Master of None - Seasons 1 & 2 (2015 Aziz Ansari, Alan Yang)

Aziz is the star and co-writer, Yang is a Parks and Rec writer/producer, in which Aziz appeared, and thus probably where they met. Their episode 'Parents', about the gulf between the immigrant experience and the spoiled next generation, won the Emmy, and was a subject that hadn't been touched on before. And some of the observation - the Indian character in Short Circuit 2 isn't played by an Indian - is as relevant. 

We had no idea a comedy about an Indian commercials actor in New York would end up in Italy (Moderna) - otherwise we would have watched it sooner. In fact we were so hooked that we didn't realise we'd watched the whole of Season 1 and actually started Season 2 in one evening. Eric Wareheim is his giant friend, Lena Waithe his gay friend, Noel Wells his girl friend and Kelvin Yu his Asian friend. It's rather sweet, e.g. episode in which Aziz takes out his girlfriend's grandmother (Lynn Cohen, Manhattan Murder Mystery one of her earliest credits in 1993), and the parody of Bicycle Thieves in black and white. And funny - 'The Sickening'.

This has balls - when Dev drops off Francesca (Alessandra Mastronardi, from To Rome With Love - I didn't recognise her!), who Bobby Cannavale (in exuberant form) has spotted he's in to - there's just a long single take of him in the taxi, thinking, emotional, along to Soft Cell 'Say Hello, Wave Goodbye' (about the first time I've heard that song without wincing). Then there's a tangential episode (which made me think of the other outside-the-box series Atlanta) in which we follow a door man of a posh apartment block, a taxi driver, and a deaf woman, whose scenes are played out without any sound at all on the soundtrack. All the while we get all these refreshing digs about race in US society and culture.

"You can't sue someone for diarrhoea."
"Try telling that to her beach house."

The finale has some of the most beautiful images of New York at night, a kiss through a glass door, and a 'will it be The Apartment?' ending. We absolutely loved it. And that song, 'Un anno d'amore' by Mina.