In the beautiful world of the over-40s, this is the best friend you want

Jeff Hiller laughs like he does on television. The comedian, who plays Joel on the delightful small-town dramedy Somebody Somewhere, hoots away as he does on screen, even though we’re talking about the end of the series that has been called “the best comedy you aren’t watching”.

“Oh, well, you know, I’m sad, super sad,” says Hiller over Zoom from his home in New York City. “And I’m a greedy actor, I want it to be 150 seasons, 300 episodes per season, but also I’m like, ‘I can’t even believe they made a pilot of this show.’

“So I do really just sit in the gratitude of it and just be like, ‘I can’t believe I got to be on the show.’ Otherwise, I’ll start crying all the time.”

The small-town drama has been a slow-burn word-of-mouth hit for HBO, picking up the prestigious Peabody Award this year, as well as best actress nominations for star Bridget Everett. This third season is its last, a bittersweet end just as it was finding a bigger audience.

“I’m not sure what everybody else knew, but I didn’t know when we were filming it [that it was the end],” says Hiller. “Although, it’s a small show, and Reservation Dogs and Getting On, things like that, they all ran about three seasons. So it felt not unexpected, let’s just say that.”

Somebody Somewhere is loosely based on the life of Everett, a New York cabaret star who grew up in Manhattan – the “Little Apple” – in Kansas. Everett plays 40-something Sam, who is grieving the death of her sister Holly. Bereft and lonely, Sam struggles until she finds old school friend Joel, who encourages her to join the church choir. If that sounds all too sweet, it’s not. Sam has plenty of sharp corners. She is more comfortable pushing people away, including her other sister Tricia (a brilliantly foul-mouthed Mary Catherine Garrison).

Joel (Jeff Hiller) and Fred (Murray Hill) eating out at Chef’s in Somebody Somewhere.

It’s a gentle watch, about found-family and finding the confidence to let people in that swings between emotional rawness and laugh-out-loud bawdiness. And while Everett is the headliner, Hiller’s Joel is the best friend everyone wants.

“The big thing was that it be authentic,” says Hiller. “You don’t even really see shows that often have a cast of middle-aged people. That’s pretty rare, just in and of itself. We never see middle-aged people who haven’t figured it out, who don’t have youthful, glowing skin. We’re not this gorgeous cast of people where you’re like, ‘I can’t believe you’re 48!’.

“That part makes it real, too, and that’s what makes it so different, it’s super real. And that’s why people, if they watch it, they love it. And that’s the thing, is that just not that many people watch it, but once you plug in, you love it. It shows you this beautiful world where you can be over 40 and still have hope in your life, still have change in your life, still bring new people into your life. And I think that sometimes the media tells us, ‘Die now.’”

The final season sees Sam confronting more change. Joel has sold his house and is moving in with Brad (Tim Bagley), while Tricia has hit the dating circuit with gusto after finalising her divorce. Sam, while happy for them, is still alone.

Sam (Bridget Everett) with her sister Tricia (Mary Catherine Garrison).

“That is the most confusing part about friendship in middle age,” says Hiller. “Balancing relationships with people, and especially starting a romantic relationship in your middle age, too. It’s not like when you are in your 20s, where you’re just like, ‘I will just always be with you, right?’ You have to blend. You have to do so much blending. And the show does talk about that a little bit and addresses it in a really realistic way. And it addresses Sam’s fears in a really realistic way.

“And it doesn’t make it up to be like Brad is this monster, who the audience goes, ‘Oh, he’s awful. Joel shouldn’t be with him.’ It’s smarter than that. It says Brad’s this really great guy, it seems like Joel is really in love with him. They should be together. So how does Sam deal with that? And how do you maintain that familial bond when you’re not technically family?”

Brad might not be a monster, but he does have a suspiciously neat kitchen. He won’t even let Joel put his Vitamix on the bench!

Joel (Jeff Hiller, right) moves in with boyfriend Brad (Tim Bagley) in this final season.Credit: Binge

“By the way, that mirrors such a part of my life,” says Hiller, laughing. “My husband, we’re constantly just bickering about how to properly load the dishwasher. Actually, he has opinions about how the dishwasher should be loaded, and I’m always doing it incorrectly.”

My husband is the same.

“If everything that says its top shelf only was top-shelf-only, they wouldn’t make a bottom shelf!”

Joel and Brad’s relationship on screen – an openly gay church-going couple – is something that also made Somebody Somewhere unusual. Not only are Joel and Brad never judged, their relationship is accepted in a small town, where stereotypes would often have you believe the opposite. The same goes for trans character Fred (Murray Rococo), whose marriage to Susan at the end of season two made for an incredibly joyous episode of television.

“That [acceptance] was such a huge part of it,” says Hiller. “Because even in America, people think of middle America as weird. I’ve talked to American journalists who say things like, ‘What is it like, this fantasy of a gay person living in Kansas?’

“There are gay people that live there and gay people that go to church and it’s not as welcoming and open, maybe, as some larger cities in certain areas, but no matter where you are, you can find your community. And that is absolutely authentic. And it is important that we’re showing that because it’s something that is real, but you never get to see.”

Hiller promises a happy ending for the show.

“We may not be able to watch Sam and Joel, but their friendship is going to continue, so I think that can still live with us in our hearts,” says Hiller, laughing. “Oh no, that was not a good ending, that was a bad ending, Louise.”

OK, I’ll give you a take two.

“In the age of streaming, no show is dead. And you could re-watch a whole season in less time than it takes to watch Avatar.”

Somebody Somewhere is now streaming on Binge.

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