On Jan. 13, Everyone is Doing Great arrived on Hulu. The series, created and written by James Lafferty and Stephen Colletti, is an authentic slice-of-life comedy about two former teen drama actors, Jeremy Davis (Lafferty) and Steth Stewart (Colletti), who are now in their thirties and hopelessly struggling in every aspect of their lives. Everyone is Doing Great draws many parallels to Lafferty and Colletti’s real lives as it is loosely based on their own experience of moving on from their former identities as the actors who played Nathan Scott and Chase Adams on the WB turned CW show One Tree Hill.
In the pilot episode, Jeremy’s marriage is deteriorating as his wife Andrea (Alexandra Park) spends most of her time away filming for a new show she is on. Instead of trying to make things better for himself, he turns to attention from Instagram models to appease his loneliness. Despite being tempted, Jeremy never cheats on Andrea and ultimately turns down a pass made by one of the Instagram girls. Unfortunately, that was not enough to save his marriage and Andrea files for divorce. Jeremy may be grappling with relationship troubles, but at least he is in good company. For starters, Seth’s ex-girlfriend Isabella (Cariba Heine), who he was head over heels for, is now with another man. Plus, he falls for a new girl, Sarah (Karissa Lee Staples), who “doesn’t date actors.”
Aside from their romantic misfortunes, Jeremy and Seth are striving to re-enter the acting world but realize that it is not as easy as they thought. While Seth has been working diligently to land new roles, Jeremy is far more concerned with smoking excessive amounts of weed. Being that it is the only job he can get, Seth takes a gig doing a play for an eccentric director at a small theater.
After spending nearly all of his millions of dollars from their show Eternal and depending on Andrea’s success for income, his divorce and lack of a job lands Jeremy into financial trouble—forcing him to start doing Instagram product promotions and move in with Seth. While their friendship may be extremely strong, living with a friend is never easy and as you can imagine only sets them up for drama.
The comedy in the show is mostly derived from the authentic moments of hardship that we can all relate to—such as being alone in the bathroom and running out of toilet paper or running into your ex while drenched in sweat from a workout. There is also the awkward moment when Seth is stuck in an Uber with a driver that won’t stop talking about his love for Eternal.
Lafferty and Colletti did a fantastic job writing and producing this series. I especially loved the chemistry among them on camera and I enjoyed getting to know their sense of humor. I believe that this show will resonate heavily with those who have worked in the entertainment industry. I additionally believe its authenticity makes it universal and therefore will appeal to a wider audience as well. I highly recommend checking out the first season of Everyone is Doing Great. During an exclusive interview, Lafferty and Colletti told Hollywood Life that they have already begun working on season 2.
‘Everyone is Doing Great’ is available to stream on Hulu.