Hulu's Nasty 'Difficult People' is a Brilliant Anti-'Will & Grace'

I had some skepticism going into Hulu's new original comedy series Difficult People. In an already overpopulated TV landscape with too many programs ranging from good to great, is there room for another sitcom about sassy friends in their early 30s in New York City?

The answer to that question is: yes.

After watching the first two episodes of "Difficult People," which gives Amy Poehler an executive producer credit, it's clear this is not just another sitcom about young people struggling to make it in the Big Apple. Well it is. But these people, writer and stand-up comic Julie Klausner and YouTube star Billy Eichner, are so acidic and nasty, they give Larry David's character in "Curb Your Enthusiasm" a run of his money. Eichner and Klausner play versions of themselves, Billy Epstein and Julie Kessler respectively, a gay man and straight woman who are BFFs. But unlike other pairings on TV, most notably Will and Grace, these two are just complete assholes. But hilarious assholes!

They're misanthropic-pop-culture-obsessed view on the world, specifically New York City, will surely attract a very specific type of audience: a major plot point in the first episode finds Julie coming under fire for making a controversial joke on Twitter about Beyonce's daughter Blue Ivy and R&B icon R. Kelly peeing on her. If this turns you off, then "Difficult People" isn't for you -- and Eichner and Klausner don't really care to lose you as an audience member.

But the duo desperately seeks your approval and approval from others. Though they're the first to admit they can't stand you, they still want you to love them. Both the comedians are obsessed with social media, and the Internet in general. At one point in the first episode, after making the Blue Ivy tweet, Julie tells her boyfriend Arthur (James Urbaniak), "I like saying something crazy then leaving the room. Unless people like what I say, then I stay in the room." Later on, Billy comments how he refreshes his Twitter for retweets and favs, comparing the thrill of online attention to morphine addiction. Julie says she seeks approval from strangers on the Internet because she never got the love from her mother.

Billy and Julie are completely vile to just about everyone they encounter, but sometimes their shtick is thrown back in their faces. While waiting for their big break, Julie recaps TV shows (something she did in real life) and Billy is waiting tables at a restaurant owned by Denise (Gabourey Sidibe), who is quick to challenge the duo's harsh jokes. Her GBF Matthew (Cole Escola) is especially harsh to Billy. After Matthew and Denise come back from shopping, he pokes fun at how "old" Billy is, saying the only things he shops for are anti-depressants and Metamucil.

"Sometimes when I hear you speak, it makes me want to join the Westboro Baptist Church," Billy snaps back.

There's no doubt "Difficult People" and its stars are talented and truly funny (if Don Rickles is your thing), the show also takes cues from some of sitcom's biggest shows, namely "Seinfeld." Billy and Julie may be just as sociopathic as Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer, (definitely meaner) but the program's structure gives a wink to the show about nothing. In the two episodes, which each click in around 23-minutes, characters and plots are interwoven, connecting separate moments together with hilarity and wit.

"Difficult People" also pours over the minutia of pop culture: Julia and Billy hypothesize about Susan Sarandon's personal life, argue that David Byrne has every right to be pretentious and so on -- these celebrity jokes and thoughts are straight from Eichner's web series "Billy On the Street" where the comedian runs up to random people on the streets of New York City and quizzes them on his personal feelings on celebs.

In another "Seinfeld" similarity, "Difficult People" does a fantastic job about how modern friends talk to each other. A plot point in the pilot revolves around Billy and Julie talking about how good the water from their elementary school's library water fountain tasted. The pair go on and on about the crispness of the magical liquid and even take their idea of selling the water to a company, which sells water in cartons instead of bottles.

Just like "Seinfeld," it doesn't appear our anti-heroes are not ever going to change or evolve (despite saying they've changed for the better while walking by a woman in need of help in episode two). Like the shows that have main characters who are difficult people (Hannah Horvath, Larry David, Michael Scott), Billy and Julie are characters you love to love, despite their bitchiness. They are the best representation of us v. them.

"Our lives are garbage and it's the world's fault," Billy says.

New episodes of "Difficult People" appear on Hulu every Wednesday.