Viewers say they want variety along with quality on television, but most TV shows fail to stray far from well-treaded stories.

Even critically-acclaimed shows like “Breaking Bad” and “Boardwalk Empire” share the same basic plot structure while shows like “Girls” and “Orange is the New Black” have clear antecedents in shows like “The L Word” and “Weeds.”

However, sometimes shows come along that truly take on ideas most other shows don’t or aren’t able to. They edge closer to the fringes where they must make the decision of trading attention for experimentation. That is clearly a double-edged sword, but sacrificing public expectations allows for the creation of honest material in a free space.

This flexibility is exemplified in the FXX show “You’re the Worst,” which was renewed on Wednesday for a third season. The show garnered a 96 percent on Rottentomatoes for its currently airing second season alone and has generated an extremely passionate fanbase since the show premiered in July 2014.

However, originally only averaging about 560,000 viewers on FX, the show was moved to FX’s sister channel FXX for its second season, which reaches far fewer homes, where it now averages about 220,000 viewers. But free from the pressures and audience of a larger cable network, the show has expanded creatively, culminating in the past few weeks with the most important plot currently happening on fictional television: the main character, Gretchen, dealing with clinical depression.

Many shows portend to deal with socially important issues, but most end up being handled superficially as people prefer things tidy to realistic. So when a show like “Game of Thrones” shows something like a rapist going unpunished, everyone criticizes the show for setting a poor example even though overwhelming statistics show most rapists in reality do not face repercussions for their actions.

In the same way, issues like clinical depression, which affects about seven percent of the U.S. population, would likely elicit similar reactions on such “popular” shows.

But free from those expectations, “You’re the Worst” has continued to give viewers an accurately messy depiction of depression and how it affects a person and everyone in their life.

The episode following Gretchen’s reveal of her condition focused entirely on her boyfriend, Jimmy, attempting to “cure” her depression by giving her a fun night out on Halloween. This reflects an all-too-common reality where many people think they can fix someone’s clinical depression by merely giving them nothing to be depressed about. But, as reflected by Gretchen’s continuing mood, those people simply don’t understand that’s not reality.

Had the show had an audience in the millions, people would have ripped the show’s writers for allegedly implying you can cure depression like that while the clear implication is the exact opposite.

In the latest episode, Gretchen started dealing with her symptoms by snorting Adderall and cocaine because she believes taking traditional treatment is admitting her “brain is broken” while Jimmy hooked up with another woman, unable to handle the pressure from Gretchen. Those moments would have likewise been criticized but they are in fact just showing how a mental illness can affect people’s lives.

However, the show’s limited reach that lets it freely depict these ideas also ensures that not a large amount of people will see it, even some of those should be exposed to content that boldly takes on issues like depression. But as promising as the show may seem to broadcast to a larger audience, is it even worth it if the very freedom that makes it so great would shrink?

Working in its small space, “You’re the Worst” has found critical acclaim among the group who does watch it, with most of the praise centering around its authentic depiction of depression. The show has honestly dealt with an issue in a way almost no other show on television would be able to.

Although the show may have a small audience, this is a deal worth doing. There are now so many tools that allow for re-watching and discovering old shows that nothing really disappears. The most important thing for a show to do is create great, important work. If it truly does, those who need it will find it.

Mark DiBona is a senior television, radio and film major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at mdibona@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @NoPartyNoDisco.

Published on December 3, 2015 at 12:54 am