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:
β’ Our calendar editors are STOKED for some representation!
β’ 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.
β’ 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!