Pamela Adlon
There are very few programs on Tv that really are complete originals on every level. Better Things is one of them, the first in many years where, at the end of the show, you are left wondering if you just watched something that really happened or someone actually wrote it. The show is being advertised as a Louis C.K., and if he helped breath life into this small television miracle he deserves credits but it sounds and feels like a Pamela Adlon show. A huge talent that already impressed in a few scenes in Louie, throwing out lines that didn’t feel constructed for effect but straight from the heart of a real person.
Some situations are pure comedy but there is no studio audience or a laugh track to cue you this is funny. In fact, nobody acts funny and there is no nod to the audience something ‘hilarious’ is going on. Then there many the fantastic moments that feel like something grabbed straight from life. The cast has such an organic chemistry you really feel like they are living these situations and you don’t know if they are acting or if you are watching a smart version of big brother. This organic energy to me says a lot about the casting and how safe everybody must feel on set. The show airs every Sunday on Comedy Central here in the Netherlands, they repeat the previous show, followed by the new episode. Many times I end up watching both because the moments it captures never seem to get old. We only have season one so far and it seems like Comedy Central is messing up the order of the episodes, but I wouldn’t want to miss this no matter how they show it.
