What’s on TV This Week: ‘Ailey’ and ‘Somebody Somewhere’

The rest of the country is about to find out what theatre aficionados in New York have known for years thanks to HBO’s “Somebody, Somewhere”: Bridget Everett is a force — and a voice — to be reckoned with.

Everett has appeared in a number of films and television shows, including “Patti Cake$” (in which she played the mother of a white rapping hopeful) and “Inside Amy Schumer” (she had numerous guest spots on the sketch show).

And in New York cabaret circles, she is well-known for her racy show, which typically begins with songs like “What I Gotta Do (to Get That D-k in My Mouth)” and “Titties,” a jubilant hymn to breasts of all sizes and shapes, and finishes with the singer sitting on the face of a lucky audience member.

What’s on TV This Week: ‘Ailey’ and ‘Somebody Somewhere’

However, the coming-of-middle-age series “Somebody, Somewhere,” in which Everett stars and executive produces, allows him to delve even farther.

The singer-actress portrays Sam, a middle-aged woman whose life has gone downhill since her sister Holly’s death. Nothing about Manhattan, Kansas (Everett’s childhood home) makes her feel at ease.

Sister Tricia (Mary Catherine Garrison) doesn’t help matters by portraying a picture-perfect married mother with bouncy hair and a downtown shop stocked with useless trinkets that everyone must have. Or the fact that during a family picnic, her alcoholic mother (Jane Brody) nearly starts a fire on the farm.

Thanks be to God, Sam and Joel become unexpectedly close at work, where she endures the dreaded chore of grading standardised tests (played by the terrific character actor Jeff Hiller, capitalising on a Cheshire cat grin and sly but slick delivery).

When she goes out sobbing, he says, “Hey, if you want to take off for the rest of the day, I’ll tell Irma you have diarrhoea or anything.” That’s quite kind of you, especially since they were in show choir together back in high school and Sam has no recollection of ever meeting him.

Even more endearingly, he invites her to “choir practise” in the local mall, which turns out to be less “Glee” and more open-mic night for the local Manhattan misfits looking for somewhere to truly be themselves.

Murray Hill, who bills himself as a “shtick slinger,” is another NYC nightclub icon who plays the emcee with the fantastic name of Fred Rococo, who works as a specialist in agriculture at a university by day.

Sam, of course, agrees to sing after some encouragement from Joel (keyboards/backup vocals). What, you were expecting Everett to be a TV show star, not a singer? That would be such a waste.

Although there is a brief bra-baring moment as she breaks into “Piece of My Heart” in episode 3, don’t expect anything as racy as her normal on-stage performances.

The writers Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen (HBO’s “High Maintenance”) deserve credit for expanding Joel’s character beyond that of a stereotypical gay best friend. He’s more than just Sam’s sidekick; he’s got his own goals and aspirations.

(And a board to pin your hopes and dreams on. Not to mention the beautifully created vision board that Sam symbolically slashes to pieces. There is a wide range of chemistry between Sam and each of her parents, and we witness that here.

She is stern and reprimanding with her mother, but you probably would be too if you came home to find her in an alcoholic coma in the middle of the afternoon. When she is with her father (Mike Hagerty), she is more relaxed and fun (“Who’s a big hot fox? “), an attempt to improve his self-esteem.

While “Somebody, Somewhere” may not have an action-packed plot, it makes up for that with its strong characters and genuine emotion. In addition, with Everett and Hiller, the potential musical outcomes are practically boundless.

(Seven episodes of the show, each lasting 25 minutes, were made available for critique.) Not to mention Garrison, who was a Broadway star in “Assassins”: In the third episode, Tricia and Sam join their father on the patio to sing a song. Maybe Tricia will be asked to join the chorus in the future.

The first episode of “Somebody Somewhere” airs on HBO on January 16 at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Exactly When did the Episode of Somebody Somewhere Premiere?

In the United States, the new comedy debuted on HBO and is now available on HBO Max. It premiered in Australia on Foxtel’s FOX Showcase, and is currently available on Foxtel Now and Foxtel.

The premiere aired January 19 at 9pm on Foxtel and is now available on demand and on BINGE. It had a total of seven episodes, with fresh ones being released every week. Over a month after it began, Somebody Somewhere concluded on March 2.

People Who Starred in the TV Show Somewhere

Many of the actors in Somebody Somewhere are sure bets to win awards in the near future. Learn more about them here.

  • Bridget Everett as Sam
  • Jeff Hiller as Joel
  • Mary Catherine Garrison as Tricia
  • Mike Hagerty as Ed
  • Murray Hill as Fred Rococo
  • Jon Hudson Odom as Michael
  • Heidi Johanningmeier as Charity
  • Jane Brody as Mary Jo
  • Danny McCarthy as Rick