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Over the years, Adult Swim has become a place for offbeat and out there types of comedy series, offering a unique voice and brand of comedy. Three Busy Debras is a real stand out, putting its own unique stamp on comedy in strange, unexpected and hilarious ways.
Originally premiering in 2020, the series focuses on Debra (Sandy Honig), Debra (Alyssa Stonoha), and Debra (Mitra Jouhari) and their crazy lives as rich ladies in the picturesque town of Lemoncurd. There’s not much you need to know about the Debras. There’s no need to know their backstories, their histories, or how their group dynamic works. All the necessary information is given in the individual episodes. All the while, each Debra still does have distinct character traits you pick up as you go.
The main premise is that the Debras are rich, as shown by their serious all white outfits, they have a lot of time on their hands, and always find the funniest and most absurd ways to keep busy. The three Debras are always the center focus, with side characters occasionally showing up. The Debras find themselves in unique situations each episode, but they never learn from their actions. Episodes essentially reset with each absurdly hilarious episode, with small threads carrying through for some fun payoff.
The series is reminiscent of the cult classic (and personal favorite of mine) Wet Hot American Summer with its fun play of reality, humor and surrealism. Everything about the characters are outlandish and over the top, yet feel grounded and never too much.
At times it often feels like a sketch comedy where anything goes. The short, roughly 11 minute runtime allows for small ideas to escalate and flourish in grand, unpredictable ways as episodes quickly end up going in hilarious directions after setting the initial premise. Each episode’s resolution is unexpected, completely satisfying, and always a hoot.
Episodes in the new season are memorable for their different styles of storytelling. Each one finds a way for things to go off the rails and devolve into chaos. The new episodes rival some of my favorites from the first season including “Sleepover!” and “Debspringa.” There are also some moments which show breaks in the Debras’ personas, revealing there may be more to them underneath the characters we’ve gotten to know over the first season. The dramatic and over the top portrayals of each Debra only adds to the absurdity of the situations the Debras find themselves in. One episode that stood out has the feel of a dramatic play and is a bit of a departure from the usual episode, but classically Debra in nature.
The premiere episodes feature the Debras causing mayhem in Lemoncurd and taking some time off to try to cheer up one of their own. I secretly hope the song featured in “The Great Debpression” is available for streaming following the episode. I’ve been singing “je m’appelle the maaaaal!” in my head for days now!
Honig, Stonoha and Jouhari have come to completely embody their characters. From the jokes to the delivery to the physical humor, they deliver knockout performances. Their characters allow them to have fun with the roles and you can see they are completely enjoying the ride.
As one of a handful of live action series still in production in Adult Swim’s late night block, it is absolutely worth a watch. You can easily binge the first season ahead of the new season if this is your first foray into the world of the Debras. The absurdity and carefully crafted chaos of each episode is nothing short of hilarious.
Season two consists of ten episodes, up from the six episodes in the first season. This time two new episodes will be released each week. I will always welcome more reasons to watch Debra, Debra and Debra and more people really need to find this gem. It’s a reliable, great laugh.
That’s our Debra!!
Three Busy Debras premieres on Adult Swim April 24 at midnight. New episodes can be streamed on HBO Max the following day. Season one is available to stream on HBO Max.
