Season two of Showtimes Work in Progress the critically acclaimed, slice-of-life comedy starring co-creator and executive producer Abby McEnany debuted Sunday night. It picks up with its lead (McEnany playing a version of herself) still reeling from a bad break-up, still searching for the perfect therapist, and still supporting best friend Campbell (Celeste Pechous) as she mourns the tragic death of her dog.
While Abbys relationship with Chris (Theo Germaine) proved to be a central storyline for the first season, dont expect her love life to get equal airtime in forthcoming episodes. That is by design.
This show was never about a love story, explained McEnany on Saturday evening while seated on stage inside the Directors Guild of Americas Theater 2 during an Outfest special preview event presented by Showtime in partnership with The Hollywood Reporter. Im somebody whos usually single and Im very happy about it. We live in a world where people, especially women, are often seen as valuable or worthwhile if theyre loved by somebody. It drives me to the fucking brink add it to the list. Its just a trope that really pisses me off. So, no, this show is really about how people get through life. How do people come together as a family? I survived because of my friends and my family.
McEnany had many friends in the theater listening to her speak on a panel alongside her Work in Progresscollaborators: executive producer and co-star Julia Sweeney, co-star Armand Fields, and writer and co-star Brendan Dowling. She gave a special shout-out to Chicago improv peers, some of whom attended the screening and represented a city that not only provides the backdrop for the series but fuels it with talent.
But about that survival she mentioned, the rest of this season will continue to follow her character as she navigates a mental health journey in the shadow of wanting to commit suicide. In season one, Abby really is in crisis basically the whole time, McEnany explained. This season, we wanted to show that Abby shows up for other people, but then privately, shes still a mess, but its exhausting. Its exhausting just being mentally ill, right? Its exhausting to always be a burden and its valid and I own it.
McEnany joked on stage about the challenge of speaking about herself and then speaking about her character, Abby, since they share many similarities. Dowling was then asked where Abby the character begins and where Abby the real-life person ends. Dowling came to work on the series after having known McEnany from Chicagos improv scene and helping her shape her one-woman show as its director.
Thats something we talked a lot about in the [writers] room and about how Abby, the character, is a different person and we would always be very careful to talk about Abby the character versus Abby the person, Dowling noted. But in terms of where they began, I think both Abby, the real Abby, and the character Abby, are super loyal to their friends. They show up for them time and time again. Their friends mean everything to them. But [the show] is a heightened version of Abby. We take all the things that we love about Abby in real life and then heighten them.
Dowling also spoke to McEnanys talents off-screen as well as her loyalty. She drafted many Chicago peers to work on Work in Progress, and in many cases, gave people opportunities to staff on a major Showtime show they might not have had otherwise. Abby is a force of nature, he said. When you meet her, you just get drawn into her orbit and are soon a part of her life.
That is true for Fields, too, who met McEnany years ago, out and about on the Chicago scene. When Work in Progress went to series, Fields was able to audition. We got to see each other, Fields recalled. And it was, like, this huge love fest. When I got [the part], it was amazing. And here we are its wild.
Wild is similar to how Sweeney describes her path to working on the series. McEnany and her co-creator Tim Mason met the Saturday Night Live alum at Second City after her own one-woman show. I remember it just exactly, Sweeney recalled from the stage. I was charmed by Abby immediately.
Sweeney continued that she was charmed, in a way, by the idea that the pair pitched. They wanted her to play herself as she is confronted by Abby in a restaurant about how Pat, Sweeneys androgynous SNL character, negatively impacted Abbys life. It mightve seemed like a tough sell, but Sweeney said she was instantly sold.
I loved the idea of it, and it was right up the alley of what I had been thinking about in terms of the Pat character and androgyny in general, she continued. It really was like a dream come true because it was just like, wow, this is just perfect, and then, of course, I just loved Abby. It was so special.
Her thoughts about Pat are not as easily distilled into a quick soundbite. I cant say everything I want to say about it because its so complex and Im still actually thinking it through myself, Sweeney said. I feel both apologetic and defensive about Pat, and I feel like both are actually worthy of being felt by me. Its not like I just think, oh, that was terrible. I actually thought, in my mind, I was advancing the cause of androgyny. I mean, it wasnt just about making fun of this character. It was about bringing up some issues We felt like we were putting forth something provocative, and from a lot of the responses I got from people, including a huge positive response in the gay community, I felt I was doing that.
