'Better Things' season 1 recap, spoilers: A day in the life of Sam Fox

"Better Things" is the newest comedy series to join FX's fall lineup and it just kicked off on Thursday, Sept. 8, to a very promising start.

The first episode titled, "Sam/Pilot," provided a straightforward look into the life of single mom, Sam Fox, played by series co-creator Pamela Adlon. She's a struggling actress with a variety of gigs and three growing daughters to fill her days with mayhem, madness and the occasional meltdown in a grocery aisle.

She has a guy on the side who's currently in Seattle and who may or may not be married or committed in some other way. She has no qualms at all about speaking her mind to a total stranger but has a hard time dealing with an honest conversation with her older daughters Max (Mikey Madison) and Frankie (Hannah Alligood).

The youngest, Duke (Olivia Edward), is still young and innocent enough to want to sleep beside her at night, but is also too smart for her white lies.

And then there are the demands of keeping her job versus her need to maintain an image that does not embarrass her daughters. When she asked the director of a show that she is part of to take out a raunchy scene, the director only had to say, "Oh, the funny part," and she knew she had lost that argument.

Such is Sam's life. Episode 1 has only shown 24 hours of it and that's barely scratching the surface. Sam's family is not a perfect family and Sam herself will never win "Mother of the Year," but her charm lies in her constant trying.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Adlon shared that her inspiration for the pilot episode was the Bob Fosse movie, "All That Jazz." She revealed that the opening scene at the mall where Duke was having a tantrum over a pair of $6-earrings that Sam couldn't buy, was her co-creator, Louis C.K.'s idea. "He's a brilliant editor," she added.

"Better Things" is semi-autobiographical and there will be events in it that are based on Adlon's life with her three daughters. In another interview with NPR, Adlon shared that her daughters took part in the development of "Better Things" and that the show was "completely dedicated to them and all that they do."

"Better Things" airs on Thursdays at 9 p.m. EDT on FX.