'Little Demon'
FXYou may have come to FX's animated comedy Little Demon for the supernatural elements, but you likely stayed for the all-too-real family tension.
The show follows Laura Feinberg (voiced by Aubrey Plaza) and her teenage daughter Chrissy (Lucy DeVito) after Chrissy learns that she is the Antichrist because Satan (Danny DeVito) is her father. Laura has been preparing for a showdown for Chrissy's whole life, training, learning incantations, and hunting demons in general, and sure enough, when Chrissy spills first blood (in a truly unique double way), Satan comes for her.
Sure, there are monstrous forces all around them, Satan often poses people they know, and Chrissy has adventures in the underworld and is even stalked by a man she attacked who now wants revenge, but at its heart it's a story about co-parenting -- very, very, very extreme and complicated co-parenting with one special girl caught in the middle.
The show also features the voices of Lennon Parham, Eugene Cordero, and Michael Shannon, with guest stars that include Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mark Ruffalo. There's even something extra for viewers from Delaware, as Plaza and the show's creators grew up there together, and that's where Laura and Chrissy live, so there are some nods that locals should find most entertaining.
The first season of Little Demon just wrapped up its 10-episode run, and those episodes allowed both Chrissy and Laura to grow in very important ways. Satan, not so much, but hey, he's Satan, so did you expect anything less? If you're looking for another comedy that tackles coming-of-age stories and complex family dynamics with surreal elements, here, Metacritic highlights 10 shows to watch next if you liked Little Demon.
'Rick & Morty'
Adult SwimMetascore: 87
Best for: Fans of family members from different generations (and with different personalities) who have their adventures together
Where to watch:
This fan-favorite, science-fiction animated sitcom follows its titular characters (both voiced by series co-creator Justin Roiland) as they travel to other planets and dimensions and realities. Mad scientist and egotist Rick is teenage Morty's grandfather, and he imparts many non-traditional ideas onto young Morty, who is a nervous kid with a good heart. Over the course of the seasons, the show explores different versions of the characters, including other members of the family, encountered as part of Rick and Morty's travels. This is where the surreality comes in because a) they're traveling on a flying saucer and b) there's an entire world of monsters (for one thing), as well as a late-in-the-series twist regarding Rick and Morty's familial connection due to the multiverse.
"The laughs come from the thought that this doc Brown-homaging character may also have a little Hannibal Lecter in him as he sociopathically berates his grandkids Morty and Summer." — Clark Collis, Entertainment Weekly
'Big Mouth'
NetflixMetascore: 86
Best for: Fans of coming-of-age comedy that doesn't shy away from the tough topics
Where to watch: Netflix
Seasons: 6 (so far)
There's a running bit in Little Demon about Chrissy shedding first blood meaning getting her period rather than killing a person for the first time, and if you find yourself wanting to relive the anguish of puberty in a vicarious way (hey, it's not happening to you again, and those it is happening too are animated characters!), Big Mouth delves deeper into those stories than any other show in the history of television. The show centers on two tween bodies, Andrew (John Mulaney) and Nick (Nick Kroll) and their experiences with crushes, pimples, masturbation, and complicated family dynamics, but the ensemble around them allows the show to cover everything almost any teenage kid would go through, including menstruation, discovering sexual fluidity, LGBTQIA+ relationships, and even anxiety and depression. Each kid is assigned a Hormone Monster to help (or, let's face it, sometimes hinder) their progress, and the Hormone Monsters' world is as rich as Satan's underworld, with them having their own relationships and issues outside of just dealing with these troubled kids.
