What I’m Watching: Difficult People

Difficult People: Season 1, Episode 7 “Premium Membership” (B)

If we’ve learned anything about Billy and Julie, it’s that they don’t like to follow through with things. Learning that having a podcast can be quite lucrative, they were immediately excited by the possibility of making some good money in this industry, regardless of the lies they had to tell to try to get others to believe that they were, among other things, atheists and book lovers. Truth be told, these two are perfect fits for a podcast, but they invested much more energy in having Arthur buy books to make them seem like true devotees than actually trying to come up with content. This episode found a productive use for Arthur, who usually just sits on the sidelines being ignored by the woman for whom he has no shortage of absurd pet names. His treatment of NPR as the enemy due to his PBS allegiances was entertaining, and I like that he still went to buy Julie and Billy all the books they wanted. Julie meeting her troll only to discover that it was Kathie Lee Gifford was just weird, and yet another sign that clearly the real Julie and Billy are very popular to have so many notable comedians and celebrities guest star each week. The other familiar face was Seth Meyers in a small role as a con man who hung out at a dog park with his a cappella buddies eagerly offering illicit sexual experiences to other men so that his friends could extort them for money due to alleged dog bites when they returned, a thoroughly bizarre appearance that was actually pretty fitting for Meyers.