From the TCA’s: Dark Comedy Loudermilk

AT&T Audience Network brought “Loudermilk” – a new dark comedy from Peter Farrelly (Dumb And Dumber, There’s Something About Mary) and Bobby Mort (The Colbert Report) – to the TCA’s and asks the question – will the audience root for the world’s worst guy as he tries to get his life together and falls in love?

Ron Livingston stars as Sam Loudermilk, a recovering alcoholic and substance abuse counselor who is four years sober and cranky as he shares his thoughts with the people in his life without apology. Now that he’s gotten clean, Loudermilk realizes he’s actually entered the hard part – living his life without any crutches. The show also stars Will Sasso, Laura Mennel, Anja Savcic, Toby Levins, Mark Brandon and Timothy Webber.

Star Ron Livingston disagrees slightly about “Loudermilk” being the worst (maybe it’s just everyone telling him he is).

“I wouldn’t call him the worst. I think he’s the most unfiltered,” Livingston commented. “That’s one of the things that really drew me, is that the script was a really gloves-off comedy…I don’t really worry too much about whether the guy’s likable. My theory on that is that if a guy is doing the best he can, the audience is going to respect that even if the best he can sucks.”

Creator Peter Farrelly has his own take on “Loudermilk.” “I think he (the title character) does help people. You know his heart’s in the right place. He is trying to help these people. And the only one he hurts by living this way and having this attitude is himself…He’s not hurting the people around him as much as he’s hurting himself in some ways.”

This dark comedy gets the benefit of being on the Audience Network, which means standards and practices aren’t an issue but more than that Farrelly, Mort and Livingston feel the freedom of making the show for cable.

The creators filmed the show like a movie cut into ten parts, giving them a unique vision for this project. “We had total freedom. You can’t get that right now. I think it’s the only place (cable) to make those kinds of shows or movies. The things that used to be filmed, they’re not doing those anymore. So this is the place you could really stretch your muscles a little bit,” says Farrelly.

October 17 is the premiere date for “Loudermilk” at 8:30 pm (ET) on Audience via DirecTV, AT&T U-verse and DirecTV Now.