Rachel Smith ’16/ Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer Photo Credit: Hulu
Hulu just introduced the most quotable show of 2015, and we’re so pleased to meet it. Difficult People stars Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner as best friends, appropriately named Julie and Billy. It’s nice to think this is an autobiographical, satirical take on who they really are, but no one could really be this awful. The two basically say everything you wish you could, but know is socially unacceptable. It’s like the show is written in sassy, sixteen-year-old tweets and brought to life by the brilliance of these stars. Klausner and Eichner play failing comedians/actors living in New York City who represent every stereotype that comes with those descriptions. They have an act that they think is hilarious, but at which no one laughs. This is everyone’s inner monologue on social media. “What I said is really funny. Why is no one favoriting it?” That is basically the motto of their lives. They nod to Twitter, checking their own favorites and getting in trouble for saying something hilarious that most people find offensive. This is a show pointed at a specific demographic, and that twenty-something, streaming service-watching, Twitter-obsessed group will absolutely love this show. Eichner portrays a gay, thirty-something actor who is a waiter by day but refuses to do his job because he thinks he’s above it. He thinks he is above everyone and everything. For example, he hates other gay men—and especially Jewish gay men—though he is both of those things. Julie has shacked up with a sugar daddy of sorts—Arthur, who is blindly accepting of his girlfriend’s antics even when they threaten his reputation. Photo Credit: Hulu
Minor characters include Billy’s boss, played by Gabourey Sidibe. She found a pretend son in the younger, sassier version of Billy named Matthew who also works at the restaurant. They are obnoxious and redundant in the first two episodes, but necessary to define Billy’s neglect of responsibility and self-awareness. Julie’s mother also plays a role in making this show stupidly funny. Marilyn is an overbearing, technologically-challenged psychologist who is equally as obsessed with attention as her daughter. The pilot is gold because Julie and Billy are together for a majority of the episode, playing off each other’s bad attitudes and entitlements. The second episode has them more in their own storylines, which is still entertaining, but the pair together is a friendship made in sarcasm heaven. They tell off people on the street asking general tourist questions and they tell a mother they can’t watch their language in front of her children for vulgar reason A, B, and C. Though the characters seem clueless, this is a really smart show, and with Amy Poehler as Executive Producer, how could it not be? Difficult People is full of quick-paced conversations, turning out joke after joke without pause. Being on Hulu means they can swear and make inappropriate comments to our hearts are content, and they will. It’s a show you’d love to binge watch, but they’re sticking with the old-fashioned weekly releases. Remember when you used to look forward to watching TV once every week instead of spending your Sunday glued to your MacBook? Difficult People will revert us back to that glorious time with relevant jokes that allow us to laugh at our own generational flaws through two brilliant comedians. Overall Grade: A
