Alone Together is the smart new comedy you need to be watching. The Freeform show, which airs Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m., follows two millennial misfits, played by Esther Povitsky and Benji Aflalo, trying to chart their own path in life. They’re friends, but just that. Don’t expect Esther and Benji to become that will-they-or-won’t-they couple. It’s not going to happen.
Esther and Benji, who co-created the show with Eben Russell, stopped by HollywoodLife.com’s New York City offices to talk all about Alone Together. The show has already been picked up for a second season, so you’re going to get even more hilarious and awkward moments from these two! From a possible origin story to their comedy inspirations, to guest stars, we’ve got all the scoop from Esther and Benji! Check out our Q&A below!
Who were your comedy inspirations growing up?
Esther Povitsky: I grew up loving Chris Farley.
Benji Aflalo: I grew up watching a lot of Comedy Central, so I grew up a comedy nerd before comedy nerds were as popular as they are now. Now it’s like everyone’s a comedy nerd because of podcasts and Netflix, but I used to really love the show Dr. Katz because it showcased all these different comics. I grew up watching George Carlin. I liked Gallagher when I was really little.
Esther Povitsky: I liked Ozzy Osbourne. My favorite show is The Osbournes, and they were so funny. That’s comedy. Ozzy Osbourne is a comedic influence. He’s so funny.
Benji Aflalo: I really liked The Critic, that was a great cartoon. In college, I was a big fan of Mr. Show. I always liked David Cross, Bill Hicks. I’ve just always sort of been a nerd of comedy. I like everybody.
Do you find yourselves doing a lot of improv?
Esther Povitsky: There’s a good amount of improv, yeah.
Benji Aflalo: A lot of improv. As much as we can. Sometmes if you’re until a tight schedule you don’t have as much time to, but whenever we can.
Have we discussed how your characters met on the show? And will that be episode down the line?
Esther Povitsky: I don’t think we have. Because usually in pilots when they’re too exposition-y it’s kind of too much, and we just wanted our pilot to have you guys walk right in. We’ve been talking about doing an episode where we both tell the story of having met.
Benji Aflalo: We might do an origin story episode with a fun twist.
The episodes that we’ve seen have been standalones. Are you planning on doing longer storylines in the future?
Esther Povitsky: I don’t know. The first season, every episode kind of stands on its own. It’s like a short film. One’s all about fertility, one’s all about a sleepover, one’s all about a music video. You can tune in and pick up from anywhere if you’re wanting to see a show about two misfits. Season two, we’ve talked a little bit more about having more of a storyline looping the episodes together, but we don’t know.
Your characters are friends, and the other characters wonder why you’re not together? Could your platonic relationship ever become romantic?
Benji Aflalo: We’re never going to hook up. We might have an episode where we jerk off in the same room, but it will be with our backs to each other.
Esther Povitsky: We haven’t discussed that.
Benji Aflalo: But it’s a good idea. Maybe I’ll be in the bathroom jerking off, and she’s in the bedroom jerking off.
Esther Povitsky: It’s a buddy comedy. It’s not a will they, won’t they. It’s not a love story. It’s just a buddy comedy at the end of the day. I feel like people are confused by that because when they see a man and a woman together and they think that they have to be together and the man only wants to be with the woman is because he wants to sleep with her.
Benji Aflalo: You know what people are doing? They are comparing us to Will and Grace because I must be gay if we’re not doing it.
Esther Povitsky: This is true friendship. We haven’t hooked up, we haven’t kissed. There’s nothing there.
Denise Richards recently guest starred? Can we me expect more guest stars coming up?
Esther Povitsky: We have a lot of cool guest stars that we’re really excited about.
Benji Aflalo: You wouldn’t want a show to be us two all the time. There’s so many talented people on our show — Chris D’Elia, Edgar Blackmon, Ginger Gonzaga. It makes the show so much fun. We managed to get a lot of fun standups on the show.
HollywoodLifers, how are you liking the first season of Alone Together? Let us know!