Pamela Adlon: ‘Maybe knuckleheads will watch Better Things and something will shift’ (2025)

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Pamela Adlon: ‘Maybe knuckleheads will watch Better Things and something will shift’ (1)

Louise Thomas

Editor

Pamela Adlon is standing in the sunlight in her Los Angeles office, and she is surrounded by whiteboards. They’ve been neatly divided with yellow tape into 10 equal sections. Each represents an episode of the fifth and final season of Better Things, the wise, heartfelt and very funny comedy series the 56-year-old has written, directed and starred in since 2016. Cryptic headings, scrawled in black marker, deliver a taste of Adlon’s joyful, profanity-spiked sense of humour. “C***ceptionist”, reads one. Another, in big capitals: “VERY GAY”. She steps back to take it all in, tugging the sleeves of her black sweater over her hands. “This is the entire season,” she says, emotion seeping through the trademark gravel in her speech. “It’s gonna be hard for me to wipe these boards.”

Adlon has been making a living from her unique voice since she was nine years old. For decades she was best known for prolific voiceover work, including her Emmy-winning role as pre-teen Bobby Hill on long-running animated sitcom King of the Hill. Her husky tones, once described by The New Yorker as sounding like a “child chain-smoker”, have given life to characters everywhere, from Rugrats to Rick and Morty and Big Mouth. However, it’s as the writer and director of Better Things that Adlon has finally been able to use her voice in the fullest sense. The loosely autobiographical show began as a meditation on single motherhood, but over its 52 episodes has blossomed out to take in life, the universe and everything. “I always say that FX was paying for my therapy,” jokes Adlon of the network that hosts the show in the US. “But also I’ve always wanted to have a talk show, and I’ve always wanted to be a teacher, and I’ve always wanted to be a coach.”

In Better Things, Adlon finds an outlet for all those impulses. She stars as Sam Fox, a lone mother of three daughters living in Los Angeles and scratching out an uncertain living as an actor and director. Her home is warm and full of art, and her truculent British mother Phyllis – or rather Phil (played by the always magnificent Celia Imrie) – lives next door. It’s a show about finding meaning and purpose in the everyday, where the simple act of cooking a hearty chilli for one’s family takes on the significance of religious ritual. “It’s a way to live your life, in a way,” says Adlon of the series’ meditative message. “You don’t have to just sit in a cold room with four walls and a light bulb. If you take the time to do certain things and live your life a certain way, you’re going to be saving yourself money, saving yourself time, wasting less, living better.”

Pamela Adlon: ‘Maybe knuckleheads will watch Better Things and something will shift’ (2)

One of the best things about Better Things, and the hardest to describe if you haven’t seen it, is how it barely feels like it’s been written at all. It parcels out its intertwined stories through lived-in vignettes, with a pace and tone that couldn’t be further from the familiar rhythms of a traditional sitcom. On a recent episode of Adlon’s Better Things podcast the actor Diedrich Bader, who plays Fox’s best friend Rich, described how he was wrong-footed the first time he turned up to work on the show and had to modify his performance from “sitcom” delivery to what he called the “rhythm of life”. For Adlon, the key to writing a show that doesn’t feel like conventional television is the same as the secret to being a great voice actor. “You listen,” she says. “Do people talk like that? As a voiceover person it certainly helps to be able to act and to have something distinctive about your voice, but for me it’s about my ear. That’s what’s kept me going. If something feels false, or hits your ear like tin, it’s not gonna work.”

Of course, an important factor in how true to life Better Things feels is how much of it is drawn directly from Adlon’s own experiences. Her own elderly mother really is British, for example, and lives nearby. Adlon’s time going through the lengthy bureaucratic process to gain British citizenship in January 2020 inspired a season five episode where the whole family does the same before decamping to London to visit relatives. “I loved being there so much,” says Adlon. “The news cycle when you’re not in America is about the world, as opposed to the way we eat our own assholes out in America. The diversity in London hits you like a tonne of bricks. You’re walking around, looking at the monuments, and you’re like: ‘Wait, these people aren’t immigrants. They built this f***ing town!’”

Pamela Adlon: ‘Maybe knuckleheads will watch Better Things and something will shift’ (3)

That idea resonated in a season that explores, in Adlon’s words, “where we come from, and the people who came before us”. In the first episode, Sam and her brother trace their genealogy back to Ukrainian Jews, a moment based on Adlon’s real-life appearance on the investigative reality show Finding Your Roots. “It took five years for them to crack my DNA,” recalls Adlon. “So I finally went, and I was waiting for him to tell me whether my dad’s side of the family was from Russia or Poland. When he said Ukraine to me, it was not on my radar at all. I put it into the show, and then the f***in’ world…” She trails off incredulously. The episode first aired in the US four days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “It was nuts.”

Another storyline, about an abortion, took on added relevancy after the overturning of Roe v Wade. “It was always just a storyline; I never thought that 50 years of precedent was going to be undone in front of my f***ing face,” says Adlon with disbelief, adding that she’s been astounded by how her deeply personal show has ended up touching on so many of the world’s most fractious topics. “We call the show ‘the portal’,” she says. “We’ve got Ukraine. We’ve got abortion. We’ve got gay [rights]. We’ve got anti-monarchists. We’ve got it all!”

