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Its no surprise thatSuccessiongot an Emmy nomination this year.
Its central idea members of a family destroying each other to gain power is classic tragic material.
What could be more dramatic thanKing Lear?
But its weird to seeSuccessionnominated as a drama, because, in so many ways,Successionis a comedy.
The baseline comedic feature ofSuccessionis the simplest one.
But its also funny in the way of satire, a more puncturing, slicing kind of humor.
It stings, but it also earns a snorting laugh.
But in both seasons, the credits also feature brief shots from the cable-news channel owned by Waystar Royco.
In season one, the most prominent chyron read, Why Are So Many of Our Older Celebrities Dying?
In season two, it has been replaced with Gender Fluid Illegals May Be Entering the Country Twice.
Underneath, theres a scrolling report: Senator Wants to Create Supremer Court.
More often than not,Successionis also directed and edited as a comedy.
See how unreasonable and foolish this all is?
On a human scale,Successionis a story about unhappiness.
From that faraway vantage point, these people and their world are a joke.
Their helicopters and apartments are obscene.
Their supposedly luxurious parties seem like uncomfortable nightmares.
On the uppermost level,Successionis a comedy of manners, a satire on the absurdity of wealth.
The Roys lives might be tragic, but their whole world is laughable.
No matter how sad it is,Successions foremost idea is that its world is preposterous.
Preposterous things are also real, and that doesnt make them any less absurd or less heartbreaking.
But it does mean thatSuccessiongives us permission to laugh at them.
