Taste-matched follow-ups

Shows like New Zealand Spy

These picks stay near the bureaucratic spy spoof, 1970s office farce, and low-stakes recruitment feel, then widen out into a few deeper cuts.

  • bureaucratic comedy
  • spy parody
  • 1970s
  • low-stakes rivalry
New Zealand Spy poster

6 shows to try next

Closest matches first, then broader nearby picks.

  1. President Curtis poster

    Closest match

    HBO Max · Jul 26, 2026

    President Curtis

    Why this fits: President Curtis keeps the same bureaucratic comedy engine as New Zealand Spy, with teams stuck managing crises through paperwork, meetings, and escalating incompetence. Expect irreverent workplace chaos and fast, adult jokes that feel bigger and stranger than the 1970s spy spoof setup.

    • bureaucratic chaos
    • adult satire
  2. Slow Horses poster

    Direct match

    AppleTV+ · Sep 24, 2025

    Slow Horses

    IMDb 8.3

    Why this fits: Slow Horses shares New Zealand Spy’s love of spy work drained of glamour, trading heroics for office hierarchy, grudges, and dry, deadpan humor. You get tense scenes where people survive on bad tradecraft and stubborn personalities, darker and more grounded than the 1970s spoof energy.

    • bureaucratic humiliation
    • office hierarchy
  3. Ground Up poster

    Direct match

    ABC iview · Jun 7, 2026

    Ground Up

    IMDb 7.5

    Why this fits: Ground Up and New Zealand Spy both mine laughs from small-scale government life, where plans collide with local personalities and stubborn rules. The mockumentary talking-heads and civic chaos bring a warmer, community-focused messiness, while New Zealand Spy stays sharper and more rivalry-driven.

    • mockumentary
    • local politics
  4. The Chair Company poster

    Deeper cut

    MAX · Oct 12, 2025

    The Chair Company

    IMDb 7.4
    Why this fits

    New Zealand Spy’s 1970s office farce and low-stakes recruitment humor land best when the workplace keeps escalating. The Chair Company leans into surreal workplace comedy and paranoia mystery, but it turns the bureaucratic dread darker and more thriller-leaning, with office humiliation and conspiracy gone weird.

    • surreal workplace comedy
    • dark bureaucratic dread
    • paranoia mystery
  5. The Paper poster

    Deeper cut

    NBC · Nov 10, 2025

    The Paper

    IMDb 7.0
    Why this fits

    New Zealand Spy uses story-driven comedy and national self-deprecation to make spy work feel like an awkward job. The Paper keeps things in mockumentary workplace comedy territory with documentary crew chaos and bromance co-workers, trading spy bureaucracy for midwestern newsroom volunteer antics and lighter, more situational laughs.

    • mockumentary workplace comedy
    • bromance co-workers
    • documentary crew chaos
  6. Undercover Miss Hong poster

    Deeper cut

    Netflix · Jan 17, 2026

    Undercover Miss Hong

    Why this fits

    New Zealand Spy’s bureaucratic spy spoof thrives on recruitment mishaps inside a rigid office system. Undercover Miss Hong adds retro office farce and identity undercover, with boss-employee rivalry and suspicious money capers raising the stakes, plus boyfriend-girlfriend complications that keep the comedy tied to a riskier con.

    • retro office farce
    • identity undercover
    • dark workplace comedy

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