Somewhere, somebody is living a small-town life and doing their best

The small town in question in the DuPlass Brothers-produced comedy-drama Somebody Somewhere is Manhattan, Kansas, and the main somebody is Sam Miller: 40-something, vaguely unkempt, who came home to take care of her sister Holly who died six months before the series opens. Neither the place nor the person is glitzy or glamorous, which immediately marks this show as entirely refreshing.

Sam (played by Bridget Everett, drawing from her real loss of her sister to cancer) has a soul-destroying job grading essays from standardised tests in a grim office environment that would make anyone feel like clawing their own face off. Emotionally fragile to begin with, she suddenly starts sobbing while reading one of these essays. It’s not even a great essay but when one is grieving, the tiniest triggers can set one off.

Rushing from the room, she is followed by Joel (Jeff Hiller), who offers comfort. It turns out they were at high school together; Sam doesn’t remember, Joel is a bit starstruck, having been in the choir with her, but they quickly strike up an unlikely friendship.

Joel invites Sam to “choir practice”, an evening in the back of a church, which is inside a shopping mall, where locals who are on the fringes of the conservative society gather to commune, perform, and allowed a safe space  to feel comfortable, loved and appreciated. This is where Sam reluctantly gets up on stage and rediscovers her happy place – singing.

It’s a short seven-episode series, around 27 minutes a pop, so it’s a super-easy one-sitting binge, with so much packed into it. While Sam is the pillar around which the show revolves, the cast is an ensemble, with quickly drawn and detailed characters, each with their own lives, problems, and insecurities.

Joel was quickly my favourite – geeky and awkward, his hopes and dreams are just like everybody else’s. When Sam learns about them, she shoots them down in flames, telling him this is as good as it’s ever going to be, a projection of her own feelings. Joel is deeply hurt, and Sam is soon remorseful.

Tricia (Mary Catherine Garrison, Veep; and keep an ear out for her distinctive voice in a small role in the Meryl Streep-led movie Let Them All Talk) is Sam’s other sister, who owns a shop called Tender Moments – cushions and candles and whatnot – with her bestie Charity (Heidi Johanningmeier). Tricia is the pretty one. The bitchy one. Sure, Sam speaks her mind, which can be harsh, but she’s not malicious. Their parents are Ed (Mike Hagerty), a farmer, and Mary Jo (Jane Drake Brody), an alcoholic.

So what happens in Somebody Somewhere? A lot, but just life, really. There’s Sam struggling with her grief and her relationship with her family, unable to sleep anywhere but on the couch in Holly’s house; certainly not in her bed.

There’s Mom getting low-key drunk all the time, walking into doors, literally throwing fuel on the fire, and dealing with the death of her daughter the only way she knows how. Dad is trying hard to make the farm work, stoically loving and supporting  his wife despite her flaws, hoping for the best. Tricia wants to uphold the facade of perfection but a shocking discovery initiates her “fight” mode, and the mask crumbles. Joel regrets impulsively adopting a dog and wants a Vitamix blender. And a husband and kids, but baby steps.

Somebody Somewhere is sweet, funny, sad, and sincere. It’s not some fantasy world in a shiny city populated by gorgeous humans whose biggest drama of the day is chipped nail polish. These are people we all know, even if we don’t know what they’re going through. Maybe check in now and again, see that they’re okay.

“There’s no savvy sneering at rural simplicity, just a sense that community is where you find it,” says Slate. The Guardian calls it a warm, honest and surprisingly beautiful TV comedy: “Not much happens in Somebody Somewhere, but don’t let that deceive you. This comedy is a stealthy new arrival that doesn’t shout about its charms, but rather lets them unfurl steadily, with surprising beauty.”

Unsurprisingly, Somebody Somewhere holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and has been renewed for a second season.

(Want more understated Duplass goodness? Try HBO’s Room 104, created by Mark and Jay Duplass, also streaming on Showmax.)