"Act Your Age" Showrunner Alyson Fouse and Writer Myles Warden Interview

[00:00:00] What's up fam, welcome back to another episode of Recap Kickback where we talk about TV, movies and music all while taking the time to highlight black media to make sure our shows are being talked about. Several podcast episodes ago my co-host and I discussed the

[00:00:32] first two episodes of the hilarious show Act Your Age that has recently made its way over to Netflix but it's my pleasure to bring you a special interview with the creator of Act Your Age and someone straight from the writers room, allow me to introduce showrunner Alison

[00:00:47] Faus and writer Miles Warden. Hello and thank y'all for being here. Oh you're welcome. Thank you for having us. No, the pleasure is literally all mine. I'm very excited. I saw that, I

[00:01:01] think Miles you were in the comments on our YouTube section, I think I saw Alison you interacted with one of our tweets so I figured, you know, maybe just maybe they'll help me

[00:01:10] in my campaign to get this show renewed for a second season because I really enjoyed it and I appreciate y'all interacting. It was so much fun. Oh yeah, of course. I appreciate people who shoot their shot and open a dialogue about something that I'm interested in. I

[00:01:27] think that's the good side of social media. Yeah, I definitely look, shoot or shoot and I'm gonna shoot every time. So the way I came across y'all's show is that I was scrolling

[00:01:40] Twitter actually and one of my close friends she tweeted like I need a season two of Act Your Age and she at Netflix she was like very passionate about it. I said okay well let me

[00:01:50] see what she's talking about and I jump in and immediately I'm thinking okay we got to talk about this on the podcast. I talked to my co-host Gia, she's down so we check it

[00:02:00] out and we're thoroughly enjoying it and then we start thinking why isn't there a second season? So we dedicated that podcast to saying should Netflix renew this show? Of course they

[00:02:09] should and I definitely wanted to get you on to talk about it and to kind of help me hype up this show that we're all hoping for our fingers crossed for a season two. So I

[00:02:19] got some questions and hopefully you have some answers for me and all the listeners. We'll try our best. All right, well Allison I'll start with you. Well obviously for the uninitiated Act Your Age is a comedy about three successful black women of a certain

[00:02:35] age living under one roof while shenanigans ensue and we're all blessed to be joined here by the mind behind it all, Allison Faust. And from what I understand you've been writing professionally since around 1997. Can you tell us a bit about how you got into this

[00:02:48] line of work? Yeah, I actually got into writing for Hollywood by luck. I was commuting from the San Fernando Valley to Long Beach where I worked at Cal State Long Beach for years

[00:03:04] and I listened to a radio station called 92.3 The Beat with John London and the House Party. So they did these sketches in the morning. I was like, well, I can do one of those. So

[00:03:14] I faxed them a sketch and they actually called me and said, hey, we'll pay you freelance to do some of these sketches. So I did and a month into it, Keenan Ivery Wayans heard

[00:03:26] one of the sketches and he was just starting his late night show. And so he called and wanted to know who wrote it. They made the introduction and my life just went whoo from there. That's an amazing story. See, that's how I felt when y'all were interacting with

[00:03:42] my tweet. I was like, OK, yeah, this is my moment. You know what I'm saying? But that is so cool. So since 1997, you've been you've written for Keenan Ivery Wayans show. Well, what else have you done? Whoa. OK. I started with Keenan Ivery Wayans late night show.

[00:04:00] We did a scary movie one and two. Then I went to my wife and kids on my wife and from my wife and kids on Keenan's late night show. I met Wanda Sykes and then she got a sitcom.

[00:04:16] So I wanted to go and do Wanda at Large or no, Wanda at Large. I did both of them. See, this is a long time ago. But from TV and sitcoms, I also did a couple of movies for

[00:04:31] Universal Bring It On, spinoffs and stuff like that. And then sort of kept my hand in both worlds and mostly came back to TV. I love that. You had me at scary movie one and

[00:04:46] two. I could write a dissertation on those movies right there, OK? Because I love those movies in my soul. OK, so this is very exciting. Miles, how did you end up in the writers room for At Your Age? And tell us a little bit about your backstory.

