Lady Dynamite is an American comedy television series starring Maria Bamford, and is loosely based on her life.

[4] Stand-up comedian/actor Maria Bamford (portrayed by herself) moves back to Los Angeles after spending six months away in recovery for bipolar disorder and attempts to build up her life from scratch with the help of her agent Bruce Ben-Bacharach (Fred Melamed).

Throughout the entire first season, flashbacks are employed to gain an insight on Maria's backstory and her relationships with her family and friends.

In spite of the show being based on Bamford's real life, the writers had freedom to modify her experiences for creative purposes.

For example, in the pilot episode, Maria puts a bench in front of her house in an effort to promote a sense of community in her neighborhood.

Patton Oswalt plays a cop who disapproves of Maria's park bench, but he breaks character to advise her not to do the cliche stand-up motif in sitcoms.

Maria is fired from the sitcom Baby on Board for speaking her mind, but Bruce convinces the director to continue to work the rest of the day.

Worried she may be an unwitting racist, Maria seeks out a support group and fights for a big change on the set of a sitcom pilot starring the Lucas Brothers and Mira Sorvino.

When Maria slips into a sultry voice at a party, a handsome stranger (Brandon Routh) falls under her spell—and brings out her worst people-pleaser tendencies.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Maria Bamford's Lady Dynamite is a vibrant, subversive, sweet, meta-fictional ride - but also a courageous, boundary-busting and ultimately deep portrayal of a troubled psyche.

"[16] Variety described Bamford's performance saying that "the actress and comedian, whose presence has rarely been used as well as it is here, manages the neat trick of being both believably guileless and winningly sharp.

"[17] Variety also praised the show's guest stars, stating: "the entire show gains a great deal of energy from a varied array of game guest actors, including Mira Sorvino, Patton Oswalt, Ana Gasteyer, Brandon Routh, and Bridget Everett, all of whom appear delighted to be in Bamford's playfully serious orbit."

Critics have compared the series to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Community, Review and BoJack Horseman because of the way it uses meta-humor, absurdist humor and how it deals with mental health.