Tribute to the star of ‘Better Things’
SF Sketchfest billed the afternoon event at the Marines’ Memorial Theatre on Saturday, Jan. 20, as a spotlight on the FX Network show “Better Things.”
But the event quickly became a tribute to Pamela Adlon, the show’s co-creator, star and feminist center.
“I will just say particularly in this moment of wanting change, and on this day of the Women’s March, here in front of you is a woman who wrote, stars in, produced and directs every episode flawlessly,” co-star Alysia Reiner said, as the San Francisco march was still happening a few blocks away. “She is the mike drop moment.”
While Adlon’s quasi-autobiographical character Sam has gone through a lot in two critically acclaimed seasons of “Better Things,” real life has included even more drama. The show was co-created and executive-produced by Louis C.K., for whom sexual harassment allegations led to his departure at the end of 2017’s second season. Adlon fired her manager, Dave Becky, another former executive producer on the show, after he was accused of pressuring two female comedians not to talk about their sexual harassment claims against C.K.
Adlon released a short statement in November expressing deep sorrow for the women and asking for privacy, and FX pledged to continue supporting the show, which is working on a third season later this year.
Saturday’s tribute, with seven cast members including Adlon, Reiner and Lucy Davis, was a chance to get the conversation away from Adlon’s reaction to the gossip, and back
to her accomplishments and the show’s success. “Better Things,” focusing on Sam, her three daughters, and her dysfunctional family and love life, received a Peabody Award in 2017, and Adlon was nominated for a best actress Emmy Award.
Moderator Kevin Pollak, who plays Sam’s brother on “Better Things,” pointed out that Adlon is the first woman to both star in and direct an entire season of television. Complimented repeatedly, then teased by multiple co-stars for grunting at the praise, Adlon responded with a bluntness that could have been in one of her scripts.
“I just don’t want to slow down the process and pat myself on the back,” Adlon said. “I just have to keep pushing through. It’s how I’ve been able to raise my daughters and keep my career going.”
During the moments when Adlon wasn’t squirming away from the accolades, the panelists revealed inside jokes — Adlon accidentally referred to her love interest played by Henry Thomas by his “E.T.” name Elliott — and other trials. Perhaps the show’s greatest episode, the affecting and real season-two finale “Graduation,” included a final choreographed dance scene that Adlon performed with a slipped disc. She went on to shoot scenes for another 12 hours.
The vibe from that “Graduation” scene, which features an untypical-for-“Better Things” sentimental show of force from Sam’s friends during a crisis, was mirrored onstage.
“When I got out of my marriage, I started seeing my life, because I wasn’t in my life when I was married. It just was wrong,” Adlon said. “Embracing friends and accepting help and having community — it’s a big part of my life, and it’s part of the fabric of my show.”
Adlon’s career, like Sam’s, has experienced its ups and downs. She starred in “Grease 2” and appeared in “Say Anything” in the 1980s, then made more money as a voice actor in the 1990s and 2000s, most notably as the voice of Bobby Hill in “King of the Hill.”
After acting with C.K. in two projects, and producing his popular FX series “Louie,” she partnered with C.K. on “Better Things” in 2016. C.K.’s name didn’t come up once during the 90-minute event, which didn’t include an audience Q&A. The closest anyone came was the couple of times when Pollak seemed to talk about what they
weren’t talking about. “Let’s get right to the big old elephant in the room,” he said, before a long pause. “Why are you so proud to show people yourself on the s—ter, Pamela?”
It was a reference to Adlon’s decision to begin both seasons of the show with a scene on the toilet. That conversation was followed by more tributes to Adlon as an artist and feminist. The only crack in her resistance to receiving compliments was a self-absolution for not taking part in the bigger feminist rally outside.
“Now,” Adlon said, “I won’t feel guilty about not being at the march.”