As Somebody, Somewhere Ends, It’s Leaving A Gap In TV

April 2020 to January 2022: That was the era when TV did somewhat of a soft relaunch of the “very special episode,” a type of storyline that ran rampant on ’90s series in which writers felt compelled to add An Important Message every so often. Think of the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” episode about Will and Carlton getting arrested despite not doing anything illegal.

In some ways, it should have been expected that TV series like “Little Fires Everywhere” would be on the rise then. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, even corporate brands were falling over themselves to prove their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. While shows such as “Abbott Elementary” helped pull back from that pressure in 2021, real-life issues like the Jan. 6 riot, anti-vaxxers, abortion restrictions and climate change still dominated many others, including “Station Eleven.”

This was a stark contrast to “Schitt’s Creek,” the saccharine and hilarious Canadian family sitcom that, even after it switched platforms in its latter run, appealed to a loyal audience — largely because it was nice and unrelentingly human. After it ended on April 7, 2020, no one could have anticipated that TV plotlines would become as morose and angry as the world itself seemed in the years to follow.

As the 24-hour news cycle grew more depressing, perhaps fewer predicted that another series would be able to step in and fill the void that “Schitt’s Creek” left behind for unassuming, nicecore television, because there was such an oversaturation of terrible vibes onscreen that were often considered prestige.

But against all odds, on Jan. 16, 2022, HBO’s “Somebody Somewhere” became that show.

It’s probably the sound of its characters’ giggles that get stuck in your head long after an episode has ended and the final credits roll up your screen. The almost impossibly cheery group of friends living in Manhattan, Kansas, experience some of the same ups and downs we all do — professional disappointment, personal successes, heartbreak, partnership and death — and they always find a way to laugh through each one.

Bridget Everett is the show’s star, as well as an executive producer whose real-life story inspired the premise. She, like her character, Sam, hails from the small Kansas town and is a singer whose talent probably should have taken her much further than it has even so far. The actor has a whole host of credits under her belt, including roles in the first “Sex and the City” movie from 2008 and on “Inside Amy Schumer.”

The story of “Somebody Somewhere” kicks off as Sam returns to her hometown to help care for her sister, who is dying of cancer. (Everett’s real-life sister died in 2008.)

It begins with an awkward, familiar experience: arriving back in your childhood home after years away, when your parents are older and slower; your married, successful sister is still the favorite; and you now have to face all those you left behind for the big city with your tail between your legs. That can be humiliating. And knowing that their lives went on just fine without you doesn’t help.

Created by Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen, “Somebody Somewhere” has all the potential to be cynical, even snarky. Sam does have that disposition naturally. She initially considers herself a failure and is a bit mortified when someone from her old life instantly recognizes her.

Enter Joel (Jeff Hiller), a Kansan with a big heart who welcomes Sam with open arms during choir practice. He’s a big fan of hers, you see. He could never forget that beautiful singing voice from high school. Against all of Sam’s preconceived notions, the two become best friends. And their affection for each other extends to others like college professor Fred (Murray Hill) and, slowly but surely, Sam’s neurotic shop-owner sister, Tricia (Mary Catherine Garrison).

Together and individually, they get into shenanigans. The time Joel finds himself trapped during a tornado with a puppy he’d already been unsure if he could care for, and that also needed to relieve itself at that moment (or do a “tee-tee or pah-pah,” as Joel says). The time Sam and Joel tracked down Tricia’s no-good, cheating husband to catch him, of course, up to nothing good.

Even during the most delicate moments, the friends always find a way to make each other laugh — hence those giggles that always sound so genuine and easy, like a necessary reprieve for both the characters and an audience still caught up in a dreary TV landscape.

As sitcom-y as these predicaments sometimes seem, nothing that happens on “Somebody Somewhere” ever feels contrived. Rather, everything the characters experience is as inherently banal as you might anticipate given the rural setting — from divorce or marriage to a new job at the local pub — yet it gets them one step closer to understanding themselves and each other better. Essentially, every moment is one of empathy — for one another and for oneself.

Its third and final season, which premieres Sunday, epitomizes that as each character is challenged with remarkable change. Evolving friendships, self-reflection, new living situations and companionship are just a few of the adjustments this year.

Unlike other HBO series like “Industry” and “True Detective,” “Somebody Somewhere,” which earned a Peabody Award in the spring, was never the type of show that garnered a flurry of posts on social media as new episodes debuted. Rather, it’s the kind of show that its most loyal viewers let wash over them alone in their homes; it’s not for watercooler discussions. It’s a singular experience that, even now in its final bow, is hard to describe, much less gab about with others.

That’s partly because the show is not driven by strife or messaging. Maybe to some that’s to its detriment. But there’s something bold and interesting about a series that doesn’t feel the need to perform humanity for its audiences. It’s just ingrained.

Still, we’re in a TV climate where audiences often expect Urgent Themes to be at the core of every plotline. As a result, they — like Sam in the beginning of “Somebody Somewhere” — can sometimes bring a sense of doom and projection to the most innocuous premises. We’re all guilty of it.

For instance, the fact that the show centers a bevy of queer characters too often meant, for some, that it is about queerness or making a statement about being queer. There are queer people here just … living. What does it mean? What is it trying to tell us?

Another area of interest, one that hasn’t garnered much discussion, is that a key setting is among the choir. Fred, Joel and his partner, Brad (Tim Bagley), all go to church and even experience crises of faith. But these are characters who attend church; they don’t feel like they are written or performed to represent the church or its values. They just are.

(One could certainly argue that there’s some opportunity to highlight the presumed contradictions of being devout and queer, though that is easily rebutted, or that the show’s avoidance of making a political statement is political in and of itself. But still.)

What makes the series especially great is that it allows life to just happen. It’s about finding humanity even when you’re not looking for it, or when you’ve lost hope in it.

The latter is where “Somebody Somewhere” likely found a lot of its audience in 2022: at the intersection of rage and misery. That’s where we also meet Sam. But across three seasons, she finds her happy place and, to her own shock and submission, hope. That’s an emotional wallop you might see coming but, particularly in the age of bleak TV, it remains impactful.

Time and pop culture will swiftly move on in the wake of “Somebody Somewhere,” and by then it could be easy to forget each character’s name or, more importantly, how the show made you feel. Because that feeling, like the series itself, is all too fleeting.