SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE on HBO (series w/ LGBTQ characters)

[samhexum]

Bridget Everett didn’t want to make ‘Somebody Somewhere’ about ‘judgment or politics’

Comedian Bridget Everett said that she wanted to focus on more mature characters who are still finding their feet in her new HBO series “Somebody Somewhere” — since many other shows are all-about younger people.

“Speaking for myself, that’s when I woke up and that’s when my life clicked into gear,” Everett, 49, told The Post. “That’s when I became more successful. I stopped waiting tables in my 40s, and I think that’s the story of a lot of people around me. We’re all in our 40s and hustling. We’re not bold-faced names, and we’re all in an HBO show now — together.” 

Premiering Sun. (Jan 16) at 10: 30 p.m., and executive-produced by the Duplass brothers, the seven-episode comedy series follows Sam (Everett, also an exec producer), a 40something woman who feels stuck in a rut in her hometown of Manhattan, Kansas.

By day, she has a boring job at a standardized testing grading center, frequently clashes with her family, mourns her sister Holly who died six months ago, spends lots of time alone and unsure that she is “friend material” and doesn’t do anything about her passion for singing. But, soon enough — when she befriends her co-worker Joel (Jeff Hiller) — she gets involved in a group of misfits and LGBTQ people who gather in a church after-hours for an unsanctioned “choir practice” to socialize, sing and perform onstage.  

Sam (Bridget Everett) and her new friend Joel (Jeff Hiller) share a laugh in “Somebody Somewhere.”

“We’ve never seen real queer folks who live in a small town in the middle of America,” said “Somebody Somewhere” co-star Jeff Hiller.

“Parts of it [are based on my life] [and] some of the themes, liked the dead sister and the love of singing and being from [Manhattan] Kansas. There are differences and similarities, but enough to help me stay emotionally connected as an untrained actor,” said Everett, best-known for her appearances on “Inside Amy Schumer” and her bawdy live cabaret shows.

“We didn’t want to do a ‘Singer goes to New York’ plot,” she said. “We wanted to do, ‘What happened if somebody like me stayed in a town like the place I grew up?’ I think her relationship to music is an interesting one. It’s sort of letting her dreams and the things that she loved slip by, and sort of waking up in her 40s and being like, ‘Oh, what happened?’”

Sam (Bridget Everett) looks through a yearbook with her niece Shannon (Kailey Albus) in “Somebody Somewhere.”

Co-star Jeff Hiller (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”) said that he could relate to his character, Joel, as well.

“We’ve seen queer characters feel oppressed in a place that isn’t necessarily a city, and we’ve seen queer characters in a city, but we’ve never seen real queer folks who live in a small town in the middle of America,” he said. “That’s what makes this sort of a unique story to tell. My character loves the church, and normally gay characters will hate the church, or are oppressed by the church. There are barely any shows about people in their 40s at all — and if there are, it’s about people who are having a hard time in their marriage, or something.” 

Sam (Bridget Everett) and Joel (Jeff Hiller) take a stroll through Manhattan, Kansas. Photograph by Chuck Hodes/HBO

Everett said that, since this is her first time as an executive producer, she got some advice from her pals in the industry. 

“I talked to Sarah Jessica Parker about how to sort of stand on your own and take your power, take your space, make your voice at the table heard,” she said. “She really helped inform me and give me confidence to do that. Just because you’re the person on camera, doesn’t mean you don’t have something to contribute behind the camera.

“We didn’t want to make [the show] be about judgment or politics — I wanted it to feel like the people that I knew growing up in Kansas,” she said. “Little things, like feeling the military [presence], because I grew up next to Fort Riley. You want to feel the school, you want to feel the limestone buildings.  I’m sure I’m still going to get s–t from some of my friends back home about how I didn’t nail this or nail that, but we really tried hard to make it as Kansas-y as we could.”

https://nypost.com/2022/01/11/bridget-everett-on-finding-her-feet-on-somebody-somewhere/

Edited January 18, 2022 by samhexum
Just for the hell of it.

[samhexum]

The Washington Post called it the first great series of 2022.

https://washingtonpost.com/tv/2022/01/14/somebody-somewhere-review/?tid=pm_entertainment_pop

 

[samhexum]

I thought the first episode showed some promise.  The central character is interesting.

[TruthBTold]

I love this series so far.  I think the main character (Sam) shows many qualities we all have in us (whether we show them or not).  The most outstanding feeling is the one in which you feel alone and not quite able to fit in anywhere.  I really find the relationship between Sam and her gay friend/co-worker to be very comforting because he is one of the few gay characters on television that is not vain and selfish.  At any rate, I would suggest that you watch it because I think you will find it funny and emotionally satisfying. 

[samhexum]

I'm bummed this is only a 7 seven episode series.  That means only 4 left.  I hope it'll be picked up for another season, but there doesn't seem to be much buzz about it, and 10:30 PM on Sunday is not exactly a prime time slot.

[samhexum]

There WILL be a season 2!

[TruthBTold]

It is so good to hear there will be a second season.  There are just so many funny things about it (as well as many not-so-funny aspects).  I recommended the show to a friend of mine and she said that a friend of hers did not like it.  But we both agreed that unfortunately you have to be a certain type of person NOT to like it.  😁

[+ purplekow]

I must be that certain kind of person.  I want to like it but the main character Sam has no appeal.  I will continue to watch and hope, that like Schitt's Creek, the show improves as the characters become better defined.  Last night's episode's big reveal at the end was no surprise at all.  Pedestrian so far.  If some of the characters were not gay, the show would be a total bust for me.  

