In the current television landscape we are increasingly used to seeing stories with big stakes, which involve questions of life and death when not the salvation of the human species short. It is a small revolution, therefore, a series like Somebody somewhereof which the second season is coming out in the United States these days (in Italy the first is also unpublished, unfortunately).
The creators are Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen (former screenwriters of the acclaimed film Driveways), but in the final mix two other presences count a lot: on the one hand the Duplass brothers (The puffy chair, Togetherness) as producers, on the other Bridget Everett as protagonist Sam, whose story is partly inspired by the biography of the actress herself.
Everett is known for her cheeky comedy shows in which she freely shows off her grossly overweight body, her rampant sexual appetites and her powerful mezzo-soprano voice, singing songs with titles like Did, Put your bird away o Leccala. Also present in her repertoire is the town in rural Kansas where she was born, which is called, ironically, Manhattan: “the little apple”, the locals joke.
In contrast to Everett, the Sam’s Somebody somewhere was forced to return to Manhattan, Kansas, and spent the first season coping with death, conflict with her sister Tricia and her mother’s alcoholism, helped by a small community of people not aligned with the overwhelming local conformism and in particular by Joel (Jeff Hiller), with whom he has formed a deep friendship. In this new season Sam and Joel have decided to move in together (without any romantic ties, Joel is gay), and he continues to invest her with all the kindness possible for a human being. Sam takes singing lessons, and step by step tries to find her way of expressing herself. The plot is made up of small events, which nevertheless assume great importance thanks to the empathy that the characters are able to arouse: what works is the juxtaposition between joyfully scatological moments (we are happy to talk about sweat, diarrhea, various body fluids) and a general delicacy of gaze, which represents everyone with great tenderness.
Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen
Somebody somewhere
HBO, unpublished in Italy