[00:04:59] Well, a little bit about my backstory is I came out here to L.A. about a decade ago on a bit of a whim, a wing and a prayer, so to speak. I actually I lived in Atlanta, Georgia

[00:05:10] at the time, and I went to this church for the very first time and the pastor was preaching and in the middle of his sermon he called me out. He was like, hey, you young man, stand

[00:05:18] up. And I was looking around. I was like, oh, man, somebody fell asleep. Somebody in trouble. What's going on? He said, no, you stand up. And I was like, oh, no, what did

[00:05:24] I do? It was like the Lord has given me a word for you. He's telling me you want to be a writer and like I feel really big things for you. But you need to go to L.A. and pursue

[00:05:32] your dreams. It's not going to be easy, but just take this leap and just believe and have faith and it's going to work out. And like I had never met this man a day in my life.

[00:05:42] Only like one other person even knew that I was like secretly studying on my own, like via YouTube and just reading books like how to be a writer. But like after I heard that,

[00:05:52] I was just like, OK, cool. And I just made the jump, came out here. The day two I came out here, I met my writing partner on set of future Oscar winner Matthew Cherry's set.

[00:06:02] At the time, he was just some guy doing a YouTube thing. And we went out there to just be extras and they paired us up. They were like, hey, you two go to the bar and dance.

[00:06:09] You two grab drinks and come over here. And then we started talking and we hit it off on our love for sitcoms. And there were so many shows growing up where we could see

[00:06:17] ourselves in for a long time that had kind of vanished. So we wanted to create things that we would have loved growing up or create things that we kind of want to see.

[00:06:26] So we just teamed up. So I teamed up with Capri Samson, who's my been my writing partner for a decade since I've been out here now. And we just hit the ground running. One of

[00:06:37] our shows we loved was Boy Meets World coming up. So Girl Meets World, the reboot was happening. So I essentially stalked that show. I went to every episode for every taping, just trying

[00:06:48] to learn. And I became friends with the cast and the crew. And then I met my buddy Mark Bluntman, who's like my big brother, father mentor now. And the creator of that show wrote

[00:07:00] a letter of recommendation for us to get into the ABC program. We didn't get in, but it helped boost us to a lot of other people. And then eventually we got some representation with Artists First, which is where Alison Fous is represented. So they hooked us up

[00:07:13] with the meeting once they knew we were sitcom nerds and lovers. So they were like, OK, they linked us up, sent our script. She thought it was good enough to hire us. And here we are.

[00:07:24] That is an amazing story. I couldn't even imagine leaving church and then telling my folks that I was about to leave because the pastor called me out. I could not even imagine. My mom would have hit me so hard. I probably still would have left though.

[00:07:36] You can't do it against God. Exactly, exactly. This is your fault, mama. You raised me in the church. Yeah, you told me to come here. Yes, she did. So I'm like, hey, you couldn't fight it.

[00:07:48] Man, that's such a cool story. Alison, this show really does feel like some of the classic 90s and early 2000s sitcoms that I grew up with. Was this an intentional choice on your part when creating the show and then hiring people like Miles to write for it?

[00:08:03] Well, no. Well, for one, I hired Miles because he's such a sitcom geek and he needs so much information. And his partner, Capri, is great too. But what this show is a result of is my experience and what I grew up enjoying and watching.

[00:08:20] I'm a bit older than you guys. So I started teething on Norman Lear. So all of his stuff, even the lesser known shows like Maud and everything. And I admire that strong female

[00:08:34] voice. And we go back to Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Burnett was on TV when I was a kid. And so to me, that kept going through the 80s, just being a fan of that and developing a rhythm

[00:08:47] for it. And then when I got the opportunity to start My Wife and Kids, I worked under Don Rio, who is like a legendary showrunner in this business. And I also worked on Everybody Hates

[00:09:02] Chris. So I was there with Chris Rock. So I think it was just a part of me and the rhythm had become so much of what I enjoyed that this sort of came naturally. I didn't go to create an amazing show.

[00:09:16] I went to do my best and to use the talent that was around me to create a show. And we had a good time while we did it. And I think that's what the audience is experiencing right now.

[00:09:29] Yeah, you just named some of my favorite shows of all time. And then there's Miles. Miles, you are the sitcom junkie. Which shows did you really look at and inspiration, if any, for some of the writing that you did for this show?

