Through the comedy of this series that follows the daily life activity of Julie and Billy, a couple of comedians, who navigate through life, dealing with their life challenges of career, friendship, and love.
What the show captures perfectly are the kind of people who are so immersed in inside-information about entertainment that their own ideas for projects are impossibly obscure -- they'll never appeal to a broad audience.
The charm of Difficult People is that it refuses to deal in charm. Though witty and observant, albeit in a relentlessly negative way, Julie and Billy are clueless.
Klausner makes for an effective foil, grounding the series with a furtive belief in her character's comedy that's both totally oblivious and oddly innocent, as well as giving unthinking support for Billy.
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.
Not too many [post-Seinfeld sitcoms] are willing to really, truly commit and create unpleasant characters that you ultimately like because they're funny and make an art out of going too far.
Even though Billy and Julie's cynicism borders on aggressive and off-putting, it's these rare glimpses of their humanity that make Difficult People a refreshing 22-minute watch.
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.