"Big Mouth works because it's unflinchingly honest. Whether it's mining twisted jokes or universal human experiences, the whole concept comes together because it consistently tells the truth." — Ben Travers, IndieWire
'Archer'
FXMetascore: 79
Best for: Fans of espionage, man-children, and dysfunctional workplace dynamics
Where to watch:
Little Demon looks at parent-child relationships from both sides and with one parent of each gender, but causing issues within FX's espionage comedy Archer is the maladjusted titular spy (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) who seems emotionally stunted, in great part, because of his relationship with his mother and boss Malory Archer (Jessica Walter). The show sneaks looks at his psyche and their dynamic to shed light on why he is the womanizing, boozing, showboat that he is with his equally unsuitable co-workers and on missions, and the bigger picture of the show follows the secret agents of the International Secret Intelligence Service (yes, ISIS) as they travel the world for those missions. Later in the show's run, seasons became standalone anthological stories set in different time periods and genres, which (spoiler alert) turn out to be in Archer's mind as he languishes in a coma, finally give the show a chance to explore his psychology a little bit deeper.
"This spy spoof hits a bull's-eye with risque snark and one of the best vocal casts assembled for any animated series." — Mark A. Perigard, Boston Herald
'Pantheon'
AMC+Metascore: 77
Best for: Fans of cautionary tales about corporations and technology
Where to watch:
This new AMC+ animated series is much more dramatic in tone than Little Demon (or anything else on this list, to be honest, but it shares some important similarities. Most obvious is the intense father-daughter dynamic at the center of the show: Here, David Chang (Daniel Dae Kim) undergoes a special procedure to preserve his mind as an Uploaded Intelligence when he learns he is dying, and years later his teenage daughter Maddie (Katie Chang) begins communicating with his consciousness via a computer. The company that took his mind lied to his family about the results of the experiment, so Maddie reconnecting with him comes as a shock, but she takes it as an opportunity for a greater destiny and tries to get to the bottom of things, not realizing a greater war is spinning out around her.
"It's a portrait of a rapidly changing world that takes care to document the emotional carnage left in its wake, to gripping, troubling and ultimately quite moving effect." — Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter
'F Is for Family'
NetflixMetascore: 75
Best for: Fans of angry fathers and 1970s parenting styles
Where to watch: Netflix
Seasons: 5
Loosely based on comedian Bill Burr's young life, F Is for Family follows the Murphys, a working class, Irish family in suburban Pennsylvania in the mid-1970s. He voices the patriarch, Frank, a short-tempered war veteran who is the kind of father you can't portray on TV in modern-day comedies anymore, let alone be in life. He's always quick to scream at his wife and kids, be judgmental about, well, everything, and he's stuck inside his own disillusionment on how his life turned out. (He works at the local airport.) The Murphys are a nuclear family who are still intact, though you often can't help but wonder if they'd all be happier if the parents were divorced so everyone could get a break from Frank sometimes. It's the kind of show where everyone muddles through relatively unscathed now, but you can see the scars forming for later. Laura Dern voices matriarch Sue, while the kids are voiced by Justin Long, Haley Reinhart, and Debi Derryberry.
"The sadness and unrest in F Is for Family tempers the humor and keeps the show from ever getting too frivolous. The family of its title gives the show a hopeful core, but it's always looking around the corner for the next stumbling block, so mostly, F Is for Family is entertainingly honest." — Dan Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter
'Close Enough'
WarnerMediaMetascore: 74
Best for: Fans of fantastical twists on everyday situations
Where to watch:
Josh (voiced by series creator J.G. Quintel) and Emily (Gabrielle Walsh) are young parents sharing space in Los Angeles not only with their daughter Candice (Jessica DiCicco), but also their divorced friends Alex (Jason Mantzoukas) and Brigette (Kimiko Glenn). It's a modern approach to adulthood when none of the adults seem very equipped to handle everything life throws their way. That plays out through genre-bending sequences when emotional crises come up. For example: Emily needs a break from domestic life and goes to an open house, where she ends up trapped in a sitcom with another family.
