Netflix's Loudermilk is a hit - and its backstory is even more tragic (and meta) than its Ron Livingston's character's
This Seattle-based post-grunge sitcom is like your favorite band - they broke up before you ever heard of them.
Popverse's top stories of the day
- Hannibal wouldn't be a fan of Chicago's local food scene, according to Mads Mikkelsen (but, then again, he's a cannibal)
- Watch: Artist's Alley Asks: Superman or Fantastic Four? Gene Ha, Cully Hamner, Jarrett Melendez, Rachael Stott, Soo Lee, and Tim Seeley weigh in on their cinematic preference
- Brandon Sanderson tried (very hard) to change one character arc on the Wheel of Time show
An unlikely show has entered Netflix's top 10 TV shows in the US - but in a way, it's apt. Tragic, but apt.
Loudermilk is a show that just landed on Netflix earlier this month, starring Office Space's Ron Livingston as a snarky substance abuse counselor based in Seattle who once had a glorious life as a husband and a successful music critic. Like the Seattle grunge scene, that glorious life of Livingston's Sam Loudermilk fell apart - and what emerged is a recovering alcoholic, someone who tells people his wife died because of his alcoholism, and someone who has more sharp edges than a bag full of razorblades.
Created by Peter Farrelly (one half of the Farrelly brothers duo that made Dumb & Dumber, There' Something About Mary, and Kingpin) and Bobby Mort, Loudermilk is a brutally funny (and brutally sarcastic) post-grunge sitcom.
And like me, I thought it was a new show from Netflix. Then I discovered it's not.
The tragic part of Loudermilk is that, as it's being celebrated as one of the most popular shows on Netflix, it was originally a show than ran for three seasons on an AT&T channel called Audience. Never heard of it? We hadn't either. Loudermilk was in many ways a diamond in the rough, as one of AT&T's Audience channel's top shows, earning three seasons - before being killed just before the third season aired as part of the closure of the channel entirely.
But now in an experience you all must have felt as discovering a favorite new band only after they had broken up, myself (and now thousands of Netflix subscribers) are discovering Loudermilk.
And just like your favorite band, Loudermilk has unresolved stories to be told - with even co-creator Peter Farrelly saying in 2021 that he had a seven-season plan for Loudermilk.
However it ends, the three seasons of Loudermilk available now on Netflix is a good start. I watched all 30 episodes in a week. (If you're looking at what to watch next - we've got a guide for you)