[00:09:43] Actually on the same page, I wasn't born in the same era, but grew up on Nick at Night. So Norman Lear was like my comedy bible, honestly. All of those shows that taught you so many things and hit

[00:09:54] on so many heavy topics, but they were so funny you didn't even understand the lessons you were learning or the messages that were hidden behind them. So that was always me and my partner's

[00:10:02] thing. So that was everything for us. But my favorite show of all time and favorite comedian of all time is Lucy from I Love Lucy. So that whole thing. So we tried to throw in some of those

[00:10:13] elements in our episodes. We hit on some Norman Lear heavy topics in our Snip Snip episode. But yeah, that was definitely, those were our goalposts. Oh yeah, and I definitely want to come back to the Snip Snip episode because that was such an

[00:10:25] inventive episode of television. But you mentioned that you grew up watching these television shows and a lot of the characters and a lot, honestly, a lot of the actors just took me back to a place

[00:10:41] when I was watching a lot of these sitcoms. I mean, Alison, you mentioned My Wife and Kids, but you have Tisha Campbell on here, the legendary Tisha Campbell alongside equally legendary

[00:10:52] Nicole Brown and Kim Whitley. When it comes to this cast, how did you come up with the characters and who you thought were perfect for the roles? Because if you ask me, they fit like a glove.

[00:11:03] Yeah, they do. And I was truly, look, I've had relationships with all of those women. I've known them over time. We've all been in the business, seems like, forever. And when Brad Gardner, the producer who told me that Bounce was looking for this show,

[00:11:22] he talked about Golden Girls, which of course I was a fan of, and Hot in Cleveland. They wanted something along that vein. And so when, in my mind, I broke down these three characters,

[00:11:35] number one, Yvette was my muse for Angela, because I didn't think anybody else could play her when I knew what Yvette could do. Because I'd worked with her before and I was a fan of her work since

[00:11:46] Community and all that stuff. And then this Keisha character I developed, which by the way, each one of those women has been me at some point in my life. So I just divided myself into three

[00:11:59] people. When I thought of Keisha, I knew I had to have Keisha. That was my first choice. No shade on any other actor that I know, because I know a lot of great ones. But I knew Keisha Campbell

[00:12:14] could give me more to Keisha than just what was on the page. And I just knew comedically she's genius. And then Kim took some convincing because in her mind, Bernadette was this role that we'd

[00:12:31] seen over and over before. There are certain women you know, like that's what she does, let her do that. And I wanted something different. And the joy of what Kim brought me was great

[00:12:42] vulnerability to Bernadette. So she had her doubts about playing the role and that sort of came through and she did a wonderful job. But her vulnerability made it feel like people in the

[00:12:57] audience could go, hey, I relate to her. Like I could be Bernadette. I could be that successful. Because Kim was doing it. She was a single mother raising a son and working her butt off. So it just

[00:13:09] look, it fell into place. And I'm so grateful that that was the cast I ended up with. No, that's amazing. Miles, what was it like writing for the legends that we just mentioned? I assume

[00:13:20] you grew up with them on your TV screen as I did. So that had to be a culture shock. I was a kid in a candy store as Allison knows. Martin is definitely one of my favorite shows

[00:13:30] of all time. I love event from everything and saw her first on Drake and Josh to community and everything, Big Shot, all of those things. I love Kim on Young and Hungry and everything she's

[00:13:41] done. So I was literally like a kid in a candy store on set, just geeked and happy to be around and pitching jokes and hearing them accept the jokes and pitch versions back. And it was an

[00:13:53] amazing time, man. It was really fun watching Miles because as every person got cast, he got more and more excited. He's just like, and then we had a table read and he was like a kid just like,

[00:14:07] they're really here. And then we get on set and he pitched me a joke and I was like, yeah, that's funny. Go pitch it to him. You want me to go tell Tisha Kim? Okay, okay.

[00:14:23] Everybody was so receptive to everything and there was just so much love and joy. So little old me would go up there, pitch a joke to all of them. And like I said, they would take it and twist it

[00:14:31] and make it even bigger than I ever imagined. And it was just the biggest pleasure. Yeah. I couldn't even imagine, you know, the main cast aside, even the guests that were just such big

[00:14:43] names. It shocks me. I saw Floyd Henderson from Smart Guy show up at one point. I saw both. I saw Big Diddy from Half and Half show up. I was like, wait a minute, hold on. Y'all got to tell

[00:14:56] me Hopkins, how did y'all manage to come up with all of this, Allison? I'll tell you this, because we, me and the three leads have been in the business so long. The majority of the guest

[00:15:10] cast you see was a phone call. We went into our phones and said, Hey, do you want to do this show? Like we had so much of that personally reaching out. Like we didn't even wait to go through agents

[00:15:24] and stuff or, you know, do the normal stuff because somebody in our group had crossed paths and they will say, Hey, you want to ask such and such? And I'm like, sure. So we did a lot of

[00:15:37] short cutting, call it in favors. And they were so happy to do it. And this was before the show was out. This was based on the relationships we had with it, with the three ladies. I called them

[00:15:48] personally, said, I got this script. I got you in mind for this part, please read it. And let me know if you're interested. You know, so that's how the show started. And that's what we continue to do.

