7 series you can both agree on

The hardest decision of the evening often does not come at dinner but after it: what are we watching? One of you wants tension, the other wants to laugh, and after twenty minutes of scrolling, the series neither of you really likes is on again. These seven series often manage to win you both over, because they are good at more than one thing.

Only Murders in the Building

Three residents of a New York apartment building, who barely knew each other before, start a podcast about a death in the building. Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez are an unlikely trio who fit together surprisingly well. The series is crime and comedy at once, with episodes of a little over half an hour.

Good if: one of you wants a mystery and the other wants to laugh.

Ted Lasso

An American football coach is hired to coach an English football club, even though he knows nothing about the sport. Jason Sudeikis plays him with so much kindness that you laugh at him first and then with him. A series you go to bed in a better mood after.

Good if: you both had a long day.

Fleabag

A young woman in London, her café, her family, her affairs, and her habit of talking straight to you. Phoebe Waller-Bridge wrote the series and plays the lead. Two seasons with twelve episodes of just under half an hour in total, so easy to finish in a weekend. Very funny, sometimes very sad.

Good if: you like dialogue that hurts and entertains at the same time.

Severance

Employees of a company have surgery so that they do not remember their private lives at work, or their work at home. What actually happens in that office, they do not know themselves. Adam Scott plays the lead, and Ben Stiller directed many episodes. Two seasons are out, a third has been announced.

Good if: you like puzzling together and swapping theories after every episode.

Schitt's Creek

A rich family loses everything and has to move to a small town the father once bought as a joke. Six seasons with short episodes of just over 20 minutes that get warmer from season to season. If you have doubts after the first season, stick with it.

Good if: you want something light for many evenings.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

A police precinct in Brooklyn, a childish but gifted detective and his stiff captain. Eight seasons, more than 150 episodes of around 20 minutes. A workplace comedy you can drop into at any point.

Good if: you want a series to have on that is still good.

Normal People

Marianne and Connell know each other from school in a small Irish town and keep finding their way back to each other over the years, even though they constantly misunderstand each other. Twelve episodes of around 30 minutes, based on the novel by Sally Rooney. Quietly told, very precisely acted.