Taste-matched follow-ups
These picks stay near the bureaucratic spy spoof, 1970s office farce, and gentle recruitment feel, then widen out into a few deeper cuts.
Closest matches first, then broader nearby picks.
Why this fits: President Curtis and New Zealand Spy both mine comedy from people stuck doing crisis work inside a broken system. In President Curtis, the team’s frantic problem-solving keeps getting tangled in paperwork and workplace chaos, while New Zealand Spy turns spy training and recruitment into 1970s bureaucratic farce.
Why this fits: Ground Up and New Zealand Spy share a taste for story-driven comedy where local institutions trip over their own plans. Ground Up’s mockumentary look at civic ambition and committee friction lands jokes through deadpan meetings and escalating blunders, the same way New Zealand Spy keeps turning spy bureaucracy and Australia rivalry into escalating, laughable messes.
Why this fits: Slow Horses and New Zealand Spy both deliver humor and tension from disgraced teams working under incompetent authority. Slow Horses brings the danger and workplace humiliation in a steady, tightening pace, while New Zealand Spy keeps it lighter with 1970s spy spoof energy and jokes that come from recruitment failures and petty rivalry.
New Zealand Spy’s 1970s office farce and bureaucratic spy spoof thrive on paperwork getting people tangled up. The Paper keeps the mockumentary workplace comedy and documentary crew chaos, but swaps spy recruitment for midwestern newsroom volunteer reporter antics and bromance co-workers.
Ted Lasso brings warm workplace comedy built on outsider coaching and small-gesture bonding, which echoes New Zealand Spy’s gentle recruitment and story-driven comedy. Instead of spy bureaucracy, you get boss-employee rivalry inside a small-town sports world, with more heartfelt character growth than national self-deprecation.
Undercover Miss Hong leans into retro office farce where identity disguise and suspicious money capers create constant workplace hierarchy friction. That pairs with New Zealand Spy’s bureaucratic spy spoof, but the consequences feel darker and more personal, with boyfriend-girlfriend complications and sharper office power games.
Need another angle?
If these picks still leave you wanting more, describe the tone, tension, or structure you want next.
