You're the Worst is the best romantic comedy on television

 

This fall, an undeniable trend has popped up in new sitcom pilots: romance. From Selfie to A to Z to Marry Me, so many sitcom pilots are obsessed with the idea of bringing the building blocks of romantic comedy to television - a feat that has never quite been achieved before. Sure, you have shows like Friends and Cheers and The Office that paired two of their characters together and captivated audiences through intricate will they/won't they arcs, but no show has ever used romantic comedy as the main building block of its world. Those aforementioned shows all had their groundwork in either workplace or friendship comedy (or, in the case of Cheers, both) that gradually integrated rom-com elements to push their central couple forward. But this fall sees an unprecedented amount of pilots that seem to be using the romantic comedy framework to frame their entire show. Perhaps this is due to the (very mild) success of The Mindy Project, or the (much less mild) success of How I Met Your Mother, both of which have been the closest thing we've seen to a straight-up romantic comedy in a long time. However, none of these shows hold a candle to FX's You're the Worst, the best example of romantic comedy on TV. In fact, not only is it the best romantic comedy on television, it's a solid contender for the best comedy on television. It's that good.

How good is it? It's so good that I have only seen nine of the ten episodes it's produced so far because the show hasn't been renewed for a second season yet and I'm scared of the possibility that I'm about to finish it for good. It's so good that each episodes gives me at least one burst of laughter where I have to pause the episode I'm watching and catch my breath. It's so good that it makes me care about two people it explicitly tells me I shouldn't care about by rooting their flaws in a fear that resonates with just about anyone who's ever been young and confused and afraid of their direction in life (also known as everyone). You're the Worst is a great romantic comedy, a great comedy, and just a great show because it understands that sometimes love is an outright terrible idea, and sometimes it's messy, and sometimes it's horrifying, and sometimes it's electrifying, and a hell of a lot of the time it gives your life purpose when it seems like you have nothing left. It also understands that there are many different types of love. There's the love between significant others, sure, but there's also the love between friends, or the love for yourself, both of which are just as vital and important as romantic love, and it understands that love is far more complicated than fancy weddings and life-long marriages and food processors. You're the Worst is a great show because it understands that we are all the worst, and that love is about being able to understand that you're awful and the person you love is awful and that you just have to sit with what makes you awful and trench through it to get to the good stuff.

Oh, and also, You're the Worst is a great show because it's really, really funny. This has been a great year for TV comedy, with prized possessions like Rick and Morty and Broad City and Review bursting onto the scene, and You're the Worst could stand tall with any of them, harkening an absurdist, go-for-broke humor styling that feels akin to the dearly departed Happy Endings at points. It's quickly assembled one of the strongest ensemble casts on TV, with all four of the shows' regular leads delivering the jokes and pathos constantly thrown at them at a whim. You're the Worst is a fantastic show, and you're probably not watching it, and it hasn't gotten a second season yet (though rumor has it that things are looking good) so go and do yourself and it a favor and burn through those ten episodes on Hulu right now - or at least, burn through the first nine and then sit around for a while and hesitate on starting the tenth because you don't want it all to end. You owe this to yourself.