4. The Supporting Cast Are Well Developed
Due to his earlier work, this one serves as more a no-brainer than anything else on the list. Nonetheless credit to Stephen Merchant (along with Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky), who has done a great job of rounding off his peripheral characters when they could have easily been only used to push the plot forward. The point is that they still serve to shape the story for Merchant and the bizarre situations he finds himself in, yet it is done in a way that makes them feel included. For example Stuart's tenant Jessica (Christine Woods) does an excellent job of having her own development within the first few episodes. Unlike staple HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, these characters often appear outside of scenes with the main star, which serves to elevate them beyond punch line gags for Stuart. Jessica has her own Web TV Series, is a struggling actress in LA (who isn't?), has empty air=headed friends who she seeks to lose in favour of more interesting company and is being used by her agent as a booty call. That, for example purposes, is more than I can tell you about Susie from Curb Your Enthusiasm, who is married to Jeff and tends to be a bit of a bitch which is all I know after 7 seasons. I ascertained those details of the character of Christine in Hello Ladies within the first three episodes.