Here’s What Happened to the Insane, Non-‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ FX Sitcom That Premiered 20 Years Ago Today

When people say things like “they could never make something like that today,” they’re usually talking about an early aughts movie that did more overt racism than it did comedy, with a sort of nostalgia that implies they miss laughing at things that were more offensive than they were clever. But sometimes, “they could never make something like that today,” applies to the kind of dark humor that most executives are genuinely afraid of in an era when everyone equates “criticism” to “cancellation.” That’s definitely the case with Starved, an FX original sitcom that only survived seven episodes 20 years ago. 

It premiered on August 4, 2005, right before It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It was supposed to be FX’s comedy hour, but the network only renewed Sunny, not Starved. And while Sunny has certainly excelled in pushing the boundaries and even offended people sometimes with the downright despicable behavior of the gang, I can see how Starved was an even harder sell on audiences. You see, Starved was a comedy about eating disorders. When it was released, NPR called it “an R-Rated episode of Seinfeld.” CNN interviewed multiple psychiatrists who called the show “dangerous.”

I don’t know if the rest of you remember 2005, but that was the height of eating-disorder culture. I was nine then, reading Sarah Dessen novels about bulimia and testing out the whole “binge/purge” method myself. This was around when they were saying Jessica Simpson was fat and that Kate Winslet wasn’t beautiful in Titanic because her arms were fleshy. Eating disorders were everywhere, and they were certainly punchlines, but a comedic take on the topic was clearly a hard sell. Unfortunately, I think Starved would fare even worse in the internet discourse era. 

It’s not just because the show dealt with eating disorders, but because its cast of characters feel like they were designed in a lab to piss off different online subcultures. There’s Billie Frasier (Laura Benanti), a bisexual anorexic and bulimic who is the child of two gay dads. Dan Roundtree (Del Pentecost), who is afraid his wife will leave him because of his overeating. Sam (Eric Schaeffer), a compulsive overeater and commodities trader. Rounding out the group of four friends is Adam Williams (Sterling K. Brown), a police officer with bulimia who used his badge to extort restaurants. All are members of a “shame-based” weight-loss group called Belt Tighteners. 

“Belt Tighteners is not affiliated with any 12-step group or dieting program,” the leader of the group says in the first episode. “We believe we need a more radical solution to arrest our eating problem. By creating a community of accountability and shame, we don’t act out.”

The show was written and created by Schaeffer. It was based on his own experiences; it was filmed in New York City with a single cam set up. Each of the cast members had their own backgrounds with weight gain and weight loss. In just 30 seconds of the pilot, the show powers through a Kirstie Alley joke, weighing dicks on a food scale in the middle of a diner, police intimidation and online dating. It’s very quick, and very clever. 

I can’t say FX made the wrong choice by keeping Sunny over Starved. I just can’t help but imagine how much exciting ground the show could have covered if it got to keep existing. An eating disorder group filled predominantly with men, talking about body image issues a full decade before terms like “body positivity” hit the mainstream? It would have been so nice to watch a show filled with raunchy, crude humor covering eating disorders rather than getting stuck reading Purge and watching The Simple Life while worrying if my 14-year-old knees were too soft. Plus, a young Sterling K. Brown showing the full range of his comedic skills? We were robbed! 

Fortunately, you can watch the seven episodes that did make it on air right here.