For those of us who care about any or all of those issues, this can be an anxious time. Adlon understands that, and feels it too. Better Things is her optimistic response: a salve for the world’s ills, and a cathartic laugh when you need it most. “I don’t know why everything’s going backwards,” she says thoughtfully. “Hopefully the show will be some comfort food to the people that it matters to, but also maybe some f***ing knuckleheads will watch Better Things and something will shift.”

Better Things season five is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer in the UK and FX on Hulu in the US

Pamela Adlon: ‘Maybe knuckleheads will watch Better Things and something will shift’ (2025)

FAQs

Is Better Things scripted? ›

“Better Things” ended up becoming a scripted show based on her real life. But it's not a reality show, she points out. And she was particularly careful about portraying her kids' lives. “It's tricky because people, if they say to my kids, 'Did that really happen to you in real life?

Are the daughters in Better Things her real daughters? ›

Young actresses portray her character Sam's daughters on TV, but in real life, Pamela Adlon's daughters are now 19, 22 and 25 years old. Adlon herself has been acting since she was 9.

Who are the Better Things characters based on? ›

PUBLISHED: February 22, 2022 at 7:38 a.m. In “Better Things,” the FX series she co-created, Pamela Adlon plays a character, Sam Fox, loosely based on her own life: A working actress; single mom to three daughters; daughter to an eccentric mother who lives across the street.

Does Pamela Adlon live in the UK? ›

Adlon was the inspiration for Toto's song "Pamela". She was in a short-lived relationship with Toto vocalist Joseph Williams in the 1980s. Adlon splits her time between the Upper West Side of Manhattan and Los Angeles. In January 2020, Adlon became a citizen of the United Kingdom.

Why did Better Things get cancelled? ›

In comparison to Season 3, Season 4 viewership dropped by 12 percent, according to TV Series Finale, with viewers generally dwindling week-on-week at the time Season 4 was released. Perhaps the creators behind Better Things and FX thought it would be better to end the series on a high.

Why do they always touch the statue on Better Things? ›

For years, the network would call me and say, “People are asking why they touch the beanie boy statue [at the top of the stairs in the Fox home].” And I'm like, “Because we're superstitious.” And that was literally just one day on set I started touching the statue, and then it became a part of the show.

Who is Frankie based on in Better Things? ›

During the Represent interview Adlon shared that Frankie is based on her own child: “My middle daughter went through a phase where she was gender dysphoric.

Who did Pamela Adlon voice? ›

You can also hear Pamela Adlon's voice on Hamster & Gretel (as Nordle), Big Mouth (Sonya), El Deafo (mom/Spidermom), Pete the Cat (Grumpy's Mom), Human Resources (Sonya), Fairfax (Phyllis), The Ghost and Molly McGee (Mrs. Stien-Torres), Slumberkins (Fox's mother) and Tuca & Bertie (Joanne).

How do Better Things end? ›

We end with a montage set to the tune of Monty Python's “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” as the cast breaks the fourth wall to serenade us with the cheery tune. In the very last bit, Sam looks directly into the camera and gives us a wink, as mysterious objects float around in the sky above.

Is Better Things based on Pamela's life? ›

It was written by Louis C.K. and Pamela Adlon, and directed by Louis C.K. The story is semi-autobiographically based on Adlon's life.

Why does Sam wear a hand brace in Better Things? ›

The art in Sam Fox's house came from Adlon's own home. She had Sam wear a wrist brace, mirroring her own battles with tendinitis. And then there were her TV daughters. Max and Frankie, the older ones, were independent, creative, emotional and, more than occasionally, downright abusive to their mother.

Was Lenny Kravitz in Better Things? ›

Better Things (TV Series 2016–2022) - Lenny Kravitz as Mel Trueblood - IMDb.

Was Pamela Adlon in Rugrats? ›

"Rugrats" The Last Babysitter/Sour Pickles (TV Episode 1993) - Pamela Adlon as Baby Drew Pickles, Sticky - IMDb.

Who does Pamela Adlon voice in Bob's Burgers? ›

Pamela Adlon: Olsen Benner.

What is Pamela Adlon famous for? ›

Pamela Adlon is an American actress, voice actress, screenwriter, producer, and director. She voiced Bobby Hill on the animated comedy series King of the Hill (1997–2010), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award.

Why does Sam wear a brace on her hand in Better Things? ›

The art in Sam Fox's house came from Adlon's own home. She had Sam wear a wrist brace, mirroring her own battles with tendinitis. And then there were her TV daughters. Max and Frankie, the older ones, were independent, creative, emotional and, more than occasionally, downright abusive to their mother.

Who is Frankie based off of in Better Things? ›

During the Represent interview Adlon shared that Frankie is based on her own child: “My middle daughter went through a phase where she was gender dysphoric.

What is Duke smoking in Better Things? ›

Max catches her secretly vaping and suspects she's also medicating with marijuana. Duke neglects what little responsibilities she has and is plagued by a negative self-image. The central love affair in Better Things is arguably the one between Sam and her mother.

Is Frankie a girl Better Things? ›

While her gender identity is not discussed in the second season, the show purposefully left things about Frankie's gender identity vague in the season finale. Going into Season 2, they decided to not put any labels on Frankie, who is only 12-years-old and still discovering her identity at her own pace.

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