It Ain't Easy

It Ain't Easy is an American mockumentary sitcom television series created by Genevieve LaClotte and Joey Moody. It premiered on October 10, 2006 on RKOx. It stars LaClotte, Moody, Steven Mason, David Sanroman, Kimberly Rosen and Lee Elliot as the owners of Alphonse's Inn in, , who frequently spend their days going on misadventures or planning elaborate schemes to earn money. Later on, the show added Chloë Martin as the niece of LaClotte's character.

The series has run for 17 seasons, making it RKOx's longest-running series. It has received multiple Primetime Emmy and Sylvania Award nominations. The series has received critical acclaim, with many critics applauding the cast performances and the show's use of farce, dark humor, cringe comedy and sociopolitical satire. The show not only kickstarted the careers of LaClotte, Moody, Mason, Sanroman and Rosen, but has also been credited with "revitalizing" Elliot's career after years of being typecast as an action hero. It has amassed a large cult following.

Cast

 * Genevieve LaClotte as Giselle Jacques
 * Joey Moody as William Tobin
 * Steven Mason as Howard "Howie" Griffith
 * David Sanroman as Tobias "Toby" Martinez
 * Kimberly Rosen as Daphne Plesner
 * Lee Elliot as Adam Steele
 * Chloë Martin as Kathleen "Kat" Pomeroy

Development
Genevieve LaClotte and Joey Moody met while touring the North American comedy club circuit, and bonded over their interest in making comedic short films. They first came up with the idea for It Ain't Easy in 2002 on a fishing trip. Their original idea focused on a sultry innkeeper and wannabe blues singer from trying to find ways to sell off her family's inn so she could get the necessary funds to achieve stardom.

After a chance meeting with Steven Mason, he introduced LaClotte and Moody to his friend David Sanroman, and they began making more short films together, including "Alphonse's Inn", which became the first pilot for It Ain't Easy. They were heavily inspired by the accessible, low-budget look of shows such as Trailer Park Boys, Stress Test and Curb Your Enthusiasm. "Alphonse's Inn" was made in November 2003 for little-to-money using a camcorder and using LaClotte's parents' house in  as the "set".

Later on, LaClotte, Moody, Mason and Sanroman met Kimberly Rosen, who also began working with them on their short films. The second pilot was made in March 2004. Again filmed in LaClotte's parents' house, it was made for a mere $60, with most of the budget coming from Mason's winnings from a scratch-off ticket.

LaClotte and Moody pitched the show to several networks, with their pitch consisting of them screening the two pilots they made along with some of their other short films. They were rejected multiple times before RKOx picked up the show for an initial eight-episode run. RKOx wanted a "much more recognizable name" in the cast, so LaClotte chose action film star and fellow native Lee Elliot. LaClotte and Moody visited Elliot at his house in with the pitch for his character, Adam Steele, a down-on-his-luck action movie star with parallels to Elliot. Elliot found the character of Adam Steele to be "actually pretty funny" and agreed to star in the series.

With the series ready to go, the show was budgeted at less than $219,000 an episode, using prosumer digital camcorders such as the Panasonic AG-DVX100, the Theorysonic DVC100 and the.

Filming
RKO originally wanted the show to be filmed in, but LaClotte and Moody insisted on having it be produced and shot on location entirely in the New Orleans area to give it an "authentic local flavor". RKO eventually agreed to shoot the series in New Orleans after the Louisiana government got wind of the pitch and offered tax credits for the production to take place there. Production on the first season was delayed by the impact of on New Orleans, resulting in most episodes of the first season taking place in indoor locations.

The series is shot on location throughout the New Orleans area. The exterior of Alphonse's Inn is the Milton Lattner Memorial Library (housed in the historic Isaacs-Williams Mansion) on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. Studio filming for the first season was done in a disused paper products factory in an industrial area of New Orleans, which the cast and crew nicknamed "Alphonse's Shed". The roof tended to leak, and there was issues with electricity and rodent infestations. The show then moved to the ' Nims Center Studios in, where production was centered from seasons two through eight. The show's current base of production is Second Line Stages near downtown New Orleans. Common locations in the series include the grocery store in,  and.

Common themes
A recurring theme in the series is the differences between the members of the main group, especially their political views, with Giselle and Howie being left-wing and Adam being a right-wing conservative. Genevieve LaClotte has stated that she wants to use those themes "to mock extremists and hypocrites from both sides of the aisle and hold them accountable."

Broadcast and syndication
The first season aired between October 10 and November 28, 2006. Word of mouth was positive enough for RKOx to renew the series for a second season, which premiered in August 2007.

The third season premiered in August 2008. The fourth season premiered in August 2009.

In August 2010, the fifth season debuted. It was commemorated in with a premiere event in which Mayor  declared October 10 "It Ain't Easy Day" and gave the cast the key to the city.

The sixth season premiered in August 2011. In September 2011, the show debuted in syndication. The syndicated version is edited for content (mainly to censor or remove the TV-MA scenes) and time. By 2016, the syndicated package had earned approximately $21 million in advertising revenue.

In October 2012, and TBS began airing reruns. Both networks aired the syndicated edits. The show stopped airing on Adult Swim and TBS in 2016.

Music
The show uses a soundtrack mostly comprised of blues, classic rock, jazz, soul and R&B music. LaClotte stated "We told our music supervisor, Roger Hillsborough Jr. "Get us some blues, rock, jazz and soul songs that the characters might listen to." What he sent back is what we've used for the soundtrack since. Some of it is selections I chose from my album collection, but most of it is Roger's findings." Later seasons have also featured contemporary blues recordings from the likes of, , Phelan Morkel, and. Some of the show's original incidental music is written by Scott Barnard.

The theme song is a live performance by of the blues standard "I'd Rather Go Blind", from the album Live from Chicago - An Audience With The Queen. Genevieve LaClotte, a longtime blues fan and later a performer in the genre, first heard the recording in an advertisement for the restaurant chain Mr. Cook, and was able to recognize the song from the melody. She decided to contact and then Taylor herself to ask if the producers could use that specific performance of the song by Taylor as the show's theme song. Alligator and Taylor both gave permission to RKO to use that recording of "I'd Rather Go Blind" as the show's theme song.

Four soundtracks for the show have been released.