Fans of Shrill—which was shot on location in Portland—can rejoice: The Hulu series is getting picked up for a second season. Based on the Lindy West biography Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman, the show stars beloved SNL castmember Aidy Bryant as an alt-weekly newspaper writer who embarks on a journey to convince the world of the joys of body positivity. From Variety:
The Aidy Bryant comedy will be returning to Hulu in 2020 for a second season, Variety has confirmed. Season two will be expanded from six episodes to eight.
For the most part, critics love Shrill—primarily because of the adorable honesty of Aidy Bryant—as did our own Suzette Smith who enjoyed it, but also had a few bones to pick. From her review of Shrill season one:
Shrill is at its best—and its most real—when it addresses all the bullshit that fat people go through in their day-to-day lives, including the guilt and grief that often comes from their very own families. (A few interactions between Annie and her mother, played by Julia Sweeney, are right on and raw, but still really funny.) But when Shrill stumbles, it’s in its attempts to create some sort of magical body-positivity: When Annie attends a glamorous pool party that turns into a dream-like music video, the show slips from bold, observant comedy into tame, feel-good fantasy.
On the other hand, Shrill’s sex scenes are great, because they make the too-rare acknowledgment that people of all body sizes still fuck on the regular. And it’s cool to see Shrill portray Annie as a woman with an actual, normal sex drive.
Fans of the show will also want to read our interview with Shrill's John Cameron Mitchell who plays Aidy's verrrry prickly newspaper editor boss. As for me, I really enjoyed the show as well—even though their depiction of an alt-weekly newspaper office left a little to be desired... in particular, that inexplicable goblet of FUCKING PENCILS. You can read my verrrry prickly thoughts on that here.
Anyway, now that season two has been announced, be on the lookout for Aidy and the Shrill production team shooting scenes all around town!
