As 2020 finally ends, both Netflix & Amazon have released mockumentaries to poke at it. Both projects respected Covid and kept the stars socially distanced. One project delivers the laughs the other not so much.

Created by Charlie Booker & Annabelle Jones the team behind Black Mirror. Death to 2020 on Netflix skewers the headlines of 2020. From the fires in Australia to Covid-19 to the rise of the “Karen” and of course the United States Presidential election. The laughs start from at the opening credits, are almost nonstop for the entire show. The writers knew when the topic required somberness and then carefully brought the viewer back to the comedy.

The cast includes Samuel Jackson, Hugh Grant, Lisa Kudrow, Leslie Jones and appearing as experts in varying fields with Laurence Fishburne as narrator. This is hysterical I had to apologize to my neighbors for how loud I was laughing. One tip have your remote close by for pauses and rewinds, you may miss the setup for the next joke or one of the sight gags.

In contrast Amazon’s project Yearly Departed does not rise to the talent of the comediennes hired for it. As the title suggest, Yearly Departed is the “funeral’ for all we lost in 2020, casual sex, TV Cops and Instagram influences. With the talents of Phoebe Robinson, Rachel Brosnahan, Tiffany Haddish, Sarah Silverman, and others, this could have been so much better. Their faux eulogies just fell flat and humorless. Without spoiling, the last 5 minutes of the show were the best. If I have one positive thing to say it’s that the director and cast are all women and most ones of color.

If you want to end the year with some gut busting laughs watch Death to 2020 if not watch anything else besides Yearly Departed.  

Happy New Year and See you in 2021.0