Conventional wisdom would have it that crippling mental illness isnt a good subject for a sitcom. But theres nothing conventional about Maria Bamfords brand of comedy. Fans of her stand-up and such through-the-rabbit hole projects like 2012s Maria Bamford: The Special Special Special in which the 45-year-old comedian performs a taped set for just her parents in their living room know that she isnt afraid to tap into very dark, very personal places in her work. So when Bamford announced she was developing a sitcom for Netflix that would touch on her career struggles in Hollywood and stints in psychiatric hospitals to treat a bipolar disorder, you expected something different. And Lady Dynamite, which toggles between our heroine trying to land acting gigs in Hollywood and her time in a mental hospital in her real-life hometown of Duluth, Minnesota (and premieres in full tomorrow night on the streaming service), could not be a better introduction to her ability to slide between sunny absurdity and depressive reality in a blink.
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I wanted to tell a story of a psychiatric breakdown, but also not bring it down so much, Bamford explained of the premise, which she co-conceived Mitchell Hurwitz (Arrested Development) and Pam Brady (South Park). I wanted to show how depressing those wards are in a very funny way just the underfundedness of it. Ive been in some facilities where the furniture is broken; theres maybe a puzzle, but half the pieces are gone. They chop down the trees in case somebody tries to hang themselves. So the only place you have to walk around is an industrial cigarette bucket next to a schizophrenic man. And youre both agitated so youre both walking around it very quickly.
I dont know how healthy that is, she admits. But in retrospect, its so funny!
The show also isnt afraid to pick apart the structure of a sitcom about a comedians life while also simultanesously being exactly that type of show. Her best friends (Bridgett Everett and Lennon Parham) are more likely to feed into her self-hate rather than the typical TV sidekick job of propping her up. Fellow Comedians of Comedy veterans Patton Oswalt and Brian Posehn show up as bike cops, only to drop character and advise Bamford not to do her stand-up act. [Louis [C.K.] is going to throw a fit, Oswalt says when someone wheels out a fake-brick-wall set.) Showbiz types from the weary, sad-sack manager to the shark-like alpha-agent played here, respectively, by A Serious Mans Fred Melamed and SNL veteran Ana Gasteyer are both recognizable clichs and send-up of their own caricatures. Fourth walls are regularly broken; at one point, our heroine frets over which color filter would be appropriately dour-looking for a scene in the psych ward. After perusing her choices, she immediately switches all of her flashbacks to blue.
Though fans of Bamford will recognize that the show is very much in her voice unflinchingly strange, brutally honest and optimistic in spite of it all she wasnt directly involved in the writing process. Id maybe come in two to four hours a week, eat an ice cream sandwich and wander around the table laughing and spouting off, putting in ideas, answering questions, she recalls. The writers room is like a little family, you know? Its a safe space. So I didnt want to come in there and be like, Guess what. Over the weekend I had some ideas. It was a group collaboration, so I hope some of the voices of other people get heard.
Everybody on the show is hilarious. Its a treasure trove of inside baseball comedy, says Gasteyer. And [Karen] is just a fantastic, delicious character actors dream part mean and funny in all the right ways. Weve all met a Karen in our lives. Any male-driven industry where women have had to grow balls, thats basically where she comes from.
The L.A. portions of Lady Dynamite train a lens on the idea that Hollywood can be just as alienating and strange as the inside of a mental ward especially if youre trying to make it in the business as a woman or a minority. Im a 45-year-old woman whos clearly sun-damaged! Maria announces brightly to the camera in the first episode. And I have a show! What a great late-in-life opportunity.
Its always really fulfilling to have anyone call out the blatant biases, says Gasteyer. Things are slowly changing, and were seeing more and more opportunity for honest, hilarious female-driven comedy. Im a huge fan of Marias. Shes super smart, and shes an incredibly honest and offbeat original brand of comedy. And shes really, really fun to play against.
I wanted to tell a story of a psychiatric breakdown, but also not bring it down so much. I wanted to show how depressing those wards are in a very funny way.
Another real-life thing that Bamford adapted for the show: A few years ago, she installed a park bench on a median across from her house in L.A., with the idea of fostering a sense of community in a city where it isnt easy to get to know your neighbors. It doesnt turn out so hot for the fictional Maria, but Bamfords real-world bench is still going strong.
It brings everyone together! Its a true reflection of our neighborhood, Bamford enthuses. There are methamphetamine users who sit on it and use meth, and then sometimes its teenage couples making out or smoking pot, or sometimes its a baby using sidewalk chalk. If you give people a place to sit, they will use it. I like sit by the window and go, Whos out there? And then if I have the courage I go out and say hello. Its like bird watching.
Though its tempting to compare the Los-Angeles-hates-itself vibe and frank treatment of mental instability with FXXs current-comedy favorite Youre the Worst or lump the show in with similar semi-autobiographical shows born out of stand-up routines, from Louis to Aziz Ansaris Netflix hit Master of None Lady Dynamite manages to distinguish itself thanks to the sui generis weirdness and sunny-side-of-the-street disposition of its creator. Lots of TV shows do, in fact, attempt to balance moments of hilarity with existential despair; few would have the guts to try that sort of tightrope walk while also seriously exploring the ramifications of a nervous breakdowns and slapping a faux-Blaxploitation credits sequence on the whole thing. Its easily one of the most unique, dynamic shows of the year so far even without the IRL meta-aspects. But above all, Bamford hopes that, with all the high highs and low lows that the show portrays, Lady Dynamite ultimately handles its subject matter with equal parts respect and irreverence. And if not, shes very, very sorry in advance.
I had wanted to go very dark for the dark moments. Just, you know, minutes of silence passing. Thats how it truly is these unbearable moments. But who knows if that makes for good television, she says with a laugh. I mean, people die from illnesses like these. I was a little worried about that, so I hope it turned out to be respectful as well [as funny]. And if it isnt, I apologize, I apologize, I apologize. I apologize right up front for everything Ive done and will do.