Difficult People TV review: Sharp edges, gooey centre

In this age of fast-tracked international series, this sharp and bitey comedy remains somewhat of a rarity.

Difficult People is a rarity in Australian television in 2020.

The Billy Eichner and Julie Klausner comedy series premiered in the US in 2015 and despite this being the era in which international series are fast-tracked to Australia within the day (or a few months at the outside), it’s taken Difficult People five years to get here.

Almost to the day – it premiered in the US on August 5, 2015. So, if you were waiting, you’ve been waiting a long time. But all three seasons will drop on SBS On Demand today.

Was it worth the wait? Resoundingly yes. Difficult People is punchy and jabby – its brand of comedy has a sharp edge but a gooey centre.

It has this quality of being repellent but disarmingly charismatic, charming you without you noticing it happening at all. What was an exhausting pattern of whip-fast dialogue and one-upmanship becomes beguiling by minute 10.

Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner in Difficult People

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Created by Klausner, who wrote or co-wrote every episode, Difficult People stars Klausner and Eichner as two aspiring New York comedians whose onscreen monikers are Julie Kessler and Billy Epstein.

Neither have been very successful and spend most of the day moaning about other people, especially celebrities, when they’re not making do with hospitality work or recapping Real Housewives.

They’re frequently cooking up schemes to land comedy work or an agent, going on auditions, bombing at stand-up and wondering how everyone else in their improv classes are now in Judd Apatow-adjacent movies.

They’re both abrasive, selfish, often obnoxious and, honestly, the kind of people you wouldn’t still be friends with if you knew them in real life.

All three seasons of Difficult People are finally available in Australia

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But the genius in Difficult People is that you love them anyway, even if every logical bone in your body says “ruuuuuuuunnnnn”.

Because for all the mean barbs they throw out into the universe, they’re fun! And they’re always there for each other – that enduring friendship is so appealing. They can be arseholes to the rest of the world if they’re champs to each other, bonded as they are by their collective disdain for humanity.

Also, most of their quibbles? Not wrong. It might be merciless, but Difficult People is keenly observed.

Despite the fact that the first eight episodes of its total 28-episode run are five years old, the heavily referential series hasn’t dated, not even the joke with the crusty white women who feared a Hillary Clinton presidential win (because, heavens forfend, their tax breaks!).

Difficult People requires some stamina from its audience to keep up with its pop culture Rolodex – it can pivot from James Spader’s sex appeal among straight women to Columbine in about four seconds while its dialogue pace rivals that of The Gilmore Girls, but with far less earnestness.

Guest stars include Seth Meyers

Sometimes, because it’s older, you can appreciate Difficult People for publicly calling out certain pervert celebrities before the MeToo movement, chief among them Charlie Rose. It also predicted a Fraggle Rock reboot but fudged some of the details.

Klausner and Eichner are perfectly matched in tone and energy, both of them casting off a swirl of vulnerability and chaos – it’s an attractive combination.

The supporting and guest star talent is jawdropping, starting with Andrea Martin as Julie’s mother Marilyn, a neurotic therapist who describes her daughter as “funny, but none of my friends think so”.

Over the three seasons, the names that pop in, sometimes as themselves, include Lucy Liu, Fred Armisen, Amy Sedaris, John Cho, Kate McKinnon, Patton Oswalt, Vanessa Williams, Stockard Channing, Seth Meyers, Jami Gertz, Amy Poehler, Martin Short, Nathan Lane, Tina Fey, Lin-Manuel Miranda and, so randomly, Debbie freaking Harry.

Difficult People is a great little gem, somewhat unpolished but dazzling nonetheless.

Difficult People is streaming now on SBS On Demand

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