The shorthand for this American dramedy might be The Mindy Project meets Six Feet Under: snappy lines and absurd flourishes, with an undertow of existential fear. Creator and star Natasha Rothwell (The White Lotus) plays Mel Jackson, a New York airport worker whose vivacious demeanour comes crashing down in the first episode, leaving her in hospital deeply shaken and with no one answering when she calls for a ride home.

Mel’s a people pleaser who hates her own life, but changing it requires hard conversations and painful decisions. Rothwell salts these moments through a blue-collar workplace comedy that has an edgy energy. Harsh moments rear up out of the banter, while the humour can be whimsical with an ever-present mordant edge. “We are black people living in America,” Mel replies when told smoking is bad for her health. “Our odds are not great to begin with.”

The comedy and drama seep into each other, both in feel and structure. There might be a sitcom-like lesson, but it’s not something that Mel can simply implement and flourish with. Repurposing your life is painfully difficult, especially with crushing financial debts, and Rothwell makes the push and pull apparent – Mel is likeable but prone to self-sabotage, whether with her ex, Alex (Jocko Sims), or best friend Rory (Conrad Ricamora). It all makes for a highly promising series.

A Very Royal Scandal
Amazon Prime

While three episodes gives it a broader scope than Netflix’s April film on the same subject, Scoop, this retelling of Prince Andrew’s car crash 2019 interview with the BBC’s Emily Maitlis about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein doesn’t say too much more than its predecessor. Ruth Wilson and Michael Sheen, as respectively the questioning journalist and the boorish royal, are very good together, but there’s little that’s surprising in the way their individual characters are portrayed or their places in the systems built around them.

The Cleaners
Binge

Still worryingly relevant, I first saw this German swingeing documentary about social media’s toxic digital waste in 2018, and its impact has not faded. German filmmakers Moritz Riesewieck and Hans Block explore the world of content moderation for social media platforms, which have subcontracted the human review to centres in underdeveloped countries. Anonymous Filipino staffers reveal the terrible images they have to review – “I’ve seen hundreds of beheadings,” one says – and the impossible decisions they routinely make. The tech giants save on responsibility and cost, as they don’t provide mental health support.

Midnight Family
Apple TV+

Inspired by the acclaimed 2019 documentary of the same name, this Mexican drama follows Marigaby Tamayo (Renata Vaca), a second-year medical student by day and a paramedic by night in her family’s “bootleg ambulance”, one of the private first responders in Mexico City who negotiate payment with patients and their families even as they treat them. With the bustling metropolis as an unstable backdrop, the show puts a chaotic spin on the medical drama while capturing the rapacious realities of a system that runs on unorthodox deals and the transfer of cash.

Videoland
Netflix

Please keep an eye out for this winning Australian romantic comedy, which was made for YouTube but rightfully picked up by Netflix. Immersed in turn-of-the-century VHS culture, it follows 17-year-old video store clerk Hayley (Emmanuelle Mattana), who has just come out as a lesbian but doesn’t know “how to be one”. She has a crush, a best friend, and a supportive boss, which is all Jessica Smith’s micro-comedy – a pair of 25-minute episodes – needs for nervy banter and affectionate rites of passage before a feel-good finale.

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