There’s never a second that Abby (co-creator Abby McEnany) is unaware of all the things that make her different from the characters we’re used to seeing on TV, let alone those that typi…
) is unaware of all the things that make her different from the characters we’re used to seeing on TV, let alone those that typically get to anchor their own shows. She’s a butch “queer fat dyke” with OCD whose deep insecurity about all the above manifest in often debilitating suicidal tendencies. She knows all this about herself, and she accepts it.
All of this sounds as bleak as can be, and as befits suicidal subject matter, it often is. But as written by McEnany, Tim Mason, and, “Work in Progress” is also nuanced and funny, wrenching jokes and compassion from the most unexpected places.
Even the way Abby tells her therapist about her grand plan to commit suicide unfolds in such an unexpected way that describing it in more detail would ruin one of the more surprising scenes I’ve seen in a minute. This isn’t even to mention the method Abby’s chosen to count down what she insists will be her last 180 days alive.
Abby’s romance with Chris is a shock to her system and a particular joy of “Work in Progress.” In many respects, Chris represents change for Abby; he’s both 22 years-old to her 45, and a trans man. Abby is more overwhelmed by the former than the latter, especially when socializing with his Gen Z friends during “family brunches” or at a sexy nightclub that used to be a chill lesbian bar when she frequented it 20 years ago.
Having only watched three episodes, I’m not entirely sure where the season is going . And yet, from what I’ve seen, “Work in Progress” is a remarkably solid debut from a comedian who knows her own voice, knows it’s funny, and is nonetheless unafraid to admit when she doesn’t like it. If more comedians could do the same, TV would be better off.
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