Difficult People

The plotting is light, with the first three episodes largely structured around Julie and Billy's misadventures, which always puts extra pressure on the cast and dialogue to perform. But fortunately, this pays off.

They’re awful, but they’re the butt of the jokes, ruining the audition or bombing at comedy night. They may be difficult, but they’re also inherently likable.

At a time when the world is overrun with Twitter-infatuated part-time comedians, this portrait of fame-thirsty New Yorkers is spot-on, and often very funny. They could be this generation’s Will and Grace.

Though undeniably hilarious at times, it is a difficult show to watch (see title).... [Julie and Billy's] friendship is powerful but limiting and destructive, their brilliance hampered by their refusal to acknowledge that the world is not their living room. Which, if Klausner doesn't lose her nerve, makes Difficult People an illuminating sendup of far too many things on television.

It does not feel focus-grouped; sometimes it doesn’t feel second-guessed. Julie and Billy and many of the other characters talk to each other the way best friends talk to each other when they think nobody is listening. Every other scene contains a line that could keep the outrage/apology cycle humming for at least a half-day.

A well-chosen supporting cast rounds things out.... And yes, they are self-absorbed, hypercritical people who you would and should hate. But the reason the show works is that, very subtly, it’s mocking them. Julie and Billy are all about self-loathing, and they invite you to loathe right along with them.

Granted, unrelenting cattiness might not wear all that well, but three episodes were previewed, and the quality was consistent. So while the title accurately describes the way Billy and Julie cattily interact with the world, watching Difficult People, happily, was no chore at all.

[Billy Eichner and Julie Klausner's] collision in this sitcom they’ve created for themselves is a black mushroom cloud that some viewers are going to find too strong to take.... Klausner and Eichner are such intelligent performers in every medium they’ve chosen, you have to root for the success of Difficult People. And I say that while still not entirely convinced that this is the best vehicle for those talents.

Billy and Julie are not supposed to be likable. They’re both kind of awful, a la the “Seinfeld” gang,” but often screamingly funny in their inappropriate commentary.

The longer we stay in Julie and Billy’s company, the more the initial thrill of their uncensored approach to life dissipates.