HBO’s ‘Somebody Somewhere’ Is Your New Favourite Comfort Show

The longer this pandemic drags on, the more it seems people are becoming resistant to the idea of watching TV shows that seem to be sad, or depressing, or too real.

— Warning: This article contains minor spoilers for Somebody Somewhere. — 

This is a sentiment that I obviously fully understand, and am sympathetic to, but one I am going to completely ignore as I try and convince you to watch a very real and sometimes very bleak semi-autobiographical dramedy.

Somebody Somewhere stars Bridget Everett as Sam, a woman in her forties who returns to her tiny Kansas hometown to care for Holly, her dying sister. We join Sam six months after Holly’s death, still living in the hometown, now full of grief and despair, and without an anchor.

Based on the above description, I can understand why some people might be wary of jumping in and giving it a watch. But don’t be put off: Somebody Somewhere is endlessly heartwarming and funny. So here’s why you should watch it, OR ELSE. (Nothing will happen to you.)

Sam + Joel

In the first episode of the show, we land directly in Sam’s life, which is now enveloped in grief and aimlessness. She is listlessly going through the motions of adulthood, depressed, not feeling at home in the town, but not having any real reason to leave.

The rest of her family is in town, but she has an awful sister and brother-in-law, her mother is an alcoholic, and her father is in denial. She’s lost the sister she was closest to, and it’s immediately clear that she’s also completely lost herself.

But in the very first episode, we are all given a glimmer of hope. That hope comes in the form of Joel (Jeff Hiller), Sam’s coworker who is kind to her when she breaks down at work. He tells her they went to the same school and did choir together (she doesn’t remember him), fangirls over her singing voice, and invites her to a ‘Choir Practice’ event he runs at the local church he volunteers at. The two hit it off in a beautiful and in authentically drawn way, with Joel’s charm, forthright manner, and groundedness infiltrating Sam’s barriers.

Romantic relationships are the driving engine of so many stories, and have the greatest amount of importance placed on them. How will our main character meet the person who is going to fix her, or break her? Even though Somebody Somewhere is about a single woman in her 40s, where you would usually expect to find romance as the driving force for the narrative, it isn’t the case here (yet).

Instead of a rom-com, the show is more of a friend romance comedy. It’s a from-com! I’m not sure that will catch on, but it’s true. We watch as Sam and Joel become a feature in each other’s lives, with some moments of spikiness where they rub against each other. This comes across as a realistic portrayal of making friends as a grown-up when you’re dealing with real adult life and already settled in your ways.

But their friendship makes sense immediately, they are both really lived-in characters, and importantly on the same page when it comes to humour. One scene, for example, sees them improvising a song about Joel having to drink his own piss during a snowstorm. Great stuff!

Bonding through music is a throughline in the show, with Joel’s choir practice turning out to be a beautiful community performance event for all the queer and general misfits from the area.

There, he brings Sam on stage and they belt out songs together. This is where we get to see glimpses of Bridget Everett’s breadth of talents. In real life, she is a risque and charismatic cabaret performer, who also sings in a band with Ad-Rock from the Beastie Boys. The show knows what they have in her, and they allow these moments to be all about Everett performing, and it’s really fucking great. On a character level, this is where we see the one place Sam feels herself, and feels like she is finally truly awake. It’s beautiful and profound. When Sam lets Joel into her life, slowly makes friends with his friends, and starts to build community, it feels almost like we are watching her put on a lifejacket.

As a queer person from regional Queensland, watching this play out feels so familiar. Even though Sam (as far as we know) is straight, these are her people. Having a sense of belonging, and feeling safe to figure out who you are is invaluable, and not something you can get entirely from a romantic relationship. You get the sense that Sam and Joel meeting is not only going to change her life, but probably save it.

The Cast and Characters

Joel is a lovely and complicated character that we haven’t seen too much of before on screen. He is openly gay, religious, very comfortable in his own skin, but living in a tiny town where we can imagine things have been quite rough for him.

We get clever glimpses of this through Sam’s homophobic sister, and other townspeople wondering if Joel and Sam are dating (lol). It’s not often we see the stories of queer people who have remained in the small towns they grew up in, and built their lives there, instead of fleeing. As someone who didn’t really feel like I started properly living until I fled my small town and met my people, it’s really heartwarming to watch a show where it happens for the people who stay put as well.

You and your bestie developing your own secret language #SomebodySomewhere pic.twitter.com/ZGjSpgQqeu

— Human By Orientation (@HumanBy_O) January 19, 2022

The acting in the show is top-shelf, especially Bridget Everett and Jeff Hiller as Sam and Joel, and Mike Hagerty as Sam’s father.

You may recognise all three as ‘Ohhhh yeah I’ve seen them in something’ type of working actors. Everett has appeared in work like Inside Amy Schumer, Hiller has had bit parts on every great TV comedy in the past 10 years, and Hagerty has similarly been on everything from Seinfeld to Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

It’s really fitting that this show about sort-of outcasts and people on the sidelines is making stars out of people who have been hustling and trying to make it in the mainstream for so long.

"If you can dream it, you can do it."

–@bridgeteverett on landing her #SomebodySomewhere role. #FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/QsR5ptOX4R

— The Tonight Show (@FallonTonight) January 11, 2022

Another of the reasons I think the show feels so authentic and grounded is that the actors in it are what I would call “normal” looking people. If this feels like an insult, it’s not — it’s actually a huge compliment. Bridget Everett is very attractive and in real life dresses in revealing and sexy outfits, but in this show she wears what a person like Sam would wear, and she looks…normal.

Everyone looks like they could be people you see walking down the street, and it is a refreshing change not having to do mind tricks to accept that a guy who works in an office in a tiny town in Kansas has a body like a Marvel superhero.

Sad and Funny = Sunny

I get why people want to avoid shows about the bleak parts of life, but, for me, there’s nothing like the combination of sad and real and funny. Those moments of funny we have when dealing with hard things, the moments of release that need to happen, are some of the funniest moments you will ever have.

It’s the earning of the funny in this show that works so well, for me. It’s one thing to make a joke with your friend, it’s another thing to make a joke with your friend in the middle of everything falling down around you. It’s those moments that make us feel like we can keep going, and it’s those moments that remind us of our strength.

Somebody Somewhere is funny and heartwarming, but you can’t expect to have a truly heartwarming moment without experiencing the gravity of a situation first. But it’s so rewarding and worth it to go on that ride with these characters.

The show has already been renewed for a second season, so get on board now. OR ELSE. (Nothing will happen to you.)

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Bec Shaw is a comedy writer and gay about town, you can find more of her opinions on Twitter @brocklesnitch.

Somebody Somewhere is streaming on Binge in Australia.