Bridget Everett on shooting 'Somebody Somewhere' after losing Mike Hagerty: I 'was out of my head'

Somewhere over the rainbow – OK, Sundays on HBO (10:30 p.m. EDT/PDT) following “Barry” – lives a TV version of comedian Bridget Everett, more vulnerable and subdued than her bawdy, braless stand-up.

At her comedy shows, Everett might aggressively flirt with an audience member, dancing up against them while singing tracks like “Keep It in Your Pants Song” and “Gynecological Wonder.”

“My live shows tend to be a little off the rails, blue-style humor, body parts flying everywhere,” Everett says. By comparison, “Somebody Somewhere,” in which she stars and executive-produces, “is more restrained. But they're both human, and they're both parts of me. So you've got to let them both have a little chance to breathe.”

Season 2, premiering Sunday, finds Everett’s Sam still astray. Audiences met Sam in the show's debut season struggling with the loss of her sister Holly, who died of cancer. Sam found refuge in a quirky group of friends led by Sam's former schoolmate Joel (Jeff Hiller).

"It's a sweet show that wears its heart on its sleeve," Everett says. "It's about – at the heart of it – falling in love with a friend (Joel) a little later in life and how that can change you if you're just ready to give it a chance. It's also about not giving up on yourself."

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In the new seven-episode season, Sam is “inching a little bit closer to living a full and rich life, but it’s always a slow climb for her,” says Everett, 51. “Every small step forward is filled with so much heft and so much emotional weight because she packed it all away for so long.”

Sam leans further into her passion of singing by taking lessons. She and her best friend and now sometimes roommate Joel further strengthen their bond over martinis, which they cutely dub “tini tinis.” Sam and her sister Tricia (Mary Catherine Garrison) are challenged in taking care of their mom (Jane Brody) without the help of their dad, Ed (Mike Hagerty). The actor died last May very close to the start of filming Season 2, in which he was originally "heavily featured," Everett says.

Everett, cast and crew were stunned, the star says, and grieving. "But you have no choice but to roll up your sleeves and figure it out.” She credits showrunners Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen and executive producer Carolyn Strauss for revising scripts and crafting a storyline that explains Ed’s whereabouts. (His character was not killed off.)

“I actually was out of my head because I just felt really close to him, and I couldn't wrap my head around it,” Everett says. “But it all came together. It was hard, but I love the way that he's still a part of the show.”

Without giving anything away, there are moving tributes to Ed throughout the season.

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Season 2 also provided another emotional moment for Everett, who like Sam also lost a sister to cancer.

“I feel like I didn't deal with my grief on a personal level, so having the show has been really helpful and cathartic,” Everett says. She broke down while filming a scene in which Tricia reveals something to Sam about Holly’s illness.

“I remember when we were shooting that scene I went to the bathroom, and I had a really hard time composing myself. It's not that it was about (my sister), but she was just there.”

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Everett endorses the late Carrie Fisher’s suggestion to “Take your broken heart, make it into art.”

“It's really good advice because for people like me who have a hard time communicating their problems and their feelings," the comedian says. "When I'm doing something that's not really me, like whether that's on stage or whether it's the TV show, it's much easier to kind of process it, look at it and learn from it.”

Everett wants brighter spots for Sam if HBO greenlights a third season.

“I'd like to see Sam take flight. I'd love to see her let go and really love, but I think it's a long road. "And there will always be music and there will always be singing. I don't think the goal is for her to move to New York and be a regionally recognized cabaret singer like this one right here (laughing). But I just want to keep finding the ways in which she can incorporate singing into her life and hopefully love.”

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Somebody Somewhere' Season 2: Bridget Everett on Mike Hagerty's death