Alone Together (TV series)

Alone Together is an American sitcom that was created by and starring Benji Aflalo and Esther Povitsky. Eben Russell also co-created the series and executive produces alongside Aflalo and Povitsky. The series is also produced by The Lonely Island's Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone.^[1] It follows two platonic best friends who attempt to find a foothold in Los Angeles. It premiered on January 10, 2018 on Freeform.^[2] The series' second season began airing on August 1, 2018.

Alone Together
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Benji Aflalo Esther Povitsky Eben Russell
Starring	Esther Povitsky Benji Aflalo
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	20
Production
Executive producers	Andy Samberg Akiva Schaffer Jorma Taccone Billy Rosenberg Hunter Covington Benji Aflalo Esther Povitsky Eben Russell Becky Sloviter
Producers	Jason Zaro Adrien Finkle Joanne Toll
Production locations	Los Angeles, California
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	22 minutes
Production company	The Lonely Island
Original release
Network	Freeform
Release	January 10 (2018-01-10) – August 29, 2018 (2018-08-29)

On November 2, 2018, Freeform canceled the series after two seasons.^[3]

Premise

Two millennial misfits strike up a platonic friendship in order to navigate life in vain and status-obsessed Los Angeles.^[2]

Cast

Main

• Esther Povitsky as Esther, a woman from the Midwest who is trying to make it as a comedian
• Benji Aflalo as Benji, a trust fund kid from Beverly Hills who lives with his older brother

Recurring

• Edgar Blackmon as Jeff, Esther's and Benji's mutual friend
• Chris D'Elia as Dean, Benji's older brother
• Ginger Gonzaga as Alia, Benji's older sister
• Punam Patel as Tara, a friend from an acting class Esther previously took (season 2)

Production

While working at The Comedy Store, Aflalo, a comedy writer and stand-up, met another relatively new comedian, Esther Povitsky.^[4] In 2015, Povitsky and Aflalo wrote, starred in, and self-produced the short film "Alone Together."

Development on the series was underway in April 2016.^[5] A pilot was greenlit in July 2016,^[6][7] and it was picked up to series by Freeform in December 2016.^[8][9] Chris D'Elia, Ginger Gonzaga, Edgar Blackmon, Hayley Marie Norman, Kamilla Alnes, Jim O'Heir and Justine Lupe guest star in the series' pilot.^[1]

The series was renewed for a second season by Freeform in October 2017, before the first season had even aired.^[2] Season 2 premiered on August 1, 2018. All ten episodes were released for immediate streaming on Hulu. Season 2 guest stars included Carmen Electra, Nikki Glaser, Seth Morris, and Fran Drescher.^[10]

Freeform cancelled the program on November 2, 2018 after two seasons.^[3] Alone Together did not garner a large viewership, with an average of 268,000 viewers per episode after seven days of DVR.

Episodes

Season 1 (2018)

No. overall	No. in season	Title [11]	Directed by	Written by	Original release date [11]	Prod. code [11]	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	1	"Pilot"[8]	Daniel Gray Longino[8]	Benji Aflalo & Esther Povitsky & Eben Russell	January 10, 2018 (2018-01-10)[2][n 1]	1001	0.37[12]
2	2	"Road Trip"	Todd Biermann	Hunter Covington	January 17, 2018 (2018-01-17)	1004	0.37[13]
3	3	"Fertility"	Betsy Thomas	Amy Hubbs	January 24, 2018 (2018-01-24)	1003	0.24[14]
4	4	"Pop Up"	Kat Coiro	Sarah Peters	January 31, 2018 (2018-01-31)	1005	0.21[15]
5	5	"Dean Girls"	Tamra Davis	Caroline Goldfarb	February 7, 2018 (2018-02-07)	1006	0.20[16]
6	6	"Dinner Party"	Lauren Palmigiano	Mason Flink	February 14, 2018 (2018-02-14)	1008	0.20[17]
7	7	"The Big One"	Kat Coiro	Eben Russell	February 28, 2018 (2018-02-28)	1002	0.22[18]
8	8	"Sleepover"	Tamra Davis	Esther Povitsky	March 7, 2018 (2018-03-07)	1007	0.13[19]
9	9	"Music Video"	Amy York Rubin	Eben Russell & Dan Bailey	March 14, 2018 (2018-03-14)	1010	0.15[20]
10	10	"Property Management"	Tamra Davis	Benji Aflalo	March 21, 2018 (2018-03-21)	1009	0.18[21]

