By Ian Hugo – Sports Editor

For many Netflix diehards, “Master of None” may already be sitting in the “Watch It Again” section of their account with a rating of five stars after binging on the series over the weekend. For the more casual Netflix member, however, “Master of None” may just be that irritating suggestion that pops up every time the streaming website is opened before scrolling past it with mild annoyance.

If the latter sounds familiar, this should not be the case: “Master of None” is a must-watch, maintaining the hilarity and quirkiness often associated with star Aziz Ansari (Parks And Rec, 30 Minutes Or Less) while incorporating a sense of depth and meaningfulness to the series the stand-up comedian does not often have the chance to explore and grasp in his other works.

The show stars Ansari who plays Dev Shah, a 30 year-old actor living in New York City best known for his role in a Go-Gurt commercial five years ago. Dev is accompanied by friends Arnold (Eric Wareheim, “Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie”), Denise (Lena Waithe, staff writer for “Bones” starring Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz), and Brian (Kelvin Yu, “Star Trek”), with whom he tackles the day to day challenges of being an up-and-coming adult in the big city, such as what to get your friend’s son for his first birthday, the ups and downs that come along with a serious relationship, finding work in a city of 9 million people, and where to find the best tacos, all the while placing a humorous twist on the situation with Ansari’s trademark charm and lingo.

Aside from the unbridled laughter that will undoubtedly come along with watching Ansari audition for a role as a doctor in a World War Z rip-off film over Facetime in the middle of a crowded coffee shop, “Master of None” subtly deals with issues that run deeper than the Wifi in his apartment being a bit shoddy (which leads to the coffee shop “debacle”).

Ansari and co-creator Alan Yang (Producer of “Parks And Rec”) have created a series unmistakable for its hilarity that, whether the viewer knows it or not, simultaneously touches on issues society in America is currently tackling in today’s day and age, such as the struggles of immigrants deal/dealt with coming to America, racial discrimination in the workplace, inequality of women and men and the struggles women must deal with on a daily basis, and the tendency of today’s generation to abandon the old. Ansari and Yang keep a light cover over this serious undertone, making sure not to let it overshadow the comedic aspect of the series.

Another main plotline in the show is Dev’s relationship with his girlfriend, Rachel. Dev and Rachel, who are intertwined throughout the series but “officially” get together in the 6th episode, have their ups and downs, with their ups being heavenly and their downs ever so depressing. With their relationship so crucial to the show’s plot, explaining in full would bring spoilers galore and ruin any potential viewer’s experience.

In addition to the show’s main characters, Ansari’s parents Shoukath and Fatima play Dev’s parents in the series and are a delightful surprise, acting as an instant mood-lightener from the first time Dev’s father calls him “Dude!”

Ansari also injects some real life into the series, telling his parents’ actual story of how they came to America in episode two in which Dev and his friend Brian take their parents out to dinner to learn more about the struggles they endured emigrating from Asia to the United States. In episode seven, Rachel tells Dev about how she had to go into a pet store for 30 minutes just to get a creepy guy to stop following her around, a bit that Ansari’s faithful might remember from his stand-up routine at Madison Square Garden (also a Netflix production).

With that being said, there were a couple drawbacks to the show. The series, if given a theatrical rating like a movie would have, would almost certainly be R. There is far too much swearing and sexual references (whether overtly or mere innuendo) for “Master of None” to be considered family-friendly. The only other shortcoming is the fact that Ansari and Yang’s modern-day comedic masterpiece has only 10 episodes in the first season! Viewers of the show, which has already garnered positive reviews from a myriad of websites, will most definitely be clamoring for more episodes of Ansari’s Netflix Original Series, the only question being can Ansari and his crew churn out another batch of high quality entertainment with not only laughs but substance as well? Members will just have to wait and see, making due with rewatching the series’ 10 episodes released November 6 on Netflix every few weeks until we get more of Dev and his pals being thrown into hilariously awkward situations and seeing their reactions as they come.

“Master of None” is sure to bring a tear to your eye, whether it be from laughter or sadness.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars