Shows like Silicon Valley bring the world of computer programmers and tech geniuses to the general masses. The Mike Judge-created comedy series revolved around a group of down-on-luck programmers who wish to make it big in Silicon Valley, competing against several other programmers and companies who harbor similar dreams. Rather than delving into familiar underdog narratives, the show takes a more realistic turn leaving no stone unturned in satirizing corporate drama and cracking intellectually superior jokes that many techies might relate to.
However, despite its technical jargon, it makes for great deadpan and situational humor, bolstered by performances of actors like Thomas Middleditch, Kumail Nanjiani, and Martin Starr. Running for six seasons, Silicon Valley was definitely a major entry in the pantheon of technological dramas and workplace comedies. While Silicon Valley may have ended several years ago, its influence is still felt. Mike Judge's Emmy-nominated parody of tech moguls pushed the limits of workplace comedy, but not all shows like Silicon Valley go for the same tone as this former HBO comedy.
19 Avenue 5 (2020-2022)
- Stream now on HBO Max
Not all shows like Silicon Valley are even earthbound. The teaming of Hugh Laurie with Veep creator Armando Iannucci is a far cry from Laurie's Tom James. In the hilarious and highly quotable Avenue 5, Laurie's character is a fraud and not even a good one. This leads to a feeling that the crew of his spaceship is in constant danger, practically always on the verge of death thanks to some easily preventable malfunction. Compare that to Silicon Valley, where very valuable code can be erased courtesy of a misplaced tequila bottle.
18 Ted Lasso (2020-)
- Stream now on Apple TV
Apple TV+'s zeitgeist-capturing Ted Lasso features one of the most warmly-written characters of the past decades. In this way, Lasso is fairly different from shows like Silicon Valley. In the latter show, the protagonists were funny but exclusively self-serving, and not exactly likable. The shows do have similarities in terms of the concept of a struggling business, though. Silicon Valley is about a startup in a cutthroat industry, while Ted Lasso is about a once-famous organization that's again starting up in a cutthroat industry.
17 Nathan For You (2013-2017)
- Stream now on HBO Max & Paramount+
This awkwardly comedic show from Comedy Central featured Nathan Fielder playing an exaggerated version of his own comedic persona and positing unique suggestions to struggling business owners. One of Comedy Central's better shows from the 2010s, if not the best, Fielder's very unique cringe humor makes this series come alive. Like Silicon Valley, Nathan for You was a small business-related comedy with subversive ideas on problem-solving, e.g. Silicon Valley's phallus algorithm.
16 Space Force (2020-2022)
- Stream now on Netflix
Netflix's Space Force feels more like an off-brand variation of Armando Iannucci's brilliant repartee-focused workplace comedy style. Unlike Iannucci's space-set Avenue 5, though, Space Force takes a more true-to-life approach: the creation of what is now an actual military branch. Space Force is similar to shows like Silicon Valley in that the stars have genuine chemistry. Stars Steve Carell and John Malkovich work well off each other as do Carell and Diana Silvers, who stars as his character's daughter.
15 Mythic Quest (2020-)
- Stream now on Apple TV+
Mythic Quest is an Apple TV+ show that follows a group of employees in charge of making and marketing an extremely popular multiplayer video game. There are tech and coding issues brought up, egos get in the way, and there are more emotional moments between the characters as well. Mythic Quest is very similar to shows like Silicon Valley because of its wacky workplace environment that brings together co-workers for more serious moments as well. Add in the tech aspects of both shows, and they are a lot more similar than not.
14 Succession (2018-2023)
- Stream now on HBO Max
Succession is similar to shows like Silicon Valley because of the high stakes and at times cutthroat business world it portrays. Succession centers on a powerful family in the news industry and infighting between members of the family in order to gain power in business. Silicon Valley looks in depth at the at times cutthroat culture the tech valley has garnered over the years and the infighting between tech employees that it has created. However, there is a very different feel concerning the stakes, as Succession is a much darker look at these themes.
13 Vice Principals (2016-2018)
- Stream now on HBO Max
Vice Principals is another series that features characters with, at times, questionable morals, while balancing drama and comedy similar to shows like Silicon Valley. Although this show focuses on the much smaller world of one high school, it's still a vicious fight between two potential vice-principals to get the newly opened spot of principal. The two main vice-principal characters seem pretty normal at first, but they slowly descend into fighting dirty to get what they want. Comparing these two men to the people fighting for their places in Silicon Valley is eerily similar.
12 Party Down (2009- )
- Stream now on Starz & Prime Video
Party Down is another sitcom that fans of shows like Silicon Valley would most likely enjoy. Although the series isn't in the tech world, it follows a group of co-workers just trying to get through the day at their catering jobs while pursuing some other hobby outside of work. Party Down also stars actor Martin Starr who portrayed Gilfoyle in Silicon Valley and fans might enjoy seeing his comedic work in this show as well. After picking up two seasons in 2009 and 2010, a third season arrived in 2023, proving the popularity carried through an entire decade.
11 Veep (2012-2019)
- Stream now on HBO Max
Veep is another series that delves deep into an intense work environment as it follows the lives of the Vice President's inner circle and employees that often play second to the President's staff, similar to Pied Piper always battling Hooli. Both the employees on Silicon Valley and Veep seem out of their depth in their technological or political fields and both shows focus on both the comedy and drama of the situations the characters are put in. Lasting seven seasons, Julia Louis-Dreyfus won six straight Primetime Emmy Awards for her role as the Vice President of the United States.
10 The IT Crowd (2006-2013)
- Buy now on Prime Video & Apple TV
The IT Crowd might be the closest alternative to shows like Silicon Valley. The British sitcom stars Richard Ayoade, Chris O'Dowd, and Jen Barber as three bumbling workers of a company's IT department. It might seem like a goofy comedy on the surface, but The IT Crowd's cult status was largely due to the lead performances and its dry wit. The side plots involving the behind-the-scenes functioning of the company's executives also provide further entertainment, with Martin Berry delivering a stand-out performance as the brash CEO of the company.
9 Devs (2020)
- Stream now on Hulu
A miniseries written and directed by modern sci-fi maestro Alex Garland, Devs reinvents familiar tropes around a future run by Artificial Intelligence and quantum computing. A large part of the show revolves around the companies of Silicon Valley, as a software engineer (Sonoya Mizuno) attempts to solve the mystery of her boyfriend's death. The boyfriend, as it turns out, died at his first job in an IT company called Devs. Her quest for the truth brings her closer to the company's founder, played by Nick Offerman, in one of his best roles. Devs is highly engaging and thrilling, serving as a warning for a technology-dominated future.
8 Upload (2020-)
- Stream now on Prime Video
Upload is based on an interesting concept that quickly shifts from being gimmicky to pretty emotional and even believable. It's set in a time when people can 'upload' their consciousness after their death, leading to a virtual afterlife. A programmer similarly gets a new life after his untimely death, but his overbearing girlfriend makes him question the negatives and matters get complicated as his cyber persona is handled by a company executive who seems to share a romantic bond with her. Much like shows like Silicon Valley, Upload can get increasingly introspective in its approach, transcending the tropes of his usual sitcom routines.
7 Maniac (2018)
- Stream now on Netflix
Maniac's bizarre, vibrant atmosphere makes for a highly engaging experience. Emma Stone and Jonah Hill play troubled individuals who often dwell in solitude, finding meaning in life and overcoming a gloomy past. To escape their worries, they volunteer as subjects for a mind-altering experiment that can erase their sad memories. As the experiment undergoes some unprecedented changes, they are forced to undergo virtual simulations in diverse settings and timelines where they can survive only with each other's help. Maniac's smart story based in the world of tech is right up the alley of fans who love shows like Silicon Valley.
6 Silicon Valley: The Untold Story (2018)
- Stream now on Spectrum on Demand
A three-part documentary, the miniseries attempts to understand the timing and context of multiple revolutions in the tech world that made Silicon Valley what it is today. Home to Facebook, Google, Intel, and hundreds of other major IT giants, this region in California got its name after the initial development of silicon chips and computers that progressed to further innovations in no time. The in-depth research attempts to understand not only the scientific nature and entrepreneurship of the Valley but also presents it as an efficient business model, based on interviews with venture capitalists.
5 Mad Men (2007-2015)
- Stream now on AMC+
Widely considered a masterclass in writing and acting, Mad Men focuses on the advertising sector in 1960s America as Don Draper (Jon Hamm) works at a New York firm. While Draper's professional life seems to be touching new heights, his own personal life suffers at the cost of this corporate success. The show drew immense praise for its characters, socio-political narratives, and accurate tones pertaining to its time period. Running for seven seasons, Mad Men makes for essential viewing for fans of shows like Silicon Valley with stories based around professional success and the burden that comes along with it.
4 Halt And Catch Fire (2014-2017)
- Stream now on AMC+
Halt and Catch Fire drew parallels with shows like Mad Men but its premise and attention to detail still made it stand out on its own as a technology-driven period drama. Set in the technology boom of the 1980s, the show attempts to capture the excitement and innovations when the era of personal computing was just about to start. It dissects the era with as much authenticity as possible and serves as a fitting tribute to the engineers and programmers who shaped the future of Silicon Valley and computing. While shows like Silicon Valley shows tech wizards now, this showed them when it all began.
3 Mr. Robot (2015-2019)
- Stream now on Prime Video
The show that launched Rami Malek's career, Mr. Robot continues to be one of the most impactful and riveting cyber-thrillers in today's times. Malek plays the role of Elliot, a supersmart cyber-security engineer with anxiety issues. While he manages his day job in the morning, he uses his hacking skills to catch felons by night. After being recruited by a mysterious anarchist named Mr. Robot, Elliot's life turns upside down as he attempts to take down the seemingly sinister corporation he works for. While shows like Silicon Valley shows tech geniuses making the world a better place, Mr. Robot shows what would happen if they decided to let the world burn.
2 StartUp (2016-2018)
- Stream now on Fubo
As tech entrepreneurs rack their brains to get their stake in the rising digital currency sector, a ganglord, a hacker, and a banker join forces to run their own secret criminal empire based on a currency called GenCoin. Crooked secret agents and government forces enter the game either to take down this new era of American organized crime or make these tech geniuses work for the Pentagon. StartUp had a limited run, but it presented an interesting picture of digital crime and the continuing debate on the misuse of advanced tech if it falls into the wrong hands, another side of the coin to the characters from shows like Silicon Valley.
1 Planet Of The Apps (2017)
- Stream now on Apple TV
For fans of shows like Silicon Valley who like reality TV, Apple TV’s Planet of the Apps was an unapologetic exercise in self-indulgence and was canceled after just one season. However, this reality series has its entertaining moments and can be seen as Shark Tank for mobile apps. Contestants get a minute to pitch app ideas to the celebrity judge panel that includes actresses Jessica Alba and Gwyneth Paltrow, singer will.i.am, and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk. The expected drama aside, the show does offer a few useful tips for app developers on how to pitch and sell their ideas.