While rummaging around Amazon Prime looking for something to watch, I ran across the TV series Loudermilk, and it turned out to be pretty good. Not great, but a good watch with some excellent writing.

The titular character – played with slacker energy (low) by Office Space’s Ron Livingston – is a recovering alcoholic who leads a substance abuse group. He’s also somewhat of an asshole.

The group – primarily men – are all recovering/lapsed addicts of some sort, so it’s pretty much a circle of losers. Which, of course, can lead to some chaotic situations (and lots of profanity – stay away if at all put off by profanity or sexual talk).

It leans a little too heavily – for me – on “you have to understand that your sobriety is tied to everything you do so keep doing the work!” Reminds me a people who obsess over church or therapy; it often seems forced, as it is what you think you should do instead of what you want to do. But that’s the backbone of the show, and it’s not too preachy.

It ran for three seasons (2017-2020; 30 episodes) on some network that got gobbled up when HBO became HBO Max. A season 4 had been planned (and there were plotlines that could have been mined) but never happened due to the merger.

It’s a good watch – no car chase, few rom-com plot points, just a lot of dialogue and weird little twists that are done well. Not great like Fleabag, but I’d watch it again sometime, skipping this or that episode/scene. Low key and watchable – and very human.