“Difficult People”: The Sitcom A Post-“Seinfeld” World Needs
It’s been years since the last time a new Seinfeld has graced our televisions but the show’s cultural impact is easily seen today. Shows like It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia can thank Seinfeld for putting terrible people at the front and center of a comedy. While the fingerprints of Seinfeld can be seen on many, many new shows; no series does it quite as right as Difficult People does.
This could be premature, after all the Hulu original series has only aired two episodes so far, but in those two episodes the show has accomplished much. It’s shown audiences who it is and unapologetically commits to that. This isn’t a show that will grow into itself, in fact, I wouldn’t expect this show to grow at all, and that’s what makes it great.
Difficult People stars Billy Eichner and Julie Klausner as a fictionalized version of themselves ten years ago. They’re comedians and actors trying to make it in New York City. They are also horrible people, hilarious and horrible people. The pilot opens when the two of them making their way through the streets of New York and telling off tourists who ask for pictures (Julie doesn’t want to touch your camera and get swine flu) and bicylists (Billy doesn’t think grown men should ride bikes).
When they meet up to watch Annie it’s clear that these two don’t hate each other which is refreshing. Sometimes it can be hard to buy that characters on comedies are even friends, in real life they wouldn’t stand each other. Difficult People doesn’t have that problem. The show has created two mean individuals that have an amazing friendship.
The duo’s dialogue as they wait for Annie is very reminiscent of the way George, Elaine, Jerry, and Kramer conversed with one another back in the day. They complain about life and the people around them mercilessly. They stop mid-conversation and glare when a mother brings her two young children to see Annie and they have the nerve to sit in front of them.
The show takes the “no hugging, no learning” Seinfeld philosophy to heart. At the end of the second episode the pair discuss how much they’ve changed when it’s apparent they have not changed at all and never will. There is no lesson at the end of each episode and the characters don’t change despite what they experience as a result of their actions. Billy hits the lead singer of Talking Heads while trying to drive for the first time and his only reaction is to use that experience for a callback. The characters here don’t feel remorseful for the things they’ve done or said.
It’s also, at its core, a show about nothing. So much so that when the credits start rolling for the pilot you wonder how it’s possibly already over — nothing has really happened. The show has thrown joke after joke at you but the episode itself was more like following the characters around for a few days than a real plot.
Perhaps part of the success of this show comes from having more creative freedom on Hulu (which also happens to have the entire Seinfeld library available to stream). It’s hard to imagine it being successful on a traditional network. Perhaps it’s success comes from its leads playing versions of themselves but regardless of what makes the show work — it works. There may never be a show as iconic as Seinfeld again but if you often catch yourself wanting to see terrible people be funny in NYC on a weekly basis, Difficult People has you covered.
