Launching on September 9 on Amazon, One Mississippi is a sometimes brutally poetic reconnaissance on death and family that crosses genres and will break your heart. The series created by Tig Notaro and Diablo Cody will also make you laugh, sometimes at the most inappropriate of moments.
As I say in my video review above, the semi-autobiographical traumedy about Notaro’s life, losses and diseases is in many way one incredibly uncomfortable but joyous meander through the death of a parent, the days that follow, and the emotional demands it brings to all it touches – and how everyone handles it differently and revealingly.
Having debuted on the streaming service as a Nicole Holofcener-directed pilot in November, the first season of the series executive produced by Notaro, Cody, Louis C.K., M. Blair Breard, Dave Becky and Kate Robin runs six half-hour episodes, all of which drop September 9. With death and cancer as major themes it may feel like a hard slug of emotional tonic, but watch them in one sitting if you can.
I say that because besides the outstanding writing and performance by Notaro as she travels home from Southern California, One Mississippi has a great supporting cast. There’s Noah Harpster as Tig’s cheerful but conflicted brother Remy; John Rothman as her emotionally distant stepfather Bill; and, perhaps impacting the most, Dexter and Nashville alum Rya Kihlstedt in a forcibly perturbing reoccurring role as the comedian’s dead mother Caroline. Add to that Casey Wilson’s strong personification of L.A.’s idiosyncrasies and absurdities as Tig’s selfish girlfriend Brooke and, well, there’s a lot more than mourning going on in Notaro’s TV family.
Click on my video review of One Mississippi and hear more about a show that will be well worth your time.
Must Read Stories
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.