"Close Enough has enough sharp gags and snappy commentary on its world to keep viewers interested, even as it sort of overwhelms itself." — Kevin Johnson, The A.V. Club
'Inside Job'
NetflixMetascore: 67
Best for: Fans of complicated father-daughter dynamics and conspiracy theories
Where to watch: Netflix
Seasons: 1 (so far)
There are no literal demons on this animated comedy, just the intense force of conspiracy theories that prove to be real (and a few otherworldly creatures that seem like just the stuff of conspiracy theories). A workplace comedy with a family element, Inside Job follows Reagan Riley (Lizzy Caplan), who works at government organization Cognito Inc., which her father Rand (Christian Slater) co-founded. The two live together — well, to be clear, Rand lives with Reagan — as he plots revenge against his former co-workers and tries to enlist his daughter in espionage to help him. He is paranoid and anarchial, while she is genuinely trying to make the world a better place and believes in what she is doing with the company.
"The proceedings are best when eliciting laughs from scenarios rooted in Reagan and Brett's hang-ups about friendship, parents, acceptance, ambition and the frequently thorny relationship between the present and the past. Moreover, it's generally funniest when it's at its most random." — Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
From left to right: Michael Sheen and David Tennant in 'Good Omens'
Amazon StudiosMetascore: 66
Best for: Fans of good and evil forces struggling to find common ground
Where to watch:
This is the only non-animated series on the list, but it warranted inclusion because the way an angel (played by Michael Sheen) and a demon (played by David Tennant) have to team up to stop the Antichrist from coming and bringing Armageddon with him is reminiscent of how human Laura and literal Satan are going to have to put aside their own differences, stop fighting, and learn to work together for their own much more important mission: raising their daughter. Good Omens is adapted from Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's book of the same title, by Gaiman himself, and also features the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, archangel Gabriel (Jon Hamm), and even the voice of God herself (Frances McDormand).
"What sets the series apart is the relationship between two polar opposites who end up realizing, as the best antagonists do, that they're not that different after all." — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic
'Lucy, The Daughter of the Devil'
Adult SwimMetascore: N/A
Best for: Those who want a slightly different take on the devil's offspring
Where to watch:
This animated comedy from Loren Bouchard was a blink-and-you-missed-it phenomenon on Adult Swim (unlike his much longer-running phenomenon Bob's Burgers). But we couldn't let that, nor the fact that not enough Metacritic-approved critics reviewed the season to result in a Metascore, stop us from including it here because it is the show most literally like Little Demon, in that it also follows the adventures of Satan's daughter. Here, the character's name is Lucy, and she is voiced by Melissa Bardin Galsky, while the Devil himself is voiced by Archer's (and Bob's Burgers') Benjamin. Lucy is an adult, though, and at the age of 21, her father tells her it is time to fulfill her destiny as the Antichrist, whether she wants to or not. Like on Little Demon, this spawn of Satan struggles with that destiny, often choosing to save her personal relationships over doing her father's bidding, and also like the FX show, this one features characters on their own mission to take out Lucy. The main difference is that over the one-season, the show delved right into the idea of angelic forces, too, namely with Jesús (Jon Glaser), the second coming of the messiah who Lucy dates.
'Teenage Euthanasia'
Adult SwimMetascore: N/A
Best for: Fans of complicated mother-daughter dynamics and the undead
Where to watch:
In the world of peak TV, it was easy to miss (or just have to skip) this animated, apocalyptic series during its original run as well; hence why it doesn't have a Metascore. But we'd be remiss not to mention it here, now, because Euthanasia "Annie" Fantasy (Jo Firestone) is a daughter struggling to deal with the return of her absentee (and deceased) mother Trophy Fantasy (Maria Bamford). It may not be as personal a problem as Chrissy learning she is the Antichrist, but when Trophy's body is sent to the family funeral home, a combination of forces, including Annie's own tears over her dead mother, bring Trophy back to life. Well, sort of. She's actually a zombie now. While dealing with new supernatural abilities, Annie and Trophy both have to confront and come to terms with the bad decisions Trophy made and try to find a new relationship after this life-changing event.