There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who have no problem delegating tasks and those who know it would be easier if they just did it themselves. The latter type may give off control freak vibes, but that’s exactly what’s needed at times–as Pamela Adlon can attest to with her critically acclaimed FX series Better Things.
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Adlon’s own life provides the framework for Better Things: a single mother of three daughters who’s balancing parenting, her acting career, and taking care of her increasingly dependent mother. The semi-autobiographical nature of the series helps explain why she’s so protective of it. Only her longtime collaborator Louis C.K. in on the creative process as the show’s co-creator, co-writer, and co-producer. For the second season, though, Adlon decided to direct everything herself.
“I knew that I was going to direct one or two episodes last season, and then this year it was a no-brainer for me to do it [all],” says Adlon, whose performance in the first season of Better Things earned her an Emmy nomination. “This season was easier because everything flowed through me. There was no committee. We didn’t have to wait. I made the decisions. I chose my frames. I was able to work with my actors. Like I said a million times, being the single mom of three girls is the best kind of boot camp for anything like this.”
Adlon’s slice-of-life approach to creating Better Things is what makes the show so endearing. It doesn’t try to blow everyday situations into something bigger than what they actually are–it allows the natural humor, heartbreak, and absurdity of life to exist as is.
“I used to say that the log line for my show, if there was one, is ‘Life is what happens to you when you’re too busy to make any other plans,'” she says. “It’s like you think you can make plans, but then some insane, earth-shattering things happen. And then the next day you wake up and it’s just normal life again.”
As for what she thinks of the recent allegations of sexual misconduct on Louis C.K.’s part and whether they have affected her relationship with him, Adlon says, “All I can tell you is that he is the best, most generous, collaborative, brilliant writer in the world,” she says. “And you can ask anybody who works with him that he’s just the best guy. That’s all I have to say.”
“From [ages] 11 to 18, it was rocky goings. And then I got out of the house, and my dad and I started working together and we would sit down and record our conversations very similar to the way Louis and I do now,” she says. “We were able to laugh and work through horrible family issues in our writing. It’s an amazingly cathartic thing to be able to make art out of something that feels shitty. It’s one of the greatest gifts of my life right now–that I can tell these stories for my daughters and their friends and my friends.”
Season two of Better Things premieres Thursday, September 14, on FX.
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