Forget The Handmaid’s Tale: 5 Reasons Better Things Must Become Your New Hulu Favorite

Better Things is a show that rarely finds its place in many different "top 10" lists describing the best series ever created. But we strongly disagree when this Pamela Adlon show is left alone, because it's definitely the one everyone should watch at least once.

The show was originally created by Adlon and Louis CK, but after the comedian's name was dragged into a sexual scandal in 2017, he stopped being a part of the show. There are 5 seasons, with the first one released in 2016 and the last one in 2022.

At the center of the show is Pamela Adlon's character, Sam, a middle-aged single mother who lives with her three daughters: the oldest, a teenage rebel Max, super-smart Frankie (who is too much to handle alone) and the youngest, Duke.

So, in case you’re tired of the depressing vibe (and lack of season 6) of The Handmaid’s Tale, maybe Better Things and its wholesome energy is exactly what you need.

1. The Show Feels Real

The series focuses on the everyday life of the four of them, with some other important characters thrown in. Like Phil, Sam's mother. The show is a unique and realistic portrayal of a family with all their problems, flaws, fights, disagreements and... love for each other. It's so far from being a sterile and fake depiction of the perfect family that it makes you believe everything that happens there.

2. The Characters Are Relatable

The show's creators don't use masks for the characters, showing them at their best and their worst. Viewers see all their struggles and can really relate to them because the problems on the screen feel real. It's like watching a show about your own life, but played with other people. The actors have done such an amazing job that you don't even realize they're acting; it looks like they’re actually living their lives on camera.

3. Serious Topics Are Explored From Different Perspectives

There are several major storylines at the heart of the show, but the one that really defines it is the mother-daughter relationship. It's presented from the perspective of an older tandem, like Sam and Phil and their complicated shenanigans, and Sam and her own daughters.

The show tells us the same stories from different angles, each time focusing on a different character, so we get a complete view of the issues that are raised in the show.

4. Unique Humour

Many fans may think that the premise of the series is to show the complicated life of a single mother and how she deals with everything, but in reality the whole point of the show is to make all people believe that anything is possible in this life and it will get better if you are open to it. And what helps the audience realize that is the absolutely extraordinary humor. It's not offbeat and flat, there aren't that many jokes per se, but the overall atmosphere is something that makes you smile.

5. Lack Of Stereotypes

What’s also great about this show is that there are absolutely no stereotypes, whether they are about gender, religion, sexual orientation or anything at all. The universe of the show is unique, and people there live by their own rules.