[00:15:58] Loretta Devine and Talma were literally phone calls and texts and sorority connections and stuff like that. So, yeah, the majority of our, what was his name that we had opposite event? I hate that I'm bad with names. Oh, um, on the, oh,

[00:16:21] oh, Phil Morris. I literally still have Phil's number and I text him and he said, yes, right away. God bless him because he was perfect for that part. He was the only person I could see

[00:16:37] playing that part. So it was literally a lot of, uh, you know, uh, boots on the ground kind of work getting our cast together. Yeah. Yeah. My mouth is on the floor right now. Miles.

[00:16:51] Yeah. I gotta, I gotta ask you, what was the coolest moment you had meeting these people? So this is the, I'll give you the nerdiest moment. Cause they were all the coolest moments for me.

[00:17:01] Like I was insanely just free. Like we were literally in the writer's room saying like the biggest names that we could think of people who we all love. And like somehow we would get them

[00:17:10] almost every time. Like it was insane. But I remember my nerdiest moment was I grew up on family matters, a black kid with glasses grew up being Urkel. So family matters was life. So tell

[00:17:22] me, I rewatched one or half and half during the pandemic. And that helped me get through that. So like seeing Tema was set. I literally like reverted back to like childhood me. And like,

[00:17:32] instead of being like, Oh, that was a great take. You're doing a great job. I'm so happy to have you on set. I went up to her and said, I love you. I'm not supposed to say that you at work. What are

[00:17:43] you doing? I love your work. I love you. She was like, Oh, you're so sweet. And she was just so happy, receptive and like gave me a big old hug. So like everybody was so amazing, man. So

[00:17:53] amazing. I couldn't even imagine. That's like meeting your auntie from a long time ago. We're family, right? You know, I love you auntie. Like, Oh, wait, that's not professional. I'm sorry. Family matters. You know, that's incredible. Yeah, I would just my head was spinning when I saw

[00:18:15] Loretta divine come on screen, Alison that obviously I don't think you can, you can't even just like dream of that type of person just signing onto your show and on a whim, man, how did

[00:18:26] you, how did you manage to just cultivate all these good relationships over the years that brought you to this point? What's funny is I was like miles when it came to Loretta, because I'm a fan of her.

[00:18:39] I've crossed paths a couple of times, but I didn't really know her. She's a sorority sister of Yvette Nicole Brown. And of course, Tisha and Kim have known her. So when her name came up,

[00:18:53] Yvette immediately hit her. I think somebody else made a phone call. And she said, Yeah, you know, and then when she got there, I felt the same way like, thank you. You know, I love you.

[00:19:05] You know, so and she was so cool is so down to play. And just, I feel like there's so many actors like that, that I want to have on the show just to bring back not just for the nostalgia,

[00:19:21] but because they deserve to be celebrated. We wouldn't be here without them. You know, these three women had never been a lead in a show before. And this was the first time we got

[00:19:34] to bring them to the forefront. So and in doing that, we want to celebrate others, you know, who want to shine or deserve to shine. You talked, you talked about,

[00:19:48] oh, there my brain goes as soon as I go to say it, and it drops right out of my head. Didi, what did you guys call her? Oh, I said big Didi from half and half. Valerie Pettiford.

[00:20:00] Valerie Pettiford. I have known her for so long. And she was another one that I texted, and she said, absolutely. And so happens to be, you know, she's in town because she traveled a lot. And it was like, there are just so many, especially women, funny, intelligent women,

[00:20:15] which is crazy. Valerie never thinks she's funny, but she's hilarious. And she just doesn't think she's funny. And I'm like, well, okay, whatever it takes. And I just, I just celebrate and want to bring on the show.

[00:20:28] Oh, no, that's amazing. Could you do me a favor and text Yvette Nicole Brown for me and just tell I said hi, I just like I just need to get that out of my system. We'll go ahead just like, hey,

[00:20:36] this guy, you don't know him. You don't have to listen. Just tell him to say hi. It's enough for me. But okay, so to the show, I have to ask, how did we end up making the jump from Bounce TV over

[00:20:48] to Netflix? Because prior to it being on Netflix, when I got this show, it was in the top five on Netflix. So I was really trying to figure out how I missed it and how it ended up at this point.

