressive boredom into one of the funniest characters on television. Natasia Demetriou, Kayvan Novak, and Harvey Guillén all commit to playing immortals with the emotional range of bad Yelp reviewers.
What You Come Here For
Your vampire fix. Roommate dysfunction, absurd creatures, and some of the funniest comedy on television. Vampires are inherently ridiculous — and the show exploits that fact relentlessly.
Best Episode
"The Trial" (S1E7) — huge vampire-world expansion, stacked cameos, and the episode where the show proves the concept can sustain a larger mythology.
Weak Spots
Like most mockumentaries, the format starts feeling a little too familiar by the later seasons.
Pair With
The Office, Flight of the Conchords, What We Do in the Shadows (film).
Included In
What Our
Ratings Mean
Learn More →Worth Your Time: Now we're talking. These are the shows you recommend to friends, bring up at dinner, and accidentally binge until 2AM. High 8s start flirting with greatness.
Suggested Viewing
Slow Horses
Most spy shows want to be taken as seriously as type 2 diabetes. Slow Horses lets Gary Oldman bungle through an assassination one minute, then fart on a park bench the next. Both feel equally essential.
Black Doves
Spies, Christmas in London, Kiera Knightly knocking heads — we're in.
Disclaimer
Visually stunning and frustratingly cold — sitting through a stunningly photographed dinner party where everyone hated being there.