IT FINALLY HAPPENED! Hulu made a show about our lives! Based on Lindy West's book Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman, the Shrill series is a six-episode Hulu original starring SNL's Aidy Bryant as a young woman juggling body image, shitty partners, aging parents, and a career at an alt-weekly newspaper in Portland, Oregon. WAIT THAT'S US!
The real West worked at our sister paper The Stranger in Seattle, but the Portland-fication of West's hilarious, bully-slaying empowerment story is getting us hype for March 15 when all of the episodes drop.
Initial reactions from our staff:
• Our calendar editors are STOKED for some representation!
• Is John Cameron Mitchell's dismissive boss character supposed to be The Stranger's Dan Savage? Here's our interview with JCM from September where he dishes on his character inspiration.
• Why yes, that does kind of look like our office... PROBABLY BECAUSE IT'S (partially) BASED ON OUR OFFICE! Bryant and crew stopped by Mercury HQ last summer to get a feel for our newsroom vibes. WE HAVE PROOF!
They were all very kind, and we unloaded a bunch of old papers on them to use on set! We can tell you this: That exposed brick is fake, and this manic pencil pile may or may not be a nod to one specific employee. (Okay, it probably isn't. But Tonya uses a lot of pencils.)
Also true to form, our office is about 90 percent sticky notes.
Shrill boasts West as a writer and producer, plus executive producers Elizabeth Banks and Lorne Michaels, and there's an episode directed by Carrie Brownstein. We can't wait until March 15!