Netflix’s newest comedy, Living With Yourself from creator Timothy Greenberg, extends the streaming service’s love affair with high concept comedy. After arguably propelling The Good Place and Schitt’s Creek to a Comedy Series nomination, Netflix followed up with original series Russian Doll. Now, following in those high concept footsteps, Living WIth Yourself offers beloved and ageless Paul Rudd as a man who inadvertently finds himself cloned.
Living With Yourself is a charming series that doesn’t dwell on the impossible science behind the story. Instead, it focuses on the human elements. What would happen if there were two of you in the world? How would you split your day? How would your significant other react? Like Russian Doll before it, Yourself is thought-provoking, fun, and at times very, very funny.
Now, will Timothy Greenberg’s new comedy follow in those same Emmy-blessed footsteps?
So far, the reviews haven’t hit the same heights as Russian Doll, which is probably to be expected as Living isn’t quite as artistically rendered as Russian Doll. It’s extremely well made and well written, though. It probably falls more into the Dead To Me category, which is still very good company.
So, if Dead To Me is the closest antecedent, then will Rudd receive the same awards attention that Christina Applegate did? In his favor, he’s playing two people. And it’s not just a copy of the performance with some added quirks. Instead, Rudd creates two unique characters in Miles and New Miles. He’s never really received the awards attention he deserves. It’s probably due to his effortless charm and everyman good looks. So, he’s probably in a good position for Emmy attention, if not guaranteed.
But the Golden Globes are a different story. Rudd might fit in perfectly with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, if Netflix gets behind it, of course. They’re also campaigning the higher profile, flashier Ben Platt in The Politician, which given Netflix’s love for new hotness, might be Paul Rudd’s closest competition to win the award. The Globes have been good to Netflix in comedy races, awarding their Kominsky Method and Michael Douglas last year. So, it’s not out of the question that they similarly embrace Paul Rudd this year.
SAG and Emmys are a tougher haul. The series has to stick around for a while, and Netflix has to bring it back in force next year with a full campaign. But winning a Golden Globe would make Rudd and Living With Yourself even more enticing to promote.
