Watching is guaranteed to make you ravenous – especially if you’re into close-up shots of extremely Chicago-coded meats and breads – but once I’d caught up on the show’s third season this weekend, I found myself hungry for something inedible: namely, more shows about camaraderie forged in the fire of a tumultuous workplace. They didn’t even need to be set in a restaurant; they just had to include plenty of professional chaos (and a little gentleness, too). Below, find seven shows about intense-to-the-point-of-meltdown-inducing workplaces to watch now.
(Leave it to them to make you feel endlessly better about any drama going down at your own job.) For those who need another dining-out show to keep them going, this one’s for you. While the FX series adapted from author Stephanie Danler’s smash-hit book wasn’t a huge hit at the time that it aired, its focus on food and the intricacies of restaurant politics (not to mention the hook-up culture that runs rampant in so many kitchens) is worth checking out.
Plus, it stars Ella Purnell, aka Jackie from ! This show is set on the fringes of the restaurant industry (ie a catering company), but its three seasons contain enough special appearances from exciting guest stars – Kristen Bell! Ken Jeong! James Marsden! Kevin Hart! Jennifer freaking Coolidge! – to make it at least somewhat -eque. Also, it’s easily one of the funniest shows of the last 50 years, so jot that one down. This series, about a group of horny yo.
