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[Cornballer]

Better Things, starring Pamela Adlon, premieres Thursday, Sept. 8th on FX. Co-written, created, produced, and directed by Pamela Adlon and Louis CK, Better Things is a new half hour comedy series about a single mother working as an actress and trying to raise her kids in LA. The first season will consist of 10 episodes. While this might not be on the radar of a lot of GAFfers, reviews have been good so far and it's worth checking out.

Better Things is a new comedy series on FX co-created by Pamela Adlon and Louis C.K., starring Adlon as “Sam Fox,” a single, working actor with no filter trying to raise her three daughters – “Max” (Mikey Madison), “Frankie” (Hannah Alligood) and “Duke” (Olivia Edward) – in Los Angeles. She is mom, dad, referee and the cops.

Sam also watches out for her mother, “Phil” (Celia Imrie), an English expatriate, who lives across the street. Sam’s just trying to earn a living, navigate her daughters’ lives, have fun with a friend or two and also — just maybe — squeeze in some private time once in a while.

Better Things premieres Thursday, Sept. 8th on FX.

Trailers and teasers:

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Reviews:

The Pamela Adlon-starring Better Things is the lead role the Emmy winner has long deserved. The smart and strong look at the perils of parenthood, parents, love and the chaos of modern life amid the constant notifications of smartphones will be one of the best things you’ll see on TV this fall.

But even though the programs’ artistic lineage is obvious, Atlanta and Better Things take C.K.’s refinements to a new level, merge them with worldviews that you rarely see represented on TV, and tell their stories with such economy and grace that you might feel as if a new language were being worked out before your eyes.

Where “Louie” is frequently taken by flights of fancy and an inexhaustible curiosity about why the world is what it is, “Better Things” is, so far, more focused on the Fox family’s daily grind. The world is full of puzzles, but Sam and her daughters largely leave others to the solving.

The cumulative charm of this exhilarating comedy is owed to the no-bullshit demeanor has both carefully constructed over the years and yet seems to be always poking a sharp stick at.

In spite of how familiar the setup seems to be, the series is much better than that.

An edgy comedy from Louis C.K. and Pam Aldon, in which Aldon plays a divorced actress and mother of three daughters. Achingly honest on matters of women’s bodies, women’s sexuality, mother-daughter oversharing, and more. It really is the distaff companion piece to “Louie.”

Adlon’s performance, bawdy and bewildered, is one to watch, a shining example of how TV continues to do a better job than film in delivering multilayered roles for women.

 

[TheOddOne]

Awesome thread as always, Baller.

Can't wait.

 

[vypek]

Subscribed. Liked Adlon since Californication and been liking what FX has been putting out. Looking forward to this show as well as Atlanta

 

[Ampersands]

Totally on board for this. I loved the chemistry between her and Louis's character and thought she was really funny.

Next week is going to be good.

 

[Stairouais]

Totally on board.

 

[Dereck]

In

 

[biosnake20]

Her oldest daughter

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Great OT!

I'm looking forward to this. FX seems to have hit both of their new half hours out of the park this fall!

 

[Transistor]

Adlon was one of the best parts of Californication, so I'm definitely in.

 

[JustenP88]

Thanks for all that you do, Cornballer.

 

[Cornballer]

- INSIDE Better Things Season 1 | FIRST LOOK

It's about family... and, ugh, everything that comes with it. Get a FIRST LOOK at FX's new comedy, Better Things.

Cast and crew talking about the show.

 

[xxracerxx]

Her oldest daughter

http://www.usnews.com/pubdbimages/image/35857/FE_DA_120823ObamaSweat425x283.jpg

.....creepy, she is like 15.

 

[G0523]

I like Adlon even though every time I hear her talk I immediately think of Bobby Hill. This seems like a pretty decent show and might just be the void to fill since Louie is on an extended hiatus. Looking forward to it!

 

[Brian Griffin]

Is it a thing in their family to name all the girls traditionally male names? I have nothing against it, just noticed her, her mom, and her daughters all have guy names. Regardless, show looks awesome and Adlon is the shit.

