We are well aware that Amy Schumer has never been shy about all the ups and downs she has faced in her life over the last several years. We have watched her marry Chris Fischer, become a mother to her son Gene David Fischer, and suffer from severe health problems that she’s been extremely open about. All her past experiences, good and bad, have made her into the fantastic comedian she is today, and it’s all reflected in her work, be it comedy shows, movies, and TV series.
Now, we see Schumer in her new series on Hulu titled Life & Beth, which was released in March. The show has a very similar feel to another series on Hulu, Shrill, since both of these shows revolve around the lives of women who wish to get more out of their lives but need to be pulled out of their comfort zones literally to achieve that.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Schumer mentioned that the idea for this show came to her while she and her husband, Chris, were restoring a historic farm that her father had lost previously in bankruptcy. Additionally, she also gives credit to the coming of age feature Eighth Grade by fellow comedian Bo Burnham as it captures middle school life’s tortured awkwardness as a catalyst in the want to make this show. "You really don't see this moment in girls' lives," Schumer said to EW, "and how much it shapes you for the rest of your life if you don't heal and deal with it."
Now that Life & Beth has been renewed officially for another season, we recommend that you start catching up on season one, and here’s why.
What Is Life & Beth About?
The official synopsis of Life & Beth goes as follows:
"Beth's life would look pretty great on paper. Impressive to everyone she grew up with. She makes a good living as a wine distributor. She's in a long term relationship with a successful guy and lives in Manhattan. When a sudden incident forces Beth to engage with her past her life changes forever. Through flashbacks to her teen self, Beth starts to learn how she became who she is and who she wants to become. We'll go on her journey towards building a bigger, bolder and more authentic life. Learning to express herself and living in an intentional way. A trip down memory lane is a strong source of trauma, comedy and moving forward."
Life & Beth, the Hulu series that premiered on Mar. 18, 2022, was created by Amy Schumer, who also played the titular character Beth. Beth is a sales representative for a wine distributor who is, in her own words, “barreling toward 40.” The first season has ten episodes, of which Amy Schumer herself directed four and wrote half of them. Beth’s experiences disrupt pretty much every part of her life. There is a death in her family, she has a breakup, moves, has a career change, and even a health scare. All of this sounds very serious, but Life & Beth is categorically a comedy series with each episode a half-hour-long, so there are some laughs too. We would call this show more of a dramedy than a comedy.
Beth’s story is narrated conjointly through her past self, a young teen Beth played by Violet Young, and her present self, who intentionally chose to radically shake her world up and live in the Long Island countryside.
Beth’s love interest on the show is John, played by Arrested Development’s Micheal Cera. Veteran actor Michael Rapaport plays her father. We also see familiar and famous faces throughout the series, like David Byrne, who plays a doctor in a few scenes, Hank Azaria, who plays a funeral home director, and Jonathan Groff, who plays Travis, Beth’s one-night stand in the third episode.
Why Should You Watch Life & Beth?
As a show, Life & Beth constantly shifts tones from somber to silly, and the score often changes from trap rap to piano. However, the up and down mood swings prevalent in each episode make it feel very true to life. Some of the episodes feature a hilarious fishing trip wherein there are psychedelic mushrooms involved, a hospital technician, and an aspiring DJ playing “My Neck, My Back” by Khia during Beth’s MRI scan.
It’s also a pretty heavy show as we see multiple funerals. In fact, there are two funerals for the same person. Unlike Inside Amy Schumer, the absurdist social satire, the show is much more of a personal statement from Schumer. That said, the laughs still come from the same place.
You can stream the first season of Life & Beth on Hulu and on Disney+ internationally.