Joining Work in Progress allowed Sweeney to more fully process the character and reckon with the impact it may have had, while also poking fun at herself. It was really fun to play a heightened version of myself being a bumbling idiot about having played Pat. I love the idea of taking something thats partly real and exaggerating it, just like the whole show does. But particularly with me, my feelings of ambivalence about the character itself, was fun to play with because thats partly real, even though it was completely absurd, this character that I play; Julia Sweeney is an idiot.
Another key figure in telling the story of Work in Progress is Lilly Wachowski. Though the acclaimed filmmaker and transgender activist was not in attendance, that didnt stop the panelists from professing their love and praising the work that shes done for the series. She came out of retirement to do this, McEnany said of her friend whom she met in Chicago. Shes just changed my life. To have somebody who, first of all, gives zero fucks about what people think of her how do you do that? and then to trust me and give me a voice? Shes amazing and she defends me.
Wachowski also changed the makeup of the show. McEnany credited her with enforcing the mission statement that they would have 70 percent of crew jobs filled by women, people of color and LGBTQ professionals. Shes awesome.
Sweeney agreed. Shes my favorite person Ive had direct me. Shes so relaxed but shes ahead of schedule. Its really unbelievable. Ive never been with a showrunner like that, whos also directing, has so much on their plate, but seems relaxed, gives you the right note, gets what they need to get, and is like two pages ahead. Shes really amazing.
McEnany had the last word on the subject: When people meet her, theyre like, Oh my God. Oh my God. Rightly so. Shes changed cinema and shes amazing. But she works very hard to make everybody feel like they have a voice, and she works very hard at [putting] people at ease when theyre with her.
This panel was sponsored by Showtime.
Read more:
- No Rest For the Wicked | Review In Progress - XboxEra - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Maine made progress in wages and productivity, but still faces shrinking labor force - Press Herald - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- The Progress Report: How 4 Schools Are Teaching Kids to Read and Seeing Success - Voice of San Diego - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- PROGRESS MADE IN COLE REHAB? - Bleeding Yankee Blue - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Pollution or Progress? What's Next for LNG Development in the Rio Grande Valley - Progress Texas - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Lykos Therapeutics Makes Progress in Europe - The Dales Report - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Adelaide Film Fest Picks Five Works in Progress for Cannes Showcase, With Giant, Drafthouses Mockbuster Making the Cut (EXCLUSIVE) - Variety - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Washington says real progress needed before restoring UNRWA funding - The Times of Israel - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- LIGA Provides Further Guidance: Engages Audit Firm and Making Progress in Search for CEO and Management Team - Yahoo Finance - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Forest Health Council Reports Progress Toward Community Wildfire Resiliency-Greg Felt Talks Wildfire Mitigation with ... - Heart of the Rockies Radio - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Football notes: Robert Livingston pleased with progress of CU Buffs defense - BuffZone - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Spencer Hospital Emergency Department Project Continuing to Progress - KICD - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Proof-of-Concept Exploit Released for Progress Software OpenEdge Vulnerability - The Hacker News - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Progress being made on fire alarms, Oswego town supervisor says - oswegocountynewsnow.com - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Progress on the Boyertown Express featured at Dinner - Berks Weekly - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Fire Crews Stop Forward Progress of Two-Acre Brush Fire Near Vandenberg - Santa Barbara Edhat - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Hopewell plans to install speed cameras at three city schools - Progress Index - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- New numbers on progress of penny sales tax - The Post and Courier - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Long Island woman who survived acid attack continues to make progress in recovery - PIX11 New York News - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Beam marks progress toward bringing 1st-ever MLS team to San Diego - NBC San Diego - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- McKone: Irish-American progress and paradoxes | Perspective | timesargus.com - Barre Montpelier Times Argus - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Big East reportedly making a lot of progress on media rights deals with CBS, Fox - Awful Announcing - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Berrien County farmers note slow progress on the new Farm Bill - News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- END OF SESSION: Sen. Crider and Rep. Cherry reflect on progress made during the legislative session - Greenfield Daily Reporter - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Vowles being patient with Sargeant but expects to see "progress" - RaceFans - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Inflation ticked up in February, reversing some prior progress - ABC News - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Latest NEOM progress video of The Line is indicator of scale - Supercar Blondie - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Statewide Impact of Ohio Intel ProjectEvident in Initial Progress Report - Scioto Post - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- SpaceX makes significant progress with third Starship orbital test flight - TechCrunch - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- UPDATE: Forward progress stopped on vegetation fire near Lompoc - KSBY News - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Lady Rattlers and Diamondbacks ready to roll - Progresstimes - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- SpaceX celebrates major progress on the third flight of Starship - Ars Technica - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Helldivers 2 Galactic War live map: Track status and progress with this Liberty-approved web app - Windows Central - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Pittsburgh police will only respond to calls of in-progress emergencies as part of new staffing plan - Police News - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- A year of achievement, rebuilding and progress for utilities - Yoursun.com - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Trkiye: No Direct Dialogue with Damascus, No Progress in Normalization - Asharq Al-awsat - English - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- A WORK IN PROGRESS | News | shelbynews.com - Shelbynews - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- From recurrent networks to GPT-4: Measuring algorithmic progress in language models - Tech Xplore - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- U.S. Inability To Address Nuclear Waste Harms Environmental Progress - Newsweek - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Park Progress - Greater Wilmington Business Journal - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- SF supervisor to hold hearing on homeless-shelter progress | Housing | sfexaminer.com - San Francisco Examiner - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- 'It's good to see progress being made on the site': Revised vision for Liberty Theater property in Libertyville - Daily Herald - March 16th, 2024 [March 16th, 2024]
- Diversity Among Emmy Winners Is a Result of Industry Progress - TheWrap - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- What would Dr. King say about progress and 2024? - The Chicago Cusader - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Police: Petersburg woman reportedly used hammer to hit her boyfriend - Progress Index - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Spokane County crews make great progress ahead of another storm system - AOL - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Lady Tigers Split Last Weeks Game's Lexington Progress - lexingtonprogress.com - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Lexington Police Investigate Shooting at Walmart Lexington Progress - lexingtonprogress.com - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Scotts Hill Lions Dominated Last Week Lexington Progress - lexingtonprogress.com - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Older Couple Rescued From Submerged Vehicle Lexington Progress - lexingtonprogress.com - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Fore-ward Progress | Bintelli's new River Ridge facility to focus on making electric golf carts - WDRB - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- VIDEO: Project manager gives update on Glenn McConnell Widening progress - Live 5 News WCSC - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Truck driver sentenced for trafficking cocaine to Prince George County - Progress Index - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- After decades of little progress, Milwaukee begins new approach to improve lives of Black men and boys - madison365.com - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Women are bored of waiting: Slow progress on shattering the glass ceiling on company boards - I by IMD - I by IMD - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Now Accepting Applications for the 2024 Progress Software Mary Szkely Scholarship for Women in STEM - GlobeNewswire - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- "Some progress made" at Onslow BOE meeting, according to number of parents - WCTI12.com - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Spokane County crews make great progress ahead of another storm system - Nonstop Local - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- DeSantis took credit for Florida's progress but Iowa may have sniffed out his bravado | Opinion - Yahoo News Canada - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Has the Israeli Military Made Progress in Its Goal of Destroying Hamas? : State of the World from NPR - NPR - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Jan. 19 Panel Examines 30-Year Progress of Women in Research - Mirage News - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Ducks' Midseason Check-in: Progress, Improvement Areas & More - The Hockey Writers - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Companies are hiding their climate progress. A new report explains why. - Grist - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Lou Leonatti With Progress Mexico Gives Hospital Bankruptcy Hearing Update On AM 1340 KXEO Am I Awake Morning Show - KXEO - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Seaside Heights Wants to See Progress From Developers, Will Investigate 'Bamboo' Property - Shorebeat - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Progress over perfection: Is Coach modelling a path for fashion transformation? - Vogue Business - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Watch the video of the Edmonds armed robbery in progress - MyNorthwest - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Albemarle County house burns to the ground in late night fire - The Daily Progress - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- GHDDI and Microsoft Research use AI technology to achieve significant progress in discovering new drugs to treat ... - Microsoft - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Henderson County Suspects Apprehended in Trenton Lexington Progress - lexingtonprogress.com - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- HCFD Reports Lowest Number of Residential Fires - lexingtonprogress.com - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Unlocking The Future: CAGA's Progress In Web3 And Blockchain Innovation - Benzinga - January 18th, 2024 [January 18th, 2024]
- Underwhelming performance: Quarterbacks still a work in progress - Daily O'Collegian - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Governor Hochul Announces Progress in Increasing MTA Accessibility - ny.gov - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- A progress report: The columnist's garden in September - Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- September 2023: Innovative researchers celebrate scientific ... - Environmental Factor Newsletter - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Progress over perfectionism - Lynn University - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Signs of progress on new Folsom Medical Office Building - UC Davis Health - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- LA District FUDS team makes progress on Nellis Remedial Action ... - spl.usace.army.mil - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- UFC Fight Night 226 winner Volkan Oezdemir pleased with progress after training with Khamzat Chimaev - Yahoo Sports - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]