Jeff Hiller laughs like he does on television. The comedian, who plays Joel on the delightful small-town dramedy , hoots away as he does on screen, even though we’re talking about the end of the series that has been called “ ”. “Oh, well, you know, I’m sad, super sad,” says Hiller over Zoom from his home in New York City.
“And I’m a greedy actor, I want it to be 150 seasons, 300 episodes per season, but also I’m like, ‘I can’t even believe they made a pilot of this show.’ “So I do really just sit in the gratitude of it and just be like, ‘I can’t believe I got to be on the show.’ Otherwise, I’ll start crying all the time.
” The small-town drama has been a slow-burn word-of-mouth hit for HBO, picking up the prestigious Peabody Award this year, as well as best actress nominations for star Bridget Everett. This third season is its last, a bittersweet end just as it was finding a bigger audience. “I’m not sure what everybody else knew, but I didn’t know when we were filming it [that it was the end],” says Hiller.
“Although, it’s a small show, and and , things like that, they all ran about three seasons. So it felt not unexpected, let’s just say that.” is loosely based on the life of Everett, a New York cabaret star who grew up in Manhattan – the “Little Apple” – in Kansas.
Everett plays 40-something Sam, who is grieving the death of her sister Holly. Bereft and lonely, Sam struggles until she finds old school friend Joel, .