[00:20:58] Allison. Well, I'm happy to say that we actually reached the top four. So yeah, it was a little known show, like you said, that stayed in the top 10 for nine days. It premiered in the top number four. And we were actually produced and developed for Bounce Network.

[00:21:19] We got a good 16 episodes in before the strike happened. And towards the end of the strike, I got the phone call that they wouldn't be continuing with the show, which honestly,

[00:21:32] I still don't really know why it sort of started to piece together later. I knew that it was going to start to piece together later. I knew that they were moving towards news and sports. And then even found out later than that, that they were selling Bounce.

[00:21:52] But I still didn't really understand why we had been such a success, highest ratings they'd ever had. We were number three show after, number three new show after Lopez and Night Court that

[00:22:06] year. So, you know, it happened. They did say that they licensed the show to Netflix also. It would be re-airing on Netflix, which has been fantastic because it's a brand new audience. So many people didn't know we existed because they didn't have Bounce, couldn't find Bounce.

[00:22:25] And when they found us, it was like a brand new launch. So I was grateful for that. Now I'd be even more grateful if we could find a home to do more episodes.

[00:22:37] Season two, we're working on it. We're working on it. Miles, what was it like witnessing the show get a new life on Netflix streaming service? Because I'm assuming that kind of, you know,

[00:22:47] from Bounce, it would kind of die down from there. But then this explosion into the top four, this had to be pretty jarring for y'all. It's been so much. It's been such a big joy to see like all of the fans sharing their love.

[00:23:00] Like you said, tagging Netflix, asking for season two. So excited to see their faves as excited as we were on set to see their faves on screen again. It's just been like, I've been

[00:23:12] overwhelmed with the amount of positivity and love that the show has gotten. It's been great. Yeah. Everybody who I've talked to has said the same exact thing. Like, why are more people talking about this show? How come I just finding out about it?

[00:23:26] How can we get into season two? And so we've been encouraging everybody to just keep sharing, talking about the show, keep retweeting and reposting all this stuff. Keep podcasting about it just to keep everybody, you know, abreast that this show doesn't have a season two yet.

[00:23:40] And that there was so much good in season one that we got to have a season two. Because I have some bones to pick with y'all about some of these storylines already. Yeah. Go ahead.

[00:23:49] But I take my TV characters very seriously. All right. So let's just go ahead and jump out there. Who is responsible? Who was responsible for this Jacob and Olivia nonsense? Because I am so mad

[00:24:01] about this finale. I need to know. Now, I know, look, you probably don't want to show your hair for season two. You know, if we get it going, you don't want to spoil it or whatever. But whose idea

[00:24:12] was it to leave us with this cliffhanger with Jacob essentially missing Olivia about to, I guess, confess that she has reciprocated feelings for him and getting shot down by Tia?

[00:24:24] It was a whole mess in the last episode. Who did it? Which one of y'all? Which one of y'all did it? It goes back to the stuff I enjoyed in sitcoms, you know, and we're talking about Cheers,

[00:24:39] Sam and Diane, Friends, Ross and Rachel. And we had these two young people who I wanted to do more than just be the kids in the show, you know, give them a real story and a real arc. And it was

[00:24:54] easier to arc that relationship than make every episode connected. And I think I always say, I mean, we talk about The Office with Jim and Pam. You know, I think people show up for the jokes,

[00:25:11] but they stay for the love. They stay for the heart. And you know, what's better than a will they won't they? To keep people guessing or whatever. And it was, it kind of built out

[00:25:24] naturally in the room as to how we, you know, kind of strung him along and strung her along. I mean, look, Abbott Elementary is doing it and doing it very well. I got complaints for them too, Allison, make no mistake. I got smoke for them too.

[00:25:40] You put me through a blender y'all. But I mean, that's what you want. You don't want instant satisfaction. In real life, we don't want the person who wants us so bad. You know, we want a little challenge. And this

[00:25:55] little threesome we came up, well, first of all, Retoya, who plays Tia, and let me give a shout out to Nathan Anderson and Mariah Robinson who play Jacob and Olivia. They were so good together.

