TV Review: Beef is the best new show in ages - don't miss it

Ali Wong as Amy, Steven Yeun as Danny in episode 110 of Beef.

Set in sunny California, lead characters losing the rag, Beef (Netflix) is familiar territory for anyone who remembers Falling Down with Michael Douglas.

Except there is no sentimental back-story with a loving wife and in this 10-part series, the Asian characters are the leads rather than just walk-ons who are there to infuriate poor Michael.

Beef is also laugh out loud funny, without a single gag to be seen. 

Ali Wong as Amy in episode 101 of Beef.

Danny and Amy are two strangers thrown together during a road-rage spat in a parking lot. He’s a down-at-heel builder trying to make amends after his parents lost their business due to his dealing in stolen goods. She’s a chi-chi entrepreneur about to make 10 million dollars by selling her business to a woman who might be a little bit based on Gwyneth Paltrow.

They are both at boiling point. He feels like a failure and appears to be battling depression; she’s not gone on her husband and wants to get the deal done so she can spend more time with her daughter. The acting is way up there, you really believe them.

So it’s not a surprise that they do what we’d all like to do after a spot of road rage. Forget mindfulness and breathing and moving on – they set out to ruin each other with an escalating feud.

He tracks her down by number plate and piddles on her hardwood floor. She responds by wrecking his business with a spate of 1-star online reviews.

The story zips along, pinging off nicely crafted characters like Danny’s brother Paul, his dodgy cousin Isaac, Amy’s floppy husband and panto mother-in-law and others that come and go. 

Steven Yeun as Danny in episode 101 of Beef.

I’ve watched three episodes so far, and they haven’t put a foot wrong. I haven’t been this into a show since the first season of Succession.

The icing that sets it apart is Ali Wong, the comedian who plays Amy. She has this startled, just-about-holding-it-together look that draws you in and makes you believe. 

Her comic timing rides on the superb writing, so there are plenty of laughs without ever forcing things. 

And the look of relief and joy on her face when she pulls off another act of destruction on Danny tells you all you need to know – we might all be better off if we lost the rag with a stranger in a car-park every now and again.

Steven Yeun as Danny, Remy Holt as June in episode 109 of Beef.

Steven Yeun as Danny is on the sadder end of the scale. A gorgeous detail is that he drives to a Burger King out of town because he reckons they have the best Chicken Sandwiches of any Burger King. 

We see him gorging on three of them until he gets a pain in his chest, it’s funny and tragic, like something you’d see in The Sopranos.

I also love Isaac, the dodgy cousin. His force-of-nature persona delivers the best comic moments and they come in many forms. 

I never thought I’d laugh at someone puking down a stairwell in Vegas, but that’s Beef for you – the best new show I’ve seen in ages. Don’t miss it.