Skip to Content

Arts Intel Report

It Gets Worse

Emily Fairn, Olive Gray, and Leo Reich in It Gets Worse.

Lena Dunham’s Girls doesn’t come back until next year and Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag is no more. Filling the void is the London-born comic Leo Reich, who got his start in stand-up, but didn’t start acting until Dunham herself watched his special Literally Who Cares?! and cast him in her show Too Much. Reich’s new show It Gets Worse follows three hapless roommates—Ethan, the self-described “gay psychopath” (Reich), Sam (Olive Gray), and Abi (Emily Fairn)—who are in the process of moving out as they endure the twentysomething world of chronic unemployment, embarrassing sex, and high rent. Each character is flawed and often selfish, but uniquely relatable as they navigate a climate as messed up as they are. “I’m lovingly making fun of everyone I’ve ever met,” Reich told The Guardian. Dunham guest stars, and Zadie Smith narrates the show. —Maggie Turner

Photo: Ana Blumenkron/A24 Films