[00:26:11] And as the show went on and they took inspiration from the leads, they just got better and better in the comedic chops. And both of them killed it in the audition. And I had worked with Nathan before

[00:26:24] on All About the Washingtons, a Netflix show. And I knew he had natural comedic ability. So they were already killing it. Then Retoya comes in for this small part in the strip club and nailed it. And I thought about soap operas, and we all agreed in the room,

[00:26:43] we have to bring her back. You know, this doesn't have to be a one-off. So, you know, we didn't like recreate her into a whole other character. We just introduced like

[00:26:54] the woman they met at the strip club, they met under her club name. And we all agree that the women agree that we'd had club names before. We brought her in like that. And, you know,

[00:27:07] she's gorgeous. And it's like, hey, why not? Jacob's had a vulnerable time in his life where he doesn't know who he is. We need to build him up a bit. And what better way than a gorgeous woman

[00:27:20] finding him attractive, you know, which builds confidence up. But watch the show because I think that love triangle is some good work and it keeps the audience talking. Oh, yeah. It was at that moment that I knew I needed to see like, you know, how you looking for

[00:27:36] season two, but then, you know, like now I'm demanding a season two. I was like, all right, because I can't just leave this. Like it's because it's very interesting writing, because I think in

[00:27:46] the finale, parallel to that, you do like a sliding doors kind of parallel universe thing with Kim Whitley's character where it's like, what have we never met? What you know, what have we never moved in together? And we start seeing how that goes. But the entire time, y'all,

[00:28:00] my focus just kept going. I know we ain't going to leave. I know we ain't going to leave this like this. So season two, Miles, I don't know what you got to do, but season two got to address.

[00:28:09] And I love a will they won't they? But I prefer a will they. I prefer a will they. I get it. Yeah. So you mentioned the snip snip episode, Miles. That was so creative of an episode of

[00:28:26] television from my point of view. I was watching it thinking, oh, well, this is, you know, this is showing that the show has a point of view, but it also showed the point of view from two

[00:28:34] different aspects. Well, almost three different aspects. Really. You had the parents of these, you know, political minded, you know, young people who are having to deal with the idea that maybe they won't have grandkids. Then you have the young people say, oh, well,

[00:28:49] it's my body, it's my choice and I can choose these things. But then you also see that from a male standpoint where we really don't get those stories about vasectomies and things of that nature

[00:28:57] for young young men. How did this all come to play? Because this is a this could be a very divisive episode, Miles. Yeah, it was it was very divisive from the beginning, but we knew it would be and

[00:29:10] we wanted it to be especially like I said, Allison being such a huge fan of Norma Lear, myself to my writing partner, Capri as well. Like we were thrilled to dive into the heaviness of it all.

[00:29:21] But we also wanted to keep it light and very funny. So I think that's where you get the outrageousness of everything that happened in like the art gallery and stuff like that.

[00:29:30] We knew like if we could go like this far with the heaviness, then we could also go this far with the ridiculousness and then it will all just blend together and come together at the end. So

[00:29:39] that was definitely the goal. And me being a only child raised by a single mother, I can speak to a lot of that push and desire for the grandkids that they have on you. And you're the only one. And like

[00:29:52] how important those grandkids are to them. So I related a lot to that. And I could speak to some of Jacob's perspective on that. And I also knew my mom's perspective very well from it being

[00:30:02] hammered into my head for a long time. So but it was a lot of fun. It was so much fun. Allison, was it important to show the show's point of view when it comes to political statements

[00:30:14] like this? Because it's not the first topic that was a little bit heavier in the show that you all address. But this is probably my favorite episode that you all kind of went a little bit deeper with

[00:30:24] the storyline. Was this very important to you? It was so important because at the time all the Roe v. Wade stuff was heating up and going on. And like Miles said, when we talked about it in

[00:30:35] the room, there was pushback from at least two of our writers. You know, they didn't really think this was a show for it. And to me, that made me want to dig deeper and figure out why. And it's

[00:30:48] funny because Sara, one of the women who was really pushing back brought up vasectomies. And Miles said that, you know, a lot of guys their age were doing it. And it was like,

[00:30:59] we got the show now. We've got the show. And I think what's really impressive to me is that we did a show about choice without saying the word abortion. Because I think

[00:31:14] that's the red flag. And as soon as that word is introduced, people turn off and they go from one side or the other. You know, and I see the narrative changing where they're talking about

[00:31:25] women's health care because that's what it's about and about choice. And even when they started labeling it pro-choice and pro-life, you start to divide people. But we had four women on the show with very different perspectives. And I like the idea that they didn't all agree.

[00:31:45] But the ladies at their age knew how to address the topic without being, you know, fighting over. Because they knew for each and every person it was personal choice. But the thing between Jacob

[00:31:58] and Bernadette, I thought was so unique and such a great way to talk about it. Because these women, sorry, these young men are being more active in these decisions. And we did the research.

