‘I Hate People, People Hate Me’ Drops Trailer, Sets November Release on CBC Gem (Exclusive)

Abbey White
·2 min read

I Hate People, People Hate Me, a new six-episode dark comedy about two friends navigating Toronto’s queer community as outliers, will debut this November on CBC Gem.

Produced by LoCo Motion Pictures and hailing from creator and star Bobbi Summers, the series will hit the streaming service on Nov. 7, with the first two episodes set to stream globally the same day on the CBC Comedy YouTube channel. Ahead of its release, the series has also dropped a red-band trailer offering a (mature) first look at the show, which is directed by Blake Mawson and also stars Lily Kazimiera and Alden McWayne.

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An exploration of queer identity as queerness has become more mainstream and commodified, the offbeat comedy is inspired tonally, in part, by films like Ghost World, Good Burger and Welcome to the Dollhouse alongside Summers’ diaries, written while in their 20s. The show follows Jovi (Summers) and Tabitha (Kazimiera), two people perpetually disturbed by the world around them that have bonded over a mutual hatred of their peers and society at large, alongside suicidal feelings and drug abuse.

“As much as this is a show about our grievances with the world, it’s also about self-examination and the fact that my hands aren’t squeaky clean either. I’ve contributed to problems, and I’ve been someone worth hating,” Summers says about the series’ inspiration and title. “[And] people do hate my co-star and I, not because they’ve met us or because we’re not cool and chill. They just hate us to hate us, because we belong to certain groups.

The duo’s misadventures see them experimenting with antidepressants and their sexuality, while battling existential crises in Toronto. Featuring locations Summers frequented in their formative years, this “melancholia-infused-fantasy-land,” as described by the series’ creator, offers a version of the Canadian city that’s more graphic novel — “filtered through the part of my brain that wants everything to feel like a live-action cartoon with darkness sprinkled on top” — than direct reality.

In their comedic fishbowl, “you don’t really see Toronto so much as you see how separated they are from it,” says Summers. And while the show was inspired by Summers’ experiences while he was a 20-something, he hopes I Hate People, People Hate Me can resonate with audiences of any age, whether 19 or 55. “Despair is universal,” Summers tell THR.” It’s kind of a widespread, intergenerationally held opinion, at the moment, that the world is shit. Sad is the new black.”

Featuring an original soundtrack written and recorded by Summers, I Hate People, People Hate Me is executive produced by Lauren Corber, Evan Dell’Aquila and Lisa Filipelli.

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