'Work in Progress': Release date, plot, cast, trailer and everything you need to know about Abby McEnany's Showtime comedy
IMDb will tell you that Chicago improv maestro Abby McEnany's upcoming series 'Work in Progress' is about "An older queer lesbian from Chicago who falls for a millennial trans-man." But there's so much more to the Abby we're about to meet on-screen, thanks to the upcoming Showtime comedy that arrives in December 2019, so here's all you need to know about it.
Release date:
'Work in Progress' is set to premiere on December 8 at 11 pm, only on Showtime.
Plot:
According to the official synopsis of the show listed on Showtime, "Abby is a 45-year-old self-identified fat, queer dyke whose misfortune and despair unexpectedly lead her to a vibrantly transformative relationship" through this "uniquely human comedy series." The series pilot had debuted earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, as an official selection in the Indie Episodic program. “We adored the pilot of ‘Work in Progress’ at Sundance and were so thrilled that Abby and Tim and Lilly wanted to work with us to expand it into a Showtime comedy series,” said Gary Levine, co-president of entertainment for Showtime Networks. “Abby is as distinctive as she is appealing. She will make you laugh, she might make you cry, but she will definitely make you fall in love with her!”
Creator:
McEnany, a mainstay of the Chicago improv scene, is helming the Showtime comedy. Her one-woman shows from her base as one of the top comedians in the city is what laid the groundwork for 'Work in Progress.' McEnany co-created the show with pilot director Tim Mason. Lilly Wachowski is set to co-write and executive produce the first season.
Cast:
McEnany plays the role of the middle-aged woman set out to turn her life around when she meets a millennial trans man. Theo Germaine and Karin Anglin co-star in the comedy, alongside Celeste Pechous, and 'Saturday Night Live' alum Julia Sweeney appearing as herself.
Trailer:
The trailer for ‘Work in Progress’, a show about “being out and down,” arrived October 31 and the show looks like one of the most promising things to come out this year. “I’ve laid out 180 almonds,” Abby says in the trailer. “Every day I’m just gonna throw one away. And if there’s one almond left and I don’t feel any better, I’m done — I’m out.”
The self-proclaimed “fat, queer d**e”, while talking to her therapist about her depression and suicidal tendencies, suddenly discovers her therapist died during their session. Obviously, things aren’t looking up for Abby. But they soon will.
As her sister reassures her that she did not kill her therapist, romance creeps into her life. Chris, a trans man who finds Abby cute, calls her. And things blossom from thereon. But, of course, her life is none easier.
We see in the trailer that she faces the general anxieties of modern life but with an extra helping of anxieties that come along with queerness in a largely heteronormative society. “I’ve always been terrified about what’s wrong with me,” says Abby. “I obsess about why everything makes me anxious.”
Her anxieties are, of course, also put in their place. As she shouts, “my life is harder than anybody else’s,” a young woman in a wheelchair enters the scene. That’s Abby's life. Despite the chaos, Abby has on her side a loving sister, friends who hype her and the safety net of her loved ones.
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