Brown

Brown is the third episode and the first season on Better Things which was aired on September 22, 2016.

Summary
Sam's latest acting work allows her to spend quality time with her best friend Sunny and less-endearing time with Sunny's nasty pothead husband Jeff. She also lands a date with a handsome African-American man but their dinner together at her house is ruined by Grandma Phil's racism.

Main

 * Pamela Adlon as Sam Fox
 * Mikey Madison as Max Fox
 * Hannah Alligood as Frankie Fox
 * Olivia Edward as Duke Fox
 * Celia Imrie as Phyllis

Guest

 * David Duchovny as Himself / Teak
 * Lenny Kravitz as Mel Trueblood
 * Alysia Reiner as Sunny
 * Greg Cromer as Jeff
 * Angela Malhotra as Loren
 * Maria Mantia as 1st AD

Trivia

 * Both Adlon and David Duchovny reconnects after the end of Californication (2007–2014).
 * The extremely offensive story that Phyllis tells about a pejorative, raced-based name for a product color is based in fact. Until the early-to-mid-twentieth century it was common for clothing, fabric, and paint companies (especially in England) to use the n-word in the name of a particular shade of brown. This occasionally reappears into the present-day: in 2017, Wal-Mart was forced to apologize when a second-party vendor on their website used the phrase to describe a hair-styling product's color, and in 2018, Groupon was obliged to pull a promotion that used the descriptor for footwear.

Quotes

 * Sunny: Are you having dirty with Mel Trueblood? Oh my god, I love your life.
 * Sam: You love what you pretend my life is.


 * Mel Trueblood: Did you not tell your mother that you were bringing home a black man?
 * Sam: What? Oh, no. Of course not. That's not... No.
 * Mel Trueblood: You should have told her.
 * Sam: No, no, no, no, no. I'm telling you that's not a thing. My mother is just insane. She makes people feel weird. It's like her hobby.