NoBadPicks

Anime Like Porridge

If you were moved by Porridge, should consider this curated list which questions the purpose and existential weight of our choices while ensuring targets the intellect with complex, multi-layered ideas. Carefully balances character development with narrative progression makes this a perfect follow-up for your next session.

Mood Breakdown
Runtime Cluster

Standard feature-length experiences.

Viewer Fit

Best for fans of who appreciate concise storytelling.

Top Picks

Arrested Development
7.9

Arrested Development

2003

The story of a wealthy family that lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together.

Birds of a Feather
6.1

Birds of a Feather

1989

Birds of a Feather is a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC One from 1989 until 1998 and on ITV from 2013. Starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, it was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote some of the episodes along with many other writers. The first episode sees sisters Tracey Stubbs and Sharon Theodopolopodos brought together when their husbands are sent to prison for armed robbery. Sharon, who lived in an Edmonton council flat, moves into Tracey's expensive house in Chigwell, Essex. Their next-door neighbour, and later friend, Dorien Green is a middle-aged married woman who is constantly having affairs with younger men. In the later series the location is changed to Hainault. The series ended on Christmas Eve 1998 after a 9-year-run.

Night Court
7.3

Night Court

1984

An eccentric fun-loving judge presides over an urban night court and all the silliness going on there.

Night Court
6.5

Night Court

2023

Unapologetically optimistic judge Abby Stone, the daughter of the late Harry Stone, follows in her father's footsteps as she presides over the night shift of a Manhattan arraignment court and tries to bring order to its crew of oddballs and cynics, most notably former night court prosecutor Dan Fielding.

Sprung
7.7

Sprung

2022

A convicted criminal is determined to turn his life around after serving more than two decades in prison. When he is released unexpectedly from prison due to the pandemic with no place to live and the world on lockdown, Jack shelters-in-place with an unlikely group of former inmates, who band together and use their criminal expertise for good.

My Name Is Earl
7.7

My Name Is Earl

2005

When petty criminal Earl Hickey wins the lottery, he sets off on a quest to repair his questionable karma.

Benson
7.1

Benson

1979

A butler deals with life at the governor's mansion.

The Brittas Empire
6.5

The Brittas Empire

1991

The Brittas Empire is a British sitcom created and originally written by Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen. Chris Barrie plays Gordon Brittas, the well-meaning but incompetent manager of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre. The show ran for seven series and 53 episodes — including two Christmas specials — from 1991 to 1997 on BBC1. Norriss and Fegen wrote the first five series, after which they left the show. The Brittas Empire enjoyed a long and successful run throughout the 1990s, and gained itself large mainstream audiences. In 2004 the show came 47th on the BBC's Britain's Best Sitcom poll, and all series have been released on DVD. The creators Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen often combine farce with either surreal or dramatic elements in episodes. For example in the first series, the leisure centre prepares for a royal visit, only for the doors to seal, the boiler room to flood and a visitor to become electrocuted. Unlike the traditional sitcom, deaths were quite common in The Brittas Empire.

More Anime Like Porridge

Police Squad!
7.9

Police Squad!

1982

In this cult parody of cop dramas, replete with farce and sight gags, Lieutenant Frank Drebin and his fellow officers from Police Squad bungle their way though crime investigations.

Barney Miller
7.3

Barney Miller

1975

Barney Miller is an American situation comedy television series set in a New York City police station in Greenwich Village. The series originally was broadcast from January 23, 1975 to May 20, 1982 on ABC. It was created by Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker. Noam Pitlik directed the majority of the episodes.

Bad Judge
6.2

Bad Judge

2014

The series chronicles the personal life (and the wild lifestyle) of Rebecca Wright, a tough-as-nails judge serving on the Los Angeles County Circuit Court, whose time off the bench is spent partying and displaying a reckless behavior. Her reputation is about to be tamed—and judged—by Robby Shoemaker, a eight-year-old boy whose parents Rebecca put behind bars. He might be the one that can turn Rebecca's life around.

The Last O.G.
6.3

The Last O.G.

2018

An ex-felon is shocked to see just how much the world has changed when he is released from prison for good behavior after a 15-year stint and returns to his newly gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood.

The Facts of Life
7.1

The Facts of Life

1979

Mrs. Edna Garrett, housemother and dietitian at the Eastland School, teaches a group of girls in her charge how to solve those problems that every teenager has to face.

The Dick Van Dyke Show
7.5

The Dick Van Dyke Show

1961

The Dick Van Dyke Show centers around the work and home life of television comedy writer Rob Petrie. The plots generally revolve around problems at work, where Rob got into various comedic jams with fellow writers Buddy Sorrell, Sally Rogers and producer Mel Cooley.

Brassic
8.4

Brassic

2019

A group of working-class friends finding unconventional ways to win at life in suburban northern England. These lads have dealt, scammed, bribed and conned their way through adolescence, but now, their dealing and stealing is catching up with them and a whole load of trouble is heading their way.

Benched
6.9

Benched

2014

Nina is a dedicated, career driven corporate attorney who has a very public nervous breakdown after getting passed up for an expected promotion and now finds herself working as a public defender. Her personal and professional worlds are turned upside down when she joins the ranks of the legal world’s underdogs and very quickly realizes that the law isn't quite as fair as she once thought.

Little Britain
7.1

Little Britain

2003

A zany comedy show with Matt Lucas and David Walliams, featuring characters from all over Little Britain.

A Touch of Cloth
7.2

A Touch of Cloth

2012

Hannah plays DI Jack Cloth, who is called in to investigate an apparent series of serial killings alongside his new partner, DC Anne Oldman, described as a "plucky, no-nonsense sidekick". Playing with the cliches and conventions of British police dramas, subplots include Cloth dealing with visions of his dead wife and the bisexual DC Oldman coming to grips with her feelings for both her female fiancee and Cloth.

Key & Peele
7.6

Key & Peele

2012

Key & Peele is an American sketch comedy television show. It stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, both former cast members of MADtv. Each episode of the show consists of several pre-taped sketches starring the two actors, introduced by Key and Peele in front of a live studio audience.

Harry Hill's TV Burp
6.3

Harry Hill's TV Burp

2002

The big-collared comic gives his own spin on TV clips from recent programmes, plus contributions from a set of regular characters

Why These Anime Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with Porridge (1974): Comedy themes, comparable animation style, and similar narrative pacing. NoBadPicks uses TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface anime most likely to resonate with fans of Porridge.

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