[00:32:12] We did the research. There were actually more young men doing that now as soon as Roe went up for debate. You know, my friend the other night said she met a guy who actually did it, a young

[00:32:25] man who made the same decision. You know, so I think it's a really great episode for people to see and understand. And you get to know a little bit more about each character, which I find

[00:32:37] fantastic. I always love that. Yeah, to me the reactions felt very authentic. And I think I could say that about the entire show. Like Black people are not a monolith. But a lot of this show

[00:32:50] was very, very Black and my type of Black. You know what I'm saying? Everybody got their own Black. But this was my type of Black. The writing, Miles, you can tell that the Black woman influence

[00:33:02] on you and on the writers and in the show was just so heavy in there. Because the way Bernie reacts to Jacob and the vasectomy, my mama would have done the exact same thing. She would have

[00:33:13] hit me, you know, but she would just not have been able to level with me about that conversation. But some of the other writing as well. We had a spades tournament on television, y'all. I said, now, Miles,

[00:33:26] y'all brought me a spades tournament to Netflix. I will never be unappreciative for a spades tournament. That was so much fun. Speaking of Saraj, she had a big hand in that. We love some

[00:33:41] cards. We love to get a little gamble in. So that was, we, spades is such a huge part of the Black community. So for us to not really have like a quintessential spades episode, like you see a lot

[00:33:53] of game episode, game night episodes on different sitcoms. Like those were always like my favorite episodes. So like to, like, what are we going to do for like a Black game night? It's got to be spades.

[00:34:02] Like is it gonna be uno or spades? And you gotta pay for uno. So it's gonna be spades. Look, I grew up watching those sitcoms too and they would do bridge night and stuff like that.

[00:34:13] And I was like, I don't know no Black people who play bridge. I don't know them. But every Black family function I've ever been to, you got spades or dominoes to some extent. And it's so, it's so

[00:34:24] divisive. So we were like, okay, what can we get into that's like so divisive? And like the couples are already split and people already have their issues. So it's the perfect thing to like throw

[00:34:33] into the fire and see what happens. Because everybody is already heated up with the spades element involved. So it was great. Yeah, Allison, even some of the one-liners in the show just really

[00:34:44] felt so authentic. It just hit so close to home with me. I think Loretta Devine at one point says, nothing slick to a can of oil. And I flinched because I could hear my grandma saying that to me,

[00:34:55] specifically to me about me. Like, hey, cut it out. I see you. And then I think there's another moment where Bernie says she had her mouth set for some chicken because she got there and there was

[00:35:06] no food there. And I was like, man, I just know that feeling of you driving home from work and you just know I'm about to eat this. I have my mouth fixed for that food. And it was, and it's

[00:35:13] gone. And I was just like, man, that just feels like so familial to me as somebody who grew up in a Black household with a Black mom, with a single mom, and also watched a lot of sitcoms

[00:35:25] and didn't see a lot of my experience reflected over. So I have to tell you how much I appreciate things like that, Allison. Oh, you're welcome. You know, that's the benefit of being able to write

[00:35:36] for us because there's a shorthand. You know, I've been on other shows and I've loved those other shows too. And sometimes you write something that needs to be explained. I didn't need to do

[00:35:48] that with these women. You know, it was like we were talking to each other and I wanted the audience to feel that, you know, there was very little in our scripts that they didn't get,

[00:35:59] you know, hardly ever. Yeah. I think I can think one time I had to go down the set because they didn't, well, they didn't get the character, how the character got from one place to another.

[00:36:09] But other than that, it was always, they can do Cole reads at the table read and it still be funny because they related to the material, you know? So I think we benefited from number one, those women

[00:36:24] knowing each other for over 30 years and that it was us writing for them, you know? Yeah. A lot of that was the makeup in the room that Allison put together. She put together a phenomenal writing

[00:36:35] staff and it was almost entirely made up black women. So black women writing for black women, which you don't usually get. I'm sure Allison has been on rooms where it's black faces on the

[00:36:45] screen, but it's white men behind it. So there's a little bit of a disconnect and you don't get to get those nuances in or those little one-liners in that you like. But because the writing staff

[00:36:55] was almost entirely made of black women, I was the only man in the room besides my buddy Khalil. So like you, it was, the voices were authentic. So that's why it feels authentic to you as the

[00:37:06] audience when it comes across. Oh yeah. And then I hired funny people too, you know? So we had funny writers in the room and they brought, they were willing to bring their stories and their voice

[00:37:17] to the show. So it was great. Yeah. I can imagine. I just feel like you hand Tisha Campbell something like that and you just know she's going to take it and run with it. So there's not really much you

