Adult Swim’s Three Busy Debras inhabits an alternative universe populated by suburban white people in a city called Lemoncurd, “a charming town filled with charming people eating charming food,” but God forbid a woman makes a “mess” publicly because that’s grounds to have her tubes tied immediately. This is the bizarre, absurd, and yes, hilarious world that Three Busy Debras exists in.
The show is about three housewives all named Debra who dress in spotless all-white ensembles and consider themselves the queen bees of Lemoncurd. The show started out as a one-act stage play and then later a web series before making the move to basic cable. It was created by its stars, Sandy Honig, Mitra Jouhari, and Alyssa Stonoha. The show premiered in 2020 and each episode lasts 10 to 15 minutes. Three Busy Debras is a perfect bite-sized satire executive produced by Amy Poehler. Both seasons are available on HBO Max.
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The creators count The Real Housewives and Sponge Bob SquarePants among their inspirations for the absurd, nonsensical comedy. Where else on TV (or anywhere, really) is the mall food court a place where a hamburger is on trial for a crime. The comedy is brilliant, out of left field, and deeply hysterical — even when it totally doesn’t make sense. The three Debras in Three Busy Debras are unhinged housewives, and when they’re around literally anything can happen. It’s an impossible to predict show, completely bizarre, and totally lovable.
It Uses Absurdism and Surrealism to Satirize Suburban Life
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Three Busy Debras deftly uses absurdism (defined by Oxford) as “intentionally ridiculous or bizarre behavior or character.” Absurdism is further defined as “the belief that human beings exist in a purposeless, chaotic universe.” Absurdism celebrates or at least attempts to enjoy that meaninglessness. Surrealism is (again defined by Oxford) a “20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images.”
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If you’ve managed to catch even one short episode of Three Busy Debras, you already know this completely defines the wackiness of the show. It’s like a fever dream with comically large objects in scenes, random cartoonish violence, bizarre non sequiturs, and characters being literally yeeted off the set with no explanation.
It Explores the Complex Nature of Female Friendships
The women in Three Busy Debras are connected at the hip, at least when they’re not actively trying to kill each other. This expert satirization of the complex and extreme natures of some female friendships is at the core of the show. It feels absurd when watching it, but it rings true when really thinking about it. Lemoncurd is a saccharine, Stepford-like suburb, and the Debras are the best example of the kind of woman who thrives in this world. As Paste Magazine reported, the Debras are “June Cleaver clones on Quaaludes,” with deranged, unhinged smiles on their face that make them look horrifying. Don’t cross the Debras, people, because like the pool boy, you could suddenly go missing.
The three women who star in and created Three Busy Debras met in New York City. All three were stand-up comediennes with mutual friends who kept insisting they meet, according to Paste. When they all finally got together, they did improv together and came up with a scene where all three of them were named Debra.
It is Ridiculously Simple and Easily Digestible
Three Busy Debras is deceptively simple. After all, episodes are just 10 to 15 minutes long. Yet there are layers to the absurdism and jokes. For instance, in the second episode of the first season, the Debras are desperate to be accepted by Lemoncurd’s elite Cartwheel Club. They get into a fight over it, which is a satire on the kind of random clubs and societies rich people form and make private from common people. The Cartwheel Club is run by a pair of condescending cartwheel experts. The whole episode is a simple premise made brilliant by the layers of chaos, frustration, and anger imbued in it. At one point the group’s leader says, “You’re all here because you’re capable of executing the greatest feat the human body can perform. The cartwheel!"
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There’s Joy in How Unhinged the Debras Are
You can see the influence of The Real Housewives in Three Busy Debras. Their smiles are almost always plastered on their faces unless, of course, they are flying into a murderous rage at each other for some real or perceived slight. Sound familiar? Also, the Debras are big fans of their brunches and wine nights, their houses are decorated with Housewives like glamour and gaudiness, and all three Debras enjoy their infamy in Lemoncurd. They don’t care too much what people are saying about them, as long as something is being said about them. The stars claim the Debras are just exaggerated versions of themselves, and if that’s the whole story, then Sandy Honig, Mitra Jouhari, and Alyssa Stonoha are missing their true callings as Real Housewives.
It Skewers the Quest For Perfection and Homogeny Perfectly
Three Busy Debras is an absurd look at life in an upscale suburb and the type of woman who absolutely must rule the roost and makes her life’s mission not just keeping up with the Joneses, but leaving them in the dust. The show repeatedly shows viewers that these three women, these three Debras are not true friends. They are shallow friends brought together by location and a common cause — domination of their environment. From threats of forced tube tying to snide put downs, these Debras actually cannot stand each other, which is a commentary on the kinds of friendships of convenience suburbs and mom groups breed. The show has sadly been canceled, but even with two brief seasons, Three Busy Debras remains one of the funniest Adult Swim shows.
