Loved Jon Hamm in ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’? Watch these next
Loved Jon Hamm in ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’? Watch these next
From ‘Mad Men’ to ‘Ozark,’ these shows keep the wealthy-world drama and criminal spirals going.
Tara and I loved Season 2 of “Your Friends & Neighbors” because this is exactly the kind of rich-people mess I always want more of. The world is shiny, expensive, mean, and full of people pretending their lives aren’t falling apart. Jon Hamm is so good as Coop because even when he’s making the worst possible decision, he still somehow looks like the coolest person in the room. And James Marsden coming in for Season 2 just made the whole thing even more fun. So, if you’re already missing all the secrets, money panic, bad choices, and very attractive people digging themselves into deeper trouble, these are the four shows I’d watch next.
Your Friends & Neighbors
When a financial titan suddenly finds himself divorced and jobless, he starts robbing his wealthy neighbors to stay afloat. Stealing from his own social circle strangely exhilarates him—but he gradually gets tangled in a deadly web.
Loved ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ Season 2? Watch: ‘Mad Men’
This is the obvious first stop because “Mad Men” gives you Jon Hamm playing another man who looks completely untouchable from the outside, while quietly coming apart on the inside. Hamm stars as Don Draper, a brilliant advertising executive in 1960s New York who knows how to sell everyone else a fantasy because he’s basically built his own life out of one. The suits are perfect, the offices are gorgeous, the drinks never stop, and everyone is trying to look like they have the whole world figured out. Spoiler: they absolutely do not.
The big connection to “Your Friends & Neighbors” is that both shows are obsessed with image. Coop is trying to hang onto his place inside a wealthy suburban bubble after his life blows up, while Don is trying to survive inside a world built on charm, status, lies, and performance. “Mad Men” is slower, more serious, and way less crime-y, so don’t go in expecting burglaries, bodies, and neighborhood chaos. But if what you loved most was watching Jon Hamm play a polished man with a huge hole where his peace of mind should be, this is required viewing.
Mad Men
Set in 1960-1970 New York, this sexy, stylized and provocative drama follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising.
Check out: ‘Palm Royale’
“Palm Royale” is the brighter, funnier, more candy-colored version of rich people behaving badly. Kristen Wiig stars as Maxine Simmons, a woman trying to claw her way into Palm Beach high society in 1969. She wants the clothes, the club, the invitations, the status, the whole thing. And because this is a show about rich people, everyone smiles beautifully while hiding secrets, grudges, schemes, and a lot of social anxiety.
That makes “Palm Royale” a really fun follow-up to “Your Friends & Neighbors” because both shows understand that wealth is basically a stage. Everyone is performing, everyone is watching everyone else, and everyone knows who belongs and who’s barely hanging on. The big difference is that Maxine is trying to get inside the elite world, while Coop is trying not to get thrown out of one. “Palm Royale” is lighter, splashier, and much more openly satirical, but if you liked the parties, gossip, status games, and social warfare of “Your Friends & Neighbors,” this one fits very nicely.
Palm Royale
In 1969, an ambitious woman aspires to cross the line between the haves and have-nots to secure her seat at America’s most exclusive, fashionable, and treacherous table: Palm Beach high society.
Watch next: ‘Deli Boys’
“Deli Boys” is the crime-comedy pick, and that’s why it belongs here. The show follows Mir and Raj Dar, two spoiled Pakistani-American brothers who lose their cushy life after their father dies and discover that the family business wasn’t just a convenience store empire — it was also tied to a criminal operation. So now they have to figure out how to survive inside an underworld they did not ask for and are not remotely prepared to handle.
The reason “Deli Boys” works after “Your Friends & Neighbors” is the scramble. Coop is not some criminal mastermind. He’s a rich guy in free fall who keeps making things worse while trying to stay one step ahead. Mir and Raj have that same “how did my life become this?” energy, just in a much more openly comedic package. “Deli Boys” is faster, sillier, and more of a buddy crime caper, while “Your Friends & Neighbors” is slicker and more suburban. But if you loved watching people improvise badly under criminal pressure, this is a very easy next watch.
Deli Boys
When their convenience store-magnate father suddenly dies, a pair of pampered Pakistani American brothers lose everything and are forced to reckon with their Baba’s secret life of crime as they attempt to take up his mantle in the underworld.
Wildcard pick: ‘Ozark’
“Ozark” is the wildcard because it takes the finance-guy-turns-criminal idea and makes it much, much darker. Jason Bateman plays Marty Byrde, a financial adviser who moves his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks after a money-laundering scheme goes sideways. His solution is not to get out of crime — it’s to launder even more money and hope he can outthink the cartel, local criminals, and eventually pretty much everyone around him. As you might guess, that plan does not exactly lead to a calm family life.
So yes, “Ozark” is a lot heavier than “Your Friends & Neighbors.” It’s more violent, more brutal, and not nearly as funny. But the connection is strong: both shows are about respectable men whose financial worlds collapse, forcing them into crime while they try to keep their families, reputations, and sanity intact. Coop steals from the rich people around him. Marty launders cartel money in a lake town. Different temperature, same basic nightmare. If you liked the criminal spiral of “Your Friends & Neighbors” and want the darker version where the stakes keep getting worse, “Ozark” is the pick.
Ozark
A financial adviser drags his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks, where he must launder $500 million in five years to appease a drug boss.
More to watch after finishing ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ Season 2:
‘Claws’ | Hulu
Claws
Follow the life and crimes of five diverse and treacherous manicurists working at the Nail Artisan of Manatee County salon, where there is a lot more going on than silk wraps and pedicures.
‘Weeds’ | MovieSphere
Weeds
After the unexpected death of her husband, a suburban mom resorts to selling weed to support her family.
‘The White Lotus’ | HBO Max
The White Lotus
Follow the exploits of various guests and employees at an exclusive tropical resort over the span of a week as with each passing day, a darker complexity emerges in these picture-perfect travelers, the hotel’s cheerful employees and the idyllic locale itself.
‘The Perfect Couple’ | Netflix
The Perfect Couple
Amelia is about to marry into one of the wealthiest families on Nantucket, until a shocking death derails the wedding — and turns everyone into a suspect.