Will watch for sure.

Spoiler

Unless I'm dead from too much jacking off due to Free Porn Day

 

[lazybones18]

may this fill the void that Louie left me

 

[Kayhan]

Her oldest daughter

.....creepy, she is like 15.

Problematic.

 

[Niraj]

I had forgotten about this, I'll give it a go.

 

[Technosteve]

Pamela Adlon and Louis CK they fucking IRL?

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

I had no idea. I'm in.

 

[Boards of Canada]

This looks great.

 

[biosnake20]

.....creepy, she is like 15.

 

[BlueTsunami]

.....creepy, she is like 15.

Hey its legal in %insert obscure eastern European country%

Also, Pamela Adlon is one of the best things about Louie. Its great we're getting more of her.

 

[RS4-]

You had me at Adlon. And Louie. Didn't know she had a show coming out.

 

[Cornballer]

- Orlando Sentinel review:

Yet the ways that Sam finds to carry on enrich this constantly surprising and often poignant show. Adlon shines when giving an unplanned empowerment speech, counseling a woman on a terrible first date and telling off a friend’s lazy husband.

When one daughter talks about being a loser, Sam delivers stirring words that underscore why this is one of the year’s most promising shows. FX supplied the first five episodes, and “Better Things” just keeps getting better.

 

[Cornballer]

- IGN on the pilot:

FX Better Things is like Louie in many ways -- many good ways -- while still being able to shine with its own voice. Pamela Adlon always managed to steal scenes and create memorable moments on Louie, but here, as the lead, she's a revelation. The pilot episode doesn't even have a story agenda other than to just bring us into Sam's world and it still works remarkably well.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

.....creepy, she is like 15.

 

[Cornballer]

- EW Review

But the heart of nearly every episode is the absurd, ordinary chaos of Adlon’s girl tribe: The three young actresses who play her daughters — newcomers Hannah Alligood, Olivia Edward, and Mikey Madison — are refreshingly un-sitcomy. And her relationship to them — annoyed, exasperated, totally committed — feels like something resembling actual parenthood. Whether it’s turning its squinty eye on soccer practice or sexting or how to handle your best friend’s useless stoner husband, that real-lifeness, in all its weird, mundane, un-laugh-tracked glory, is the best thing about Better Things. Grade: B+

 

[sammex]

Big fan of both the creators so I'll be checking this out.

 

[Discotheque]

definitely in for this. loved her appearances on Louie and the best thing about her is that when she starts to raise her voice she sounds just like her "Bobby Hill" lmao. makes those scenes that much better.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

Pamela Adlon is the best part of anything she's in

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Also can't wait.

What a week.

 

[Cornballer]

- Onion A|V Club interview: Pamela Adlon on Better Things: “These are massive stories that I needed to tell”

Following Better Things’ panel at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, The A.V. Club spoke with Adlon about the show’s inception and the allure of TV shows about families—with a brief interruption from her young co-stars.

 

[Cornballer]

- Onion A|V Club review

Before it can even think about getting off its feet for a minute, Better Things will also have to endure being compared to its spiritual-companion series Louie. But, just like its harried lead, Better Things expertly juggles all of those expectations, while also delivering a winsome new family drama. Grade: B+

 

[Dereck]

- Onion A|V Club review

Great

 

[Cornballer]

More reviews:

A traditionally funnier show, a distaff Louie. ... Adlon's sardonic sensibility is perfectly suited to a show that preaches female empowerment while delivering a blunt reality check.

Better Things is as endearing, and as irrepressible, as Adlon herself.

 

[jerry113]

 

[boredJonathan]

I got super burnt out on the kinds of stories Louie (the show) was telling in the last season or so. Hoping this has enough of the heart, but is smart enough to avoid the kind of predictable stories that Louie would end up telling near the end. Definitely up for checking it out though!

