‘Black Sails,’ ‘Dickinson’ & More Shows Like ‘Our Flag Means Death’
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The wait for an Our Flag Means Death Season 2 renewal continues. And if you’re reading this, we’re guessing you’ve already watched the HBO Max comedy several times over. But fear not! There are plenty of shows like Our Flag Means Death to fill the void your favorite pirate boyfriends left behind. From shows Taika Waititi has created to shows starring Rhys Darby and more, we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of shows like Our Flag Means Death.
And while Ted Lasso, Schitt’s Creek, and The Great may seem like some obvious inclusions, you won’t find them on this list. We love them…but those shows are well known. This list highlights shows that deserve more attention, plus some classics without which Our Flag Means Death never could have been made. The overarching theme: all of these shows will make you feel good.
Shows with Taika Waititi and Rhys Darby
Flight of the Conchords — HBO Max, Hulu
The musical parody series, created by Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, introduced us all to Rhys Darby. And it also brought Darby and Waititi together, making Our Flag Means Death possible. And like What We Do In the Shadows (featured next), Flight of the Conchords started as a different project before transforming for TV. McKenzie and Clement were a musical duo that translated their musical comedic stylings into a show.
Plus, Darby plays a manager in the series, much like his Captain Stede Bonnet acts like a modern-day manager to his crew. And it also features Kristen Schaal, who is a stable in Clement and Waititi’s shows following Conchords. She plays The Guide/Floating Woman in What We Do In the Shadows and French snob Antoinette in Episode 5 of Our Flag.
What We Do In the Shadows — Hulu
Vampire roomies Nadya, Lazlo, Nandor, and Colin Robinson try (and fail) to gain control of Staten Island with the help of Nandor’s familiar, Guillermo (who also happens to be a descendant of vampire hunter Van Helsing, much to his chagrin). Like Our Flag, it has a strong ensemble, each character getting their own hilarious individual plots that effect the show’s overall arc.
The vampire mockumentary started as a film starring Waititi, Clement, Jonny Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, and more. It was adapted into an FX comedy series starring Natasia Demetriou, Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Harvey Guillén, and Mark Proksch. Clement and Waititi write and executive produce the series.
Darby was in the original film playing a werewolf named Anton. He shared a scene with Waititi and Clement’s vampires, continuing his bit as a manager for his crew. Check out Waititi and Darby in the “Werewolves, not Swear Wolves” scene, above.
Reservation Dogs — Hulu
Co-created by Waititi and Sterlin Harjo, Reservation Dogs centers a group of Indigenous teens living in Oklahoma committing and fighting crime. The dramedy is equal parts hilarious and a realistic look at reservation life. Reservation Dogs stars D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Devery Jacobs, Paulina Alexis, and Lane Factor as the teens trying to make their way to California. The series also boasts an entirely Indigenous crew, from writers and directors to other production staff roles.
Shows Created by David Jenkins
People of Earth — Hulu
Our Flag wasn’t creator David Jenkins’ first comedy rodeo. He created the TBS comedy People of Earth, which had two seasons. People of Earth tracks members of a support group for alien abductees trying to cope with their extraterrestrial experiences. It starred Wyatt Cenac, Luka Jones, Alice Wetterlund, Ana Gasteyer, Michael Cassidy, Ken Hall, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Oscar Nuñez, and more.
Shows That Don’t Queer Bait
Dickinson — Apple TV+
Part of the success of Our Flag is that it doesn’t tease LGBTQIA+ couples without following through, aka queer baiting. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. Stede and Blackbeard’s romance is the main plot of the pirate period piece, and it’s spurred a litany of fan art under the hashtag #RenewOurFlagMeansDeath.
Apple TV+‘s Dickinson is another period comedy centering a queer relationship between Emily Dickinson (Hailee Steinfeld) and Sue Gilbert (Ella Hunt). Dickinson and Gilbert were lovers in real life. Stede and Blackbeard (Edward Teach) are also real historical figures who crossed paths, and while their romance is a creative liberty taken by the creative team, Jenkins told TV Insider that he believes a romance explains why the two wildly different men spent so much time together.
“The only explanation was that they had a relationship,” Jenkins said. “Like they fell in love, or at least at the very least they were having sex. It just seems to me like there was a relationship there. That’s the only thing that made all of the beats of the story as it happened, come together for me. And very quickly it was like, ‘oh, that’s the show.’”
Black Sails — Starz
Black Sails and Our Flag have the most in common out of any show on this list, despite the Starz series being a drama. They’re both about the Golden Age of Piracy, and they both feature Blackbeard, Stede “The Gentleman Pirate,” Israel Hands (Izzy Hands in Our Flag), and “Calico Jack” Rackham as characters.
