To enjoy Hulus new original program Difficult People is to appreciate a formula that is one part Seinfelds self-absorbed/self-sabotaging characters and one part Will and Graces' warmly weathering friendship, as written for a post-cable sitcom audience familiar with R-rated material.
Difficult People is, after three episodes, already demonstrating clever writing that both leads comfortably embrace. Both Billy Eichner and Jule Klausner play caricatures of themselves, or perhaps more accurately, play up to their public personas. As they are written to be clearly self-aware and not just aloft buffoons, this can make the two all the more difficult to sympathize with. This will be quite jarring to fans of Executive Producer Amy Poehlers series Parks and Rec, where Billy Eichner arguably received his largest exposure. The majority of fans investigating this series will do so on Poehlers reputation and not Eichner, despite humor that is clearly in sync with his work hosting Fuses gameshow 'Billy on the Street'.
The audience will, most likely, find it easier to sympathize with the supporting cast. These characters, be it the episode specific offended-mother-of-two in the pilot or the recurring; Such as the brilliantly comedic James Ubaniak and surprisingly nuanced Andrea Martin give breadth for the audience to connect with.
It is the combination of the leads shrewd temperament and the series decidedly profane material that audiences will find most inaccessible. It is profane, and the characters are decidedly abusive. And while each fail, the leads have been rewarded for this behavior. Difficult People has already demonstrated that while they will embrace Seinfeds cynicism, they will not be beholden to the No-Hugging-No-Learning rule. It can overshadow the strong pacing of the writing and excellent camera work. Episodes are best appreciated on multiple viewings, and like Netflix 'Bojack Horseman' you must look past the initial "shock" jokes to reveal a layer to the writing where themes are given the entire episode to flourish.
*****SPOILERS BELOW*****
The weakest aspect to the series writing may yet to have revealed itself, but it may well be continuity. Will we find out Billys fate in regards to his hit-and-run accident? Will Marilyn's hypnosis training be a one episode gag? Three episodes in, the viewers are left with no impression a season story arc is present and that we are looking down the barrel of a joke- of-the-week series. Liked or not, these characters are already to well realized to suffer this dole sitcom fate.
Difficult People is, after three episodes, already demonstrating clever writing that both leads comfortably embrace. Both Billy Eichner and Jule Klausner play caricatures of themselves, or perhaps more accurately, play up to their public personas. As they are written to be clearly self-aware and not just aloft buffoons, this can make the two all the more difficult to sympathize with. This will be quite jarring to fans of Executive Producer Amy Poehlers series Parks and Rec, where Billy Eichner arguably received his largest exposure. The majority of fans investigating this series will do so on Poehlers reputation and not Eichner, despite humor that is clearly in sync with his work hosting Fuses gameshow 'Billy on the Street'.
The audience will, most likely, find it easier to sympathize with the supporting cast. These characters, be it the episode specific offended-mother-of-two in the pilot or the recurring; Such as the brilliantly comedic James Ubaniak and surprisingly nuanced Andrea Martin give breadth for the audience to connect with.
It is the combination of the leads shrewd temperament and the series decidedly profane material that audiences will find most inaccessible. It is profane, and the characters are decidedly abusive. And while each fail, the leads have been rewarded for this behavior. Difficult People has already demonstrated that while they will embrace Seinfeds cynicism, they will not be beholden to the No-Hugging-No-Learning rule. It can overshadow the strong pacing of the writing and excellent camera work. Episodes are best appreciated on multiple viewings, and like Netflix 'Bojack Horseman' you must look past the initial "shock" jokes to reveal a layer to the writing where themes are given the entire episode to flourish.
*****SPOILERS BELOW*****
The weakest aspect to the series writing may yet to have revealed itself, but it may well be continuity. Will we find out Billys fate in regards to his hit-and-run accident? Will Marilyn's hypnosis training be a one episode gag? Three episodes in, the viewers are left with no impression a season story arc is present and that we are looking down the barrel of a joke- of-the-week series. Liked or not, these characters are already to well realized to suffer this dole sitcom fate.