 

[Cornballer]

Series premiere tonight:

Sam/Pilot

Meet Sam Fox. Written by Pamela Adlon & Louis C.K.; directed by Louis C.K.

 

[Cornballer]

- Sepinwall interview: 'Better Things' star Pamela Adlon on child acting, androgyny, and why she loves Bobby Hill

 

[Cornballer]

- Newsday review

She’s a terrific and effortlessly funny actress who establishes vivid characters with vivid lives. But Sam Fox obviously required a bigger reach, and Adlon accomplishes that here. The idea is to find the emotional center of Sam, not just the superficial comic one. Who is she? Why is she here? And why is motherhood so maddening and vitally important at the same time, and how are the mistakes made also the mistakes that become a parent’s legacy? Adlon’s Sam struggles with these questions, and the result is a deeper, more emotionally engaged counterpart to Louie. Therein lies the biggest difference of all.

 

[andythinkpad]

Aldon is like a lesser Elaine Benes.

 

[Cornballer]

- Sepinwall's review

"Write what you know" is one of the fundamental rules of writing, and with good reason. Autobiographical comedy can sometimes feel self-indulgent (autobiographical drama, too), but the good ones — and these are both very, very good shows right out of the box — use their intimate knowledge of their creators' own lives to speak truths that will resonate to an audience that hasn't been through the same experience.

 

[Cornballer]

- Vanity Fair review

And just as Louie is occasionally a sharp exploration of the world of stand-up comedy, Better Things is as much a critique of the dysfunctional film and TV industry as it is a bittersweet exploration of Sam’s family and romantic life. Plastic surgery, over-the-top scene work, voice-over jobs, and frustrating auditions—where Adlon is joined by fellow crackle-voiced actresses Julie Bowen and her doppelgänger Constance Zimmer—add up to paint a picture of Hollywood that is both loving and damning.

 

[Cornballer]

- Tim Goodman's review for THR

Better Things presents Adlon's trademark hard truths, her dark comedic tones so evident on Louie prior – but it's also her coming out series as a creator, as a skilled storyteller with a distinctive point of view all her own. You don't apprentice with Louis C.K. and not take every note you can – that would be foolish. There's so much fortune for Adlon to have that association. But as she makes her own mark with Better Things, as Aziz Ansari did over on Netflix with Master of None and Glover is doing with Atlanta, give Adlon all the credit for learning how to make the framework of a workable, original, idiosyncratic series from one of the best ever. But more importantly give her credit for the distinctive sense-of-self that she poured into the rest of it. Her world is different. Better Things is trying new storylines for modern motherhood, femininity, sexual identity, aging, cultural expectations – so many intriguing parts that make the all-too-short episodes of this first season fly by. Adlon is building something insightful and funny (and sad and true, etc.) that bears watching for its own merits.

 

[Cornballer]

- Warming Glow review

There’s enough here to suggest that Better Things will get better should Adlon have the chance to refine what’s already a good but somewhat unformed show. Assuming Louie‘s retirement is permanent, Better Things has an opening to become the go-to program for parents looking to vent once the kids are in bed.

 

[Lambtron]

Pamela Adlon is a national treasure. I'm sooooo excited for this.

 

[Cornballer]

- NY Times review

So one of the first qualities you notice about “Better Things,” her tough-minded, warmhearted new series on FX — beginning on Thursday and created by her and Louis C.K. — is how different it feels from “Louie.” While there are stylistic and tonal similarities, Ms. Adlon’s show is lighter and more conventional, with a straightforward brand of storytelling that doesn’t venture into the magical-realist territory Louis C.K. frequently traverses.

And while there’s frustration, anger and heartbreak baked into the premise of “Better Things” — a single working mother raising three girls by herself — it’s not a dark show. The dominant mood is hopeful exasperation. Set in Los Angeles, it has a sunnier vibe than “Louie,” which inhabits a sometimes ominous nighttime New York.

 

[Cornballer]

Starting soon

 

[lazybones18]

It was alright

 

[BigWeather]

I enjoyed it, will watch next week.