Starz
In real life and in both of the shows, Stede and Blackbeard work together before eventually going their separate ways. Our Flag decided to romanticize their time together. If you want more pirate content while waiting for more Our Flag, Black Sails gives a dramatic look at the beloved characters while featuring more of history’s most infamous pirates.
The drama also features gay romances, which is historically accurate. Part of the mass appeal of pirates is that they lived outside of social norms. Anything can happen on the sea, as they say in Our Flag. And Black Sails doesn’t shy away from this part of pirate history. Black Sails stars Toby Stephens, Zach McGowan, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Toby Schmitz, Luke Arnold, Hannah New, and more.
Period Comedies
Blackadder — Hulu, The Roku Channel, Prime Video
Blackadder is a British historical comedy series from the 1980s starring Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, and more. Each of the four seasons were set in a different time period: the Middle Ages, Elizabethan England, the Regency era, and World War I.
Another Period — Comedy Central, Paramount+, Prime Video
Comedy Central’s Another Period is a period piece satirizing reality TV and its stars. Set in early 20th century Newport Rhode Island, the mockumentary ran from 2013 to 2018 and had a stacked cast featuring Natasha Legerro, Riki Lindhome, Michael Ian Black, Beth Dover, Christina Hendricks, Brett Gelman, Paget Brewster, David Koechner, Brian Huskey, and more.
Comedies With ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Humor
Miracle Workers — HBO Max
The Daniel Radcliffe and Steve Buscemi-led TBS comedy is similar to Blackadder in that it has a different setting every season. Miracle Workers Season 1 satirizes heaven, depicting the afterlife in an office setting run by Buscemi’s bitter God (he tries to kill Bill Maher in the pilot by exploding his genitals) and Radcliffe as an angel trying to answer peoples’ prayers.
Season 2 is set in the Dark Ages, with Radcliffe playing a prince and Buscemi playing a sh*t shoveler. Season 3 is set on the Oregon Trail, with Radcliffe playing a reverend and Buscemi playing a bandit. It’s absurd and whimsical, and it’s a feel-good watch like Our Flag. And if you’ve seen that clip of Radcliffe in drag singing “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain,” that’s from Miracle Workers.
Check it out here, because it very much is required viewing.
Pen15 — Hulu
Another absurd comedy, Hulu‘s Pen15 stars comics Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle as 13-year-old versions of themselves. The plot pulls from their own embarrassing childhood stories, and the comedy deserves much more attention than it gets.
Good Omens — Prime Video
Good Omens stars Michael Sheen and David Tennant as a fussy Angel and loose-living Demon who have grown fond of their lives on Earth. When the End of the World approaches, they join forces to stop it, but they lost the 11-year-old Antichrist who’s meant to bring Armageddon. Throws a bit of a wrench in the whole “save the world” plan, I’d say.
Sheen and Tenant are wonderful comedic duo, and fans love the tension between them. While the angel and demon don’t get together, it’s not a queer-baity story. And it will give you all the Stede and Ed vibes. Good Omens Season 2 began filming in 2021.
Amazon Studios
Ghosts — Paramount+
Ghosts on CBS is a new comedy series based on the U.K. comedy of the same name. Like What We Do In the Shadows, it combines period with modern-day. It stars Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar as Sam and Jay, a couple opening a B&B at their haunted inherited estate.
There’s a viking ghost, a Revolutionary War ghost who falls for a Redcoat ghost (oh, boy), and a ghost missing his pants. The all-new comedy features an endearingly hilarious ensemble you’re bound to love.
The Last Man on Earth — Hulu
Another slept on comedy, Fox’s Last Man On Earth is one of those shows you don’t expect to be as good as it is. Will Forte plays the titular last man, Phil, who thinks he’s alone on Earth two years after a virus wipes out the population (…perhaps this is too soon to watch. But maybe it’ll be fun!)
Phil soon learns he’s not alone. The first person he meets is Schaal’s Carol, the supposed last woman on Earth. And they discover there’s more left of the human race than they previously thought. The comedy also stars January Jones, Cleopatra Coleman, Mary Steenburgen, Mel Rodriguez, Jason Sudeikis, Keith L. Williams, and more. Kristen Wiig and Fred Armisen (a supporting actor in Our Flag) also have short character arcs, as does Schitt’s Creek‘s Chris Elliott.
Los Espookys — Hulu
HBO sitcom Los Espookys didn’t last long, but it deserves much more love than it got. The comedy, spoken primarily in Spanish with English subtitles, features a group of friends with a love for horror who turn that horror into a peculiar business providing spooky experiences to those who need it.
Created by Júlio Torres, Ana Fabrega, and Armisen, Los Espookys stars Fabrega, Torres, Cassandra Ciangherotti, and Bernardo Velasco, with José Pablo Minor and recurring guest star Armisen. Another ensemble comedy with a unique premise bound to make you giggle.
Our Flag Means Death, Season 1, Streaming Now, HBO Max
