Yeah - it makes me happy. But it also breaks my heart.

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's Top 50 TV Shows of 2022.  

#27 : Somebody Somewhere

This hugely underwatched sitcom was one of the feelgood TV experiences of the year. Its tale of a woman who moves back to her home town in the wake of a family trauma was packed with joy and warmth. The tomfoolery between lead Sam (a wonderfully versatile Bridget Everett) and her new bestie Joel was glorious, as were Sam’s steps towards finding herself within a community and the moments of self-discovery that went along with them.

I know this got renewed for a second season which is currently available, so it can't be too bad - but apart from that, I know absolutely nothing about it.

And watching it, it takes some time for you to get the hang of it.  We basically follow Sam, who is generally quite sad, round town as she does stuff, a lot of which does nothing to alleviate her sadness - but some things do.  And we slowly learn what they are - and, over time, so does she.  But, there's some properly heartbreaking moments along the way and they just sneak up on you without warning and get you right in the feels - fortunately they are balanced by some lovely heartwarming moments as well.

The series is most definitely populated by some odd characters.  There's a good argument that Sam (Bridget Everett) is the most normal, but she's not coping well and you really feel for her - it's an impressive central performance.  Sam's story is actually based on Bridget's life, which given it involves the death of a sister, makes it an even more impressive performance - hopefully it was some sort of therapy for her.  Joel (Jeff Hiller) is a fun character with some great lines (but he has just the worst haircut) and his relationship with Sam is nicely drawn - although not quite as tomfoolery-full as The Guardian hints above.  

Sam's family are, I think it's fair to say, "characters" - her dad (Mike Hagerty) was probably my favourite with his straightforward take on life.  The other character I'm going to call out is Professor Doctor Fred Rococo (Murray Hill) - soil scientist by day, emcee by night.  (Insert required pronoun here - I've no clue what you're supposed to use for drag kings) is/are the most outlandish character on the show, but they (let's go with that) offer up a listening ear and great advice to several characters.

It's not a masterpiece to look at, but it's not intended to be - it's, shall we say, fit for purpose and leave it at that.  I'd say the story is the important thing, but, actually, when it comes to it - there's not an awful lot of story there either.  But, you know what, it doesn't really matter - they're just a bunch of decent people trying to get by.  It also has a lovely ending to it which manages to be both an ending and a beginning - and I will make an attempt to catch up with season 2 at some point (and I've just seen that it's been renewed for season 3, so it's doing alright for itself).  I would say I don't think it's for everyone, but I also think it might prove surprisingly enjoyable for some people who wouldn't normally choose to watch it - you need to give it a couple of episodes to bed in.  At the time of writing, it's available to watch on Sky/Now TV.

#26 - A very enjoyable watch
#29 - No, wait - it's good!