[00:37:27] have to do, especially because they all have that lived experience about being a black woman and now a black woman of a certain age. I've seen a lot of comparisons of the show to like

[00:37:35] Golden Girls and even Living Single as well, where it just really explores the familial and like friendship relationship between these women in a lot of ways that you don't really get in a lot of

[00:37:47] like black women sitcoms. I mean, even we saw some of the more successful ones really turn to drama a little bit and to the point where it doesn't really come back. I'm thinking of like maybe like

[00:37:56] Girlfriends even, where it's like it's a sitcom but then it gets so heavy. There's so much fighting where it just doesn't have that same heart that a show like this does when they can all come back

[00:38:06] together and be supportive for, you know, with each other. And also it's good to see some successful black women on television too. All these women are loaded. They rich. So I was like, which stage of

[00:38:16] richness, which stage of wealth did you decide to get these characters from? I really appreciate you saying that. You got a lot of those characters from your lived experience. Can you talk a little

[00:38:27] bit about that? Yeah, I'm not rich so don't have me knock on my door. But I just think at a certain age in life when you are a woman with goals, by this time they have achieved something.

[00:38:46] And Bernadette's character was based off of a friend who had a unique job as a real estate developer that I had never heard of before. And she had some amazing stories. She actually helped build or built the SoFi Stadium and stuff like that. And I thought, why not?

[00:39:09] Why can't we have those kind of jobs? And I had in my past worked for a construction agency and I was like real estate has been sort of done to death. Put a woman at her peak where she's done

[00:39:26] all of that and is successful at it, which she deserves. Which also explains why she's not married. She was busy raising her son and working. So that kind of got pushed aside. And then Angela,

[00:39:40] although she comes off as she's just the widow of a successful man, she's also a lawyer. You know? So with him gone, now it's her time to, we'll see. Season two. We'll see. Yes. But we know that she's capable. And if you look at the daughters she's raised,

[00:40:04] you know what kind of voice she's had. And then Keisha is an artist. And you think about the woman in these shows who've been married over and over. You think of them just being,

[00:40:21] I can't even think of a nice word to say it. But I feel like her as an artist, she's full of love. She explores that love wherever it takes her. So that explains why she's had two marriages.

[00:40:34] And the second one was a real successful one because she cleaned up in the divorce. So I wanted to put them in a place where every week we weren't worried about if the lights are

[00:40:44] going to stay on. And there's nothing wrong with those shows, but if you put them in a place of comfort, then that's one less struggle story we have to tell. And I think we've seen, especially

[00:40:56] our people, we've seen enough of that and we have dramas covered. So I wanted us to have a good time every week and remember the things we love about ourselves and our friends.

[00:41:06] No, I totally agree. I love when money comes up and it's like a throwaway issue. I think in one of the episodes they were going to get a fine or something like that. And Keisha says, I'll pay it.

[00:41:15] I got money. Leave me alone. I think she threw the woman's laptop out the window or something. It was like, I got it. I was like, yeah, that's what I want to see. They're not bothered by these

[00:41:25] smaller issues that are large issues in other people's lives so we can really focus on some of the cooler moments that they have knowing that they have this wealth. I mean, we see them take

[00:41:34] a trip to the Bahamas. There's a lot going on for these people, but I have to ask because you touched on it a little bit, but I need Angela to come from this. I need her to step out from

[00:41:45] under this. I'm a widow. I'm successful, but people aren't seeing her for the success she is because she's in the shadow of her late husband Davis. Again, I know y'all don't want to tip your hand

[00:41:55] too much for season two, but are there plans to kind of open Angela up to more life events, Miles, Allison, whoever wants to go? Oh, I'm sorry, Miles. Did you? But yes, there's definitely plans. I know we don't want to get into it too much, but we want

[00:42:10] to explore that a lot. We set it up very intentionally. So if you follow the breadcrumbs, you can maybe get a hint of where she will be going if we are blessed with a season two.

[00:42:19] Yeah. I think all the characters, not just Angela, but the goal is to have them all arc. You know, they're not the same people you met in season one that they will be in season five

[00:42:30] because that's how things should grow and people should grow. Even at their age, look, they'll at the basis still be who they are. Keisha and Angela will still bicker, but I think

[00:42:43] Jill will take some stuff from Angela and Angela will take some stuff from Keisha and they'll grow. So that's the goal. We want you to fall in love with these characters and want to know where life

[00:42:55] takes them. Right. By the finale, it did seