From Humor to Heartbreak: How Orange Is The New Black Revolutionized Netflix Comedy

Netflix has now produced countless comedy series, but none of them are a match for its very first foray into original television with a humorous bent. The likes of BoJack Horseman, Derry Girls, Sex Education, Never Have I Ever, and Beef have excelled in making us laugh, yet they all remain in the shadow of Orange Is the New Black.

This seminal comedy-drama set in a women’s prison is as darkly hilarious as it is deeply moving. Netflix’s first original comedy show, Orange Is the New Black is based on the true story of author Piper Kerman’s stint behind bars for a white-collar crime.

A uniquely enthralling watch, the series manages to make us both laugh and cry at the predicaments faced by its ensemble of female inmates. Arguably the best TV show about prison ever made, it’s authentic and unflinching in its depiction of life on the inside, whilst also affirming humanity’s tendency towards warmth and good humor even amid hardship.

Orange Is The New Black Debuted As Netflix's First Original Comedy Series In 2013

Back in July 2013, when Orange Is the New Black arrived on the scene, Netflix had just one previous original TV series to its name. Whereas House of Cards began to decline in quality and audience numbers following its popular and acclaimed initial seasons, this prison comedy-drama went from strength to strength across seven seasons.

Orange Is the New Black is among the key Netflix shows which explain the streaming platform’s success over the past decade and a half. It laid down a marker early in the streaming age, demonstrating that Netflix meant business when it came to comedy as well as TV drama.

The show was also a different kind of comedy series from the sitcom format which still predominated on network television at the time it first appeared. It effortlessly blends black comedy into long-form dramatic episodes, serving as a blueprint for the comedy-drama format that’s now ubiquitous on every streaming platform.

OITNB Has Gone From Instant Hit To All-Time Streaming Classic

Compared to House of Cards and the other series which debuted around the same time, Orange Is the New Black has aged remarkably well. It’s still the most empathetic and relatable prison drama on television, and its best episodes are now timeless masterpieces of the streaming era.

Piper Chapman’s time in prison, the friends she makes, and the experiences she and her fellow inmates endure, give us more insight into life as a female prisoner than dozens of documentaries ever could. Contrary to what we might expect, though, it’s humor that’s the fundamental driving force behind the compassion we end up feeling for the show’s characters.

The comic dissonance between Piper’s expectations of life and the realities of prison instantly wins us over to the side of Litchfield Penitentiary’s many long-suffering occupants. More broadly, it’s the comedic quirks of Litchfield’s inmates that humanizes them as characters, breaking the stigmas surrounding convicted felons and how they’re portrayed onscreen.

More than a decade after becoming one of Netflix’s first original streaming hits, Orange Is the New Black is now widely regarded as an all-time TV great. It remains one of Netflix’s greatest artistic achievements, and a prime example of the streaming platform’s revolutionary impact on television during its years of ascendancy.

No Other Netflix Original Comedy Has Topped Orange Is The New Black

Among the Netflix originals everyone should watch, Orange Is the New Black is still the standout comedy series, 13 years after it began streaming. Plenty of other great Netflix comedy shows have come around since then, from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt to A Man on the Inside.

Some of the platform’s original comedy-dramas, such as GLOW and Boots, have even employed the same dark yet humanizing approach to female-led, fish-out-of-water comedy as Orange Is the New Black. Yet, it’s still the original and the best exponent of this brand of humor anywhere on Netflix.

Alongside Piper Chapman, the show is responsible for several other all-time great TV comedy characters, including Black Cindy, Mei Chang, and Lolly Whitehill, as well as some of the best one-liners anywhere on Netflix. Although it also makes us cry, there are very few things streaming today that make us laugh quite as much as Orange Is the New Black.