‘Work in Progress’ Trailer: Abby McEnany’s Life Is Harder Than Anybody Else’s

LaToya Ferguson

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Showtime’s upcoming series “Work in Progress” is billed as “a comedy about being out and down.” Described as “a funny and uniquely human comedy,” improv comedian Abby McEnany stars as Abby, “a 45-year-old self-identified fat, queer dyke from Chicago whose misfortune and despair unexpectedly lead her to a vibrantly transformative relationship.” The series is based on McEnany’s solo show, which was originally produced in 2016 at the iO Theater in Chicago.

In the official trailer for “Work in Progress” — which you can watch below — Abby is met with a series of unfortunate events. She blames herself for her therapist dying during a session, she doesn’t have a child (and especially not, thankfully, a child that died), she’s riddled with anxieties she can’t explain and has difficulties in fixing, and she finally comes face-to-face with Julia Sweeney, the woman whose character Pat (of “Saturday Night Live’s” “It’s Pat” fame) ruined her life.

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In all of this, Abby just wants to “figure out how to be better.” And it looks like her blossoming, aforementioned “vibrantly transformative relationship” with Chris, a trans man who asks her out, just might help on that front.

In IndieWire’s 2019 Fall TV Preview, Libby Hill wrote that “McEnany is a full-fledged diamond ready to shine and does so brilliantly in her Showtime series, which debuted to critical acclaim at Sundance. In the pilot, the autobiographical show follows the improv comedian as she ventures through her world, attempting to find meaning when all she really wants to do is die. In the process, she makes something vibrant and alive, hilarious and a full of hope. Mission accomplished.”

Created by McEnany and Tim Mason and co-written by Lilly Wachowski (“The Matrix,” “Sense8”), “Work in Progress” is Wachowski’s first project post-“Sense8.” The series also stars Karin Anglin and Celeste Pechous and premieres on Showtime on Sunday, December 8, 11 p.m. ET/PT.

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