Season 2 (2018)

No. overall	No. in season	Title [11][22]	Directed by	Written by	Original release date [11]	Prod. code [11]	U.S. viewers (millions)
11	1	"Crypto"	Ryan McFaul	Paul Mather	August 1, 2018 (2018-08-01)	2001	0.21[23]
12	2	"Pootie"	Jay Karas	Alex Blagg	August 1, 2018 (2018-08-01)	2005	0.14[23]
13	3	"Nurse Esther"	Tamra Davis	Amy Hubbs	August 8, 2018 (2018-08-08)	2004	0.14[24]
14	4	"Murder House"	Jay Karas	Esther Povitsky	August 8, 2018 (2018-08-08)	2006	0.10[24]
15	5	"Daypassers"	Tamra Davis	Eben Russell	August 15, 2018 (2018-08-15)	2003	0.11[25]
16	6	"A Drama Story"	Ryan McFaul	Shelly Gossman	August 15, 2018 (2018-08-15)	2002	0.10[25]
17	7	"Mom"	Sam Bailey	Ali Kinney	August 22, 2018 (2018-08-22)	2008	0.20[26]
18	8	"Dog Awards"	Erin Ehrlich	Caroline Goldfarb	August 22, 2018 (2018-08-22)	2009	0.13[26]
19	9	"Flashback"	Erin Ehrlich	Benji Aflalo	August 29, 2018 (2018-08-29)	2007	0.09[27]
20	10	"Big Bear"	Sam Bailey	Dan Bailey & Sam Clarke	August 29, 2018 (2018-08-29)	2010	0.06[27]

Reception

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 62% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Esther Povistky and Benji Alflalo's awkward charms and convincingly platonic chemistry work, though Alone Together's lack of urgency keeps its nihilistic tenderness from truly jelling."^[28] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the series has a score 60 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[29]

Season 1 (2018)

Viewership and ratings per episode of Alone Together

No.	Title	Air date	Rating/share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)
1	"Pilot"	January 10, 2018	0.2	0.37[12]
2	"Road Trip"	January 17, 2018	0.2	0.37[13]
3	"Fertility"	January 24, 2018	0.1	0.24[14]
4	"Pop Up"	January 31, 2018	0.1	0.21[15]
5	"Dean Girls"	February 7, 2018	0.1	0.20[16]
6	"Dinner Party"	February 14, 2018	0.1	0.20[17]
7	"The Big One"	February 28, 2018	0.1	0.22[18]
8	"Sleepover"	March 7, 2018	0.1	0.13[19]
9	"Music Video"	March 14, 2018	0.1	0.15[20]
10	"Property Management"	March 21, 2018	0.1	0.18[20]

Season 2 (2018)

Viewership and ratings per episode of Alone Together

No.	Title	Air date	Rating/share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)
1	"Crypto"	August 1, 2018	0.1	0.21[23]
2	"Pootie"	August 1, 2018	0.1	0.14[23]
3	"Nurse Esther"	August 8, 2018	0.1	0.14[24]
4	"Murder House"	August 8, 2018	0.0	0.10[24]
5	"Daypassers"	August 15, 2018	0.1	0.11[25]
6	"A Drama Story"	August 15, 2018	0.1	0.10[25]
7	"Mom"	August 22, 2018	0.1	0.20[26]
8	"Dog Awards"	August 22, 2018	0.1	0.13[26]
9	"Flashback"	August 29, 2018	0.1	0.09
10	"Big Bear"	August 29, 2018	0.0	0.06

Notes

1. The pilot was made available for streaming on Freeform Go a week before its official air date: "Meet Benji And Esther From Alone Together". Freeform. Archived from the original on January 4, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2018.