The new season of One Mississippi is up on Amazon Sept. 8, and we spoke with star Tig Notaro about the highlights. Notaro mentions directing the first episode, which sees her character in Mississippi, with a radio talk show that ends up being controversial to some of the locals.
Notaro describes the new season as “intense, joyful and full of hope.”
As with the first season, there are six episodes in the second. Notaro’s co-stars include Noah Harpster, who plays her brother, and John Rothman, who plays her stepfather. She says a new level of trust was developed with Amazon Studios. “They were supportive in season one, and it was even more obvious in season two,” says Notaro.
Notaro created the show with Diablo Cody. Notaro, Cody, showrunner Kate Robin, M. Blair Breard, Dave Becky and Louis C.K. are listed as executive producers for season two. I asked Notaro about Louis C.K.’s involvement, since he has a hand in a number of popular and critically appreciated shows, including Baskets and Better Things on FX. She said he’s “not involved” these days, but was with the show at the very beginning.
Writing for the second season started just before President Trump’s inauguration. The new episodes are “less and less my own actual story,” she says. “It’s so timely with what’s going on right now.”
Notaro describes the launch date for a season as a “fun, exciting, scary, thrilling feeling.”
Reviews for season two look good. Variety said, “It’s unfair to expect a six-episode streaming show to fix the world, and the spry new season of One Mississippidoesn’t quite do that. But it takes on quite a bit this time around, and it’s to be commended for not just deepening its characters but also for also resolutely taking on the state of the nation —at least as it exists in one small Southern town.”
IndieWire gave it an A: “One Mississippi is more than the sum of its parts. For viewers who don’t need a nudge to talk about troubling past experiences, it’s a lovely and enlivening world to live in for three hours.”
Amazon of course releases entire seasons at once, and Notaro says it doesn’t matter to her if a viewer takes in the whole season in one sitting, or allows a bit more time to digest each episode.
“I really don’t care how people watch it,” she says. “I just hope they watch it.”
