PEN15

Maya (Maya Erskine) and Anna (Anna Konkle)

| Credit: Hulu

Hulu's very great sitcom Pen15 starred co-creators Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle as "Maya" and "Anna," 13-year-old friends surviving seventh grade in the year 2000. Erskine and Konkle were adults playing children, and whenever I watched an episode, I got stuck trying to figure out which woman was giving the best performance on television. Erskine played Maya with an alpha dork's tense confidence, always unsure if people were laughing at her or with her. It was a whole lot of ACT-TING with real purpose because the character was a performer, prone to spot-on Ace Ventura impressions. Konkle disappeared more behind Anna's perpetual slouch, mouth full of braces that made even the truest smiles look forced. They were both so funny, so awkward, so heartbreaking; don't make me choose!