Laughspin has exclusively premiered the first two episodes of the new '00s nostalgia comedy series LIFE SUCKS, a perfectly awkward blend of Freaks & Geeks and Wet Hot American Summer, with a production history worthy of true underdog status. Episodes 3-6 will be released weekly beginning in the first week of December.
Set in 2001, Anytown, USA, Life Sucks is the story of Ally (Allyson Condrath), Jake (Jake Mann) and Max (Max Fox), three preteens struggling through the most awkward phase of their lives: middle school.
After being kicked out of their own friend groups and having nowhere else to turn, the three reluctantly come together to face puberty, popular kids, rumors, gossipy teachers and their feelings for one another in a post-millennial, pre-wireless world.
"Life Sucks" is an absurd and heart-felt dark comedy about remembering the time in your life you wish you could forget.
Similar to Wet Hot American Summer, the central teenage characters of the show are played by 20-somethings, to remind viewers that the same problems and insecurities from when we were thirteen continue to be relevant well into adulthood.
Episode 1 - PILOT: https://youtu.be/KfIQiSxfMi0
The year is 2001, and for Jake, Ally and Max, it’s the first day of 7th grade at Timothy O'Leary Memorial Middle School. The day couldn’t be going any worse. Max is kicked out of the school's production of Al Gore Should've Won: The Musical. Ally is kicked out of her usual hangout, the teacher’s lounge. And Jake loses his best friend to teenage hormones. With no one to sit next to at lunch, Jake, Ally and Max are each exiled to the loser table and forced to sit with the biggest, grossest weirdo of all, Jonah Feldman. The three bond over throwing grapes at Jonah. A cautious alliance is formed.
Episode 2 - SLEEPOVER: https://youtu.be/nE_m5r2WC3c
Three sleepovers happening in one night! Porn and Pokémon at the boys' sleepover, Britney Spears and bitchy gossip at the girls'. Things go terribly wrong and Jake, Ally and Max end up at Jake’s house perpetrate an infamous “triple rule break” by sneaking into his dad’s basement, with a girl, and watching an R rated movie.
Episode 1 - PILOT: https://youtu.be/KfIQiSxfMi0
The year is 2001, and for Jake, Ally and Max, it’s the first day of 7th grade at Timothy O'Leary Memorial Middle School. The day couldn’t be going any worse. Max is kicked out of the school's production of Al Gore Should've Won: The Musical. Ally is kicked out of her usual hangout, the teacher’s lounge. And Jake loses his best friend to teenage hormones. With no one to sit next to at lunch, Jake, Ally and Max are each exiled to the loser table and forced to sit with the biggest, grossest weirdo of all, Jonah Feldman. The three bond over throwing grapes at Jonah. A cautious alliance is formed.
Episode 2 - SLEEPOVER: https://youtu.be/nE_m5r2WC3c
Three sleepovers happening in one night! Porn and Pokémon at the boys' sleepover, Britney Spears and bitchy gossip at the girls'. Things go terribly wrong and Jake, Ally and Max end up at Jake’s house perpetrate an infamous “triple rule break” by sneaking into his dad’s basement, with a girl, and watching an R rated movie.
From Laughspin said, "'Life Sucks' is truly the little show that could. A spec pilot for the show originally started as a more 'modern day' take on being in middle school and was a finalist in the Comedy Central Short Pilot Competition where it was pitched to Just for Laughs and MTV. When it wasn’t picked up, Dinner for One crowdfunded six episodes of the show in 2013. On the last day of the crowdfunding campaign, they needed $50,000 to reach their $85,000 goal and actually managed to raise it by creating a social media frenzy.
In 2015, the pilot won the Best Comedy award at the Independent Television Festival, but the show hit a snag. There are no famous actors in it. At different points, comedian Russell Peters and Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito were both interested in a revamped pilot but ultimately passed. The pilot was considered by the now-defunct Seeso, TBS, TruTV, Dakota Films, and PopTV, but never found a home.
Not having any big names in the show might have worked against it in the mid-2010s, but it is one of the most charming things about the show. When we think of classics like Freaks and Geeks, we think of the huge stars that were in them and forget that it was Seth Rogen’s first acting role.
The show was created by Allyson Condrath, Max Fox, Jake Mann, Kyle Miller, and Ian Wexler."Dinner For One is a sketch comedy collective and writing/production team.
They pump new life into New York City’s sketch comedy scene like a shot of adrenaline slammed into Uma Thurman's chest cavity.
They are theatrical, silly and unapologetic.
In addition to creating the award winning independent TV series Life Sucks, their online sketches have been featured on the front pages of Funny or Die, Splitsider and HuffPo Comedy.
Dinner for One has performed LIVE at venues all over New York City, including UCB, the PIT and Magnet and have sold-out shows across the country, headlining sketch festivals in NYC, Chicago and New Orleans.
They currently have a monthly show at the People's Improv Theatre, performing every second Thursday of the month.
Dinner For One online:
