Shows Like
Shows Like Derry Girls: Ensemble Comedies With a Sense of Place
By Jordan A. · · Updated · 5 min read
Derry Girls ran three series on Channel 4 between 2018 and 2022, and its central joke is a group of teenagers being self-obsessed and idiotic while the Troubles happen in the background. The five are Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle and James, Michelle's English cousin, who is the only boy and therefore the only person at the school with a genuinely dangerous accent.
What makes it work is the ratio: a very specific place, a very specific decade, and characters who are allowed to be actively unpleasant to each other. So the picks below are not just "funny ensembles". Each one gets its broadcaster, its years and its series count, and each gets an honest note on the difference. Where each streams changes, so the title page on BingeNext shows current US options.
If you want Ireland
The Young Offenders (BBC Three and RTE, 2016 onwards) started as a film and became the closest thing to a sibling show: two Cork teenagers with terrible plans, filmed on real streets, with a mother who is funnier than either of them. It shares the accents, the deprivation played as comedy rather than misery, and the affection underneath the insults. The difference is that it is two boys rather than a group of girls, and it is broader. Choose it if the setting was the thing you loved.
If you want the school and the humiliation
The Inbetweeners (E4, 2008 to 2010, three series of six episodes) is the British sixth-form comedy Derry Girls is partly answering. Four boys, no self-awareness, and a commitment to total public humiliation. It shares the short-series discipline and the ensemble that would not survive without each other. The difference is that it has no historical backdrop and no sentiment at all. Choose it if you want the meanest laughs here.
Sex Education (Netflix, 2019 to 2023, four seasons) is the glossiest pick and the one with the most heart. A teenage boy runs an underground clinic at school using advice absorbed from his therapist mother. It shares the ensemble depth, where side characters get real arcs, and the specific pleasure of a school with a strong visual identity. The difference is that it is much bigger, much warmer and far more explicit. Choose it if you want something to binge for a month.
Freaks and Geeks (NBC, 1999 to 2000, one season of eighteen episodes) is the American ancestor: 1980 Michigan, two sibling social groups, and a cast that went on to run half of Hollywood. It shares the period specificity and the refusal to make teenagers cute. The difference is that it was canceled after one season, so there is no ending. Choose it if you can live with that.
PEN15 (Hulu, 2019 to 2021, two seasons) has Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle playing thirteen-year-old versions of themselves opposite actual thirteen-year-olds, which sounds like a stunt and turns out to be the most accurate depiction of adolescence on television. It shares the cringe and the fierce best-friendship. The difference is that it is far more painful. Choose it if the Clare episodes hit hardest.
Never Have I Ever (Netflix, 2020 to 2023, four seasons) follows an Indian American teenager in Los Angeles being consistently her own worst enemy. It shares the flawed, loud, funny heroine and the family that will not leave her alone. The difference is that it is a network-style comedy with a full romance plot. Choose it if you want the easiest watch on this list.
If you want the very small town
This Country (BBC Three, 2017 to 2020, three series) is a mockumentary about two cousins in a Cotswolds village with nothing to do, and it is much sadder than it first looks. It shares the boredom-as-engine structure and the tiny geography. The difference is the format and the tone, which is dry rather than manic. Choose it if you liked how Derry Girls made a small place feel complete.
Big Boys (Channel 4, 2022 to 2025, three series) is about a grieving, closeted first-year student and the loud lad who becomes his best friend, and it manages jokes and bereavement in the same scene. It shares the friendship-as-lifeline core and the very specific period detail. The difference is that it is university rather than school. Choose it if you want the most recent show here that actually finished.
We Are Lady Parts (Channel 4, 2021 onwards) is about a Muslim punk band in London recruiting a shy PhD student as their guitarist. It shares the all-female ensemble where nobody is the sensible one, and the willingness to be silly about a community usually handled with tongs. The difference is that it is a music show with fantasy sequences. Choose it if the Michelle energy is what you want more of.
Everything Sucks! (Netflix, 2018, one season of ten episodes) is 1996 Oregon, an AV club and a drama club, and it was canceled after one season. It shares the period soundtrack dependency and the sweet, awkward ensemble. The difference is the lack of an ending. Choose it as a short palate cleanser.
Where to start
If you want the same country and the same energy, start with The Young Offenders. If you want the best friendship on television, start with PEN15. If you want something long enough to disappear into, Sex Education. And if you want a show that will make you laugh and then quietly ambush you, it is Big Boys.
If none of them land, work from the show itself. Put Derry Girls and one other favorite into BingeNext TV recommendations and you will get a ranked shortlist built on what those two share, with a note on where each one streams. It takes about a minute.
Topics covered: comedy, ensemble, period-piece, coming-of-age, british, netflix
About the author
Jordan A., Founder, BingeNext
Jordan A. is the founder of BingeNext and is responsible for every guide published on this site. He built the recommendation engine after one too many nights lost to the streaming menu. Dates, season counts and where-to-watch details in these guides are checked against official sources before publishing, and corrections are welcome at Jordan@Bingenext.com.