[jeezifonly]

I am impressed by the uncomplicated realness of this show. The characters have a lot of potential for development, and the casting is really spot- on. I’m 2 eps in, going to give this first season a full shot! 

[samhexum]

On 1/24/2022 at 12:24 PM, TruthBTold said:

I love this series so far.  I think the main character (Sam) shows many qualities we all have in us (whether we show them or not).  The most outstanding feeling is the one in which you feel alone and not quite able to fit in anywhere.  I really find the relationship between Sam and her gay friend/co-worker to be very comforting because he is one of the few gay characters on television that is not vain and selfish.  At any rate, I would suggest that you watch it because I think you will find it funny and emotionally satisfying. 

 

On 2/12/2022 at 3:06 AM, jeezifonly said:

I am impressed by the uncomplicated realness of this show. The characters have a lot of potential for development, and the casting is really spot- on. I’m 2 eps in, going to give this first season a full shot! 

Is everyone set for the thrilling action-packed season finale tonight?

[+ EVdude]

Just love this series. Fun, tender finale. Can’t wait to see her live at Joe’s Pub in NYC in April.

[+ pitman]

I was late to the game for this show, but once started I ended up binging it, something I rarely do.

Great show.  I love the relationship between Sam and Joel.  Can't wait for season 2.

[samhexum]

On 1/24/2022 at 12:24 PM, TruthBTold said:

I love this series so far.

 

On 2/12/2022 at 3:06 AM, jeezifonly said:

I am impressed by the uncomplicated realness of this show.

 

On 3/1/2022 at 7:10 PM, EVdude said:

Just love this series. Fun, tender finale. Can’t wait to see her live at Joe’s Pub in NYC in April.

 

On 3/24/2022 at 12:23 PM, pitman said:

I was late to the game for this show, but once started I ended up binging it, something I rarely do.

Mike Hagerty,  ‘Somebody, Somewhere’ actor, dies

Character actor Mike Hagerty — who memorably played roles on “Friends” and the series “Somebody, Somewhere” — has died. He was 67.

His cause of death has not been revealed, though a statement from his “Somebody, Somewhere” co-star Bridget Everett was shared on social media.

“With great sadness, the family of Michael G. Hagerty announced his death yesterday in Los Angeles,” Everett posted on Instagram Friday.

In her tribute, Everett called Hagerty “a beloved character actor, his love of his hometown of Chicago and his family were the cornerstones of his life.”

“Mike, a devoted husband, is survived by his wife Mary Kathryn, his sister Mary Ann Hagerty [and] her wife Kathleen O’Rourke, and their daughter Meg. He will be sorely missed,” she wrote.

Hagerty was best known for playing building superintendent Mr. Treeger on “Friends.”

 

 

[samhexum]

Mike Hagerty allegedly died from having an adverse reaction to a medicine that sent him into a coma, according to a report.

Sources close to the actor told TMZ that Hagerty’s energy was still low after a leg infection in April. The 67-year-old actor was set to begin filming Season 2 of the HBO comedy “Somebody Somewhere,” so a doctor sent him to the hospital for a checkup.

There, Hagerty was reportedly given a new antibiotic that caused him to have a seizure and go into a coma.

[samhexum]

On 1/24/2022 at 12:24 PM, TruthBTold said:

I love this series so far.  I think the main character (Sam) shows many qualities we all have in us (whether we show them or not).  The most outstanding feeling is the one in which you feel alone and not quite able to fit in anywhere.  I really find the relationship between Sam and her gay friend/co-worker to be very comforting because he is one of the few gay characters on television that is not vain and selfish.  At any rate, I would suggest that you watch it because I think you will find it funny and emotionally satisfying. 

 

On 2/12/2022 at 3:06 AM, jeezifonly said:

I am impressed by the uncomplicated realness of this show. The characters have a lot of potential for development, and the casting is really spot- on. I’m 2 eps in, going to give this first season a full shot! 

 

On 3/1/2022 at 7:10 PM, EVdude said:

Just love this series. Fun, tender finale. Can’t wait to see her live at Joe’s Pub in NYC in April.

 

On 3/24/2022 at 12:23 PM, pitman said:

I was late to the game for this show, but once started I ended up binging it, something I rarely do.

Great show.  I love the relationship between Sam and Joel.  Can't wait for season 2.

Season 2 starts 4/23.

[pubic_assistance]

On 1/24/2022 at 12:24 PM, TruthBTold said:

The most outstanding feeling is the one in which you feel alone and not quite able to fit in anywhere.

I grew up in a small town where a few of the gay guys I knew in high school stayed behind and carved out a life for themselves in the middle of a bunch of religious conservatives and rednecks. Always fascinated me. It's an interesting subject because more and more, you see this happening in small towns where gay men would have normally left.

Edited March 2, 2023 by pubic_assistance
grammar

[samhexum]

 

[+ EVdude]

What a great second season. Super character growth, touching, funny and Sunday’s season finale (To Ed) really choked me up with a farewell to Mike Hagerty. One of the best shows on television. 

[samhexum]

Binged the terrific 2nd season yesterday.  Just wish it had longer seasons.

On 5/29/2023 at 4:56 PM, EVdude said:

What a great second season. Super character growth, touching, funny and Sunday’s season finale (To Ed) really choked me up with a farewell to Mike Hagerty. One of the best shows on television. 

[+ EVdude]

 

 

[SirBillybob]

Jeff Hiller. Such a scene stealer. ❤️ him. Other than this, I am familiar with him as Mr Whitely from latest American Horror story.

Edited July 6, 2023 by SirBillybob