| Genre: | Sitcom Comedy-drama |
| Director: | Nick Collett, Jamie Jay Johnson |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 12 |
| Producer: | Molly Seymour |
| Editor: | Mike Holliday |
| Network: | Channel 4 |
| Last Aired: | present |
Everyone Else Burns is a British television sitcom made for Channel 4 by JAX Media and Universal International Studios, starring Simon Bird, Kate O'Flynn, Amy James-Kelly, Harry Connor and Morgana Robinson. The first series premiered in January 2023, with a second broadcast in October 2024; all episodes were made available at once on streaming.
A coming-of-age sitcom about a Manchester family who are part of a puritanical Christian sect.[1]
All episodes were made available on All 4 prior to broadcast on 23 January 2023.
All episodes were made available on 3 October 2024 for subscribers to the paid tier of Channel 4's streaming service;[2]
Channel 4 announced the project had been commissioned in May 2022 with the cast in place and JAX Media and Universal International Studios producing from a script written by Dillon Mapletoft and Oliver Taylor, and Nick Collett as director.[2] Speaking about his wig for the show Bird told The Independent, "My first reaction [upon seeing the wig] was laughter, annoyingly, which was pretty much everyone’s reaction. Which meant that we had to go ahead with it."[3]
Channel 4 renewed the series for a second season in May 2023.[4] Sian Clifford joined the cast for the second series.[5] Filming for the second series took place in Heaton Moor, Greater Manchester in April 2024.[6]
Everyone Else Burns premiered in the UK on Channel 4 on 23 January 2023. The first season consisted of six episodes in total, which are also available to on the streaming service All4.[7]
The series debuted in Canada on W Network on 29 May 2023.[8] In the United States, the series debuted on The CW on 26 October 2023[9] before being pulled from its schedule in November 2023.[10] Brad Schwartz, President of Entertainment of The CW, blamed the marketing of the show for it being pulled.[11] The series is currently available in Australia on SBS On Demand.[12]
The series opened to 1.4 million viewers with four weeks of post-broadcast viewership included.[13] [14] The show was "the biggest comedy launch since Derry Girls on Channel 4's streaming service".[15]
Everyone Else Burns has received critical acclaim, with a 90% 'certified fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[16]
Writing in The Daily Telegraph Anita Singh said "there is much to enjoy here. It's not a comedy going for cheap laughs about Christianity. It is a show about family, and it has a lot of heart" and said that the comedy derives from a "subversion of norms". She also praised the writing, performances and characterisation “from the leads down to the supporting players", noting that "there are truths about family and friends that make it seem like more than a throwaway sitcom."[17] Lucy Mangan in The Guardian commented that it is "simply very, very funny" and that the "hyper-religiosity is used to look anew at family dynamics and dysfunction; how blind you can be to abnormalities if they are all you know".[18] Carol Midgely in The Times described it as "a small delight" and praised the performance of Simon Bird and the cast, as well as the "sharply, wittily written" script, adding that "it is a brave comedy that targets religion, but only a clever one could do it with this much heart and jolliness."[19] The i described it as "funny as hell" [20] while, in a four-star review for The Evening Standard, Vicky Jessop wrote "who knew eternal damnation could be this fun?".[21]
Reception in the United States has been similarly positive. Time Magazine described it as "a fantastically warped family sitcom” and “easily the best new broadcast comedy since Abbot Elementary".[22] The New York Times labelled it "a charmer - smart, distinctive, lovely".[23] The Hollywood Reporter called it "very funny" [24] while The LA Times named it "a dysfunctional family comedy you can believe in".[25] Similarly positive reviews came from The New York Post ("hell yeah")[26] and The Daily Beast, which called it "really goddamn funny" and "the sort of laughs-at-any-cost sitcom rarely made in the UK these days".[27]
In February 2024, the series was nominated at the Broadcast Awards in the Best Comedy Programme category.[28]
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