''Netflix Presents: The Characters'' is an American

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

television series that premiered on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on March 11, 2016. It features eight up-and-coming comedians, who each write and star in their own 30-minute show. The comedians featured in the show are

Lauren Lapkus Dorthea Lauren Allegra Lapkus (born September 6, 1985) is an American actress and comedian, known for portraying Susan Fischer in the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2014, 2019) and Jess in the HBO comedy-drama se ...

Kate Berlant Kate Elizabeth Méndez Berlant (born July 16, 1987) is an American comedian, actress, and writer. She is known for her surrealist and absurdist style. Early life Kate Elizabeth Méndez Berlant was born in Los Angeles on July 16, 1987, the daug ...

Phil Burgers Philip Burgers is an American writer, comedy performer, director and clown teacher. He is best known for his character Dr Brown. Early life and education Philip Burgers trained at the French clown school Ecole Philippe Gaulier, where, he said, ...

, Paul W. Downs,

John Early John Early may refer to: *John Early (educator) (1814–1873), Irish-American Jesuit educator * John Early (politician) (1828–1877), Lieutenant Governor of Illinois *John Early (bishop) (1786–1873), American Methodist prelate *John Early (comed ...

, Tim Robinson,

Natasha Rothwell Natasha Rothwell (born October 18, 1980) is an American actress, writer, and producer. She is best known for her work on the HBO series '' Insecure'' as Kelli Prenny, and ''The White Lotus'' as Belinda, for which she earned a nomination for a P ...

, and

Henry Zebrowski Henry Thomas Zebrowski Jr. (born May 1, 1984) is an American actor, podcast host, and comedian, known for his work on the Adult Swim series '' Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell'', the film The Wolf of Wall Street, the NBC series '' Heroes Reborn ...

. Eight episodes were released on March 11, 2016. The following month, Netflix cancelled the series after one season.

Episodes

Season 1 (2016)

Reception

The series was met with a positive response from critics upon its premiere. The

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

's critical consensus reads, "Some Characters prove funnier than others in this sketch anthology, but they cumulatively add up to a hilarious showcase for a new generation of comedic talent." In 2020, Jason Zinoman of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' revisited the series, saying "...if ''The Characters'' was a failure, it belongs to the tradition of '' Fridays'' and ''

The Dana Carvey Show ''The Dana Carvey Show'' is an American surreal humor, surreal sketch comedy television show that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC during the spring of 1996. Dana Carvey was the host and principal player on the show while Louis C.K. se ...

'': noble experiments, unjustly overlooked, that in retrospect were a hotbed of comedy talent in early-stage careers." In December 2019, ''Vulture'' cited three sketches from the show (

's "Chiggers",

's "The Toast," and Tim Robinson's "Sammy Paradise") in their list of "The 50 Best Comedy Sketches of the Decade."

References

External links

* {{Netflix original ended series (2012–2018) 2010s American sketch comedy television series 2016 American television series debuts 2016 American television series endings American English-language television shows Netflix original programming