'You're the Worst' Is the Best Show You're (Probably) Not Watching
Over the last few years, many writers and critics have posited that we are currently living in a "television renaissance" and I certainly believe that to be true. While this can be seen as a great thing by avid television watchers such as myself, there are also some definite drawbacks. With so many great shows on TV and online, it can be easy for smaller, equally great shows to get brushed under the rug and ignored. One show that I firmly believe hasn't received the attention it rightfully deserves is FXX's "You're the Worst." Luckily, FXX just picked it up for a third season that will reportedly premiere in summer of 2016. In the meantime, I suggest that you catch up on this show. Because, seriously, "You're the Worst" is the best.
Created by Stephen Falk, the show focuses on Gretchen (The Mindy Project" and USA's "Playing House" for further evidence).
Continuing with the romantic comedy theory, Gretchen and Jimmy have their respective sidekicks, Lindsay (Kether Donohue) and Edgar (Desmin Borges). Unlike in a romantic comedy though, these characters too have fully fleshed out lives and backstories. Lindsay struggles with finding a balance between her party-girl ways and the adult life she believes she needs to be living, and Edgar battles PTSD from being an Iraq War veteran. They're not simply there to play yes men to the main characters, and it creates a much more colorful and interesting world for the show to live in. Other highlights from the show's particularly brilliant cast include the Odd Future-esque rap group that Gretchen reps as a PR Executive and Lindsay's dopey brother-in-law, who is somehow a doctor.
Another thing that's great about "You're the Worst" is that as a comedy it doesn't stray away from the more difficult parts of life. As I mentioned earlier, the show has already thoughtfully dealt with the struggles of PTSD, and in its second season has done a great job of showing what life is like with clinical depression. Through Gretchen's experiences we see that it's much more complicated than many films and TV shows like to portray it. It's unflinching in a sense, but the show's writers always seem to find a way to make us laugh, even if it feels a little wrong to do so. In fact, that's probably the best way to describe "You're the Worst:" so wrong, but so completely, totally right.
There are still two episodes left in "You're the Worst's" excellent second season, so now is as good of a time as any to get on board. If you're more interested in watching from the beginning (as you should be) then catch up on either Hulu or Amazon. Either way, just watch this show. When it finally gets all of the love and attention that it deserves, you can be the cool one in your friend group who saw it first. And isn't that really what we all want out of life?
Jenn Murphy is a journalism student at Columbia College Chicago and a contributor to Moviefone's Campus Beat. Are you a current college student with a love for all things movies and TV? Contribute to Campus Beat!