# Difficult People (2015)

> Two bitter thirty-something aspiring comics in New York watch their friends succeed while their own careers and relationships stall.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/56256

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 28
- Episode runtime: 24 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Julie Klausner
- Network: Hulu
- Cast: Julie Klausner, Billy Eichner, James Urbaniak, Andrea Martin, Cole Escola, Shakina Nayfack, Gabourey Sidibe, Tina Fey
- TMDB rating: 7.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4676574/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: caustic, cringe-inducing, deadpan, bitter, breezy

## Synopsis

Difficult People is a 2015-2017 American comedy series created by Julie Klausner for Hulu. Julie Klausner plays Julie Kessler, a struggling thirty-something comic in New York, opposite Billy Eichner as her equally embittered best friend Billy Epstein. The engine of the show is their resentment: while friends find success and love, they keep sabotaging their own chances in auditions, dates, and social encounters, lashing out at acquaintances and each other. James Urbaniak, Andrea Martin, and Cole Escola fill out the supporting cast as the people orbiting their misadventures. The series runs for three seasons with a case-of-the-week rhythm of cutting remarks and escalating humiliations, all built around a close friendship that is as much a source of conflict as comfort. The tone is caustic, sharp, and cringe-inducing, with a deadpan edge that never softens into sentiment. Set in contemporary Manhattan, its prickly portrait of creative ambition has the bite of Curb Your Enthusiasm, with the urban self-absorption of Girls. Fans of those shows will find resonance here.

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