Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how tired a genre or a format is — solid execution and engaging characters can make it come alive. And that’s why after all-too-recently whining about fauxumentaries being old news and roommate comedy being overplayed, I’m here to shamelessly recommend Sean and Jilly Move In, a documentary-style roommate comedy. Why? Simple. It’s really, really good.
An indie series created by director Ralph Arend and stars Sean O’Connor and Jillian Federman, Sean and Jilly focuses on a young couple who, a year and a half into their relationship, decide to move in together — not because they’re in love, but because Sean’s lease is up and NYC rent is a painful prospect. But between Sean’s love for ’90s girl rock, Jilly’s absurd nightmares, and Sean’s awkward efforts to help Jilly rehearse for auditions, is the halved rent really worth it? As Sean breaks it down in one episode, “I could live with two roommates and masturbate every day, or I could live with Jilly and have sex twice a week, and hate myself about the same amount…I chose sex.” He doesn’t look super happy about it.
Sean and Jilly was born one rainy New York night, when an outdoor comedy short the three were supposed to do got canceled because of the weather. So instead, they went inside and came up with what became the first episode — so far, seven of an estimated 18 episodes have followed. “We just get together, sometimes with a script I’ve written, sometimes with bullet point ideas, and just improv,” Arend said via chat. But the series has grown in scope beyond Sean and Jilly’s apartment — Episode 5, which introduces some of Sean’s co-workers and their unusual post-work ritual, is a standout — and upcoming episodes will feature “some cool guest stars” from the online comedy world, according to Arend.
The advantage that Sean and Jilly has over the typical roommate-focused webseries is that in actuality it’s a relationship comedy, and a savage one. After all, when two people move in together, their new living situation becomes a pressure cooker for any pre-existing issues they might have. And when two people in a relationship move in together, the potential for disaster increases a hundredfold, which provides no shortage of interesting drama and comedy.
In some ways, Jilly and Sean come off as perfect for each other — Sean clearly being content to sit in a corner and passive-aggressively snark about everything, and Jilly too self-obsessed to notice for the most part. They’re that couple who don’t really enjoy being together, but are never truly unhappy enough to break up, a caricature pushed to the extreme but easily recognizable nonetheless. “I kinda want to do Sean and Jilly Move In, then Sean and Jilly Live Together, then Sean and Jilly Get Engaged, then Sean and Jilly Get Married, then Sean and Jilly Have Kids, then Sean and Jilly Get Divorced,” Arend said. It’s all too easy to imagine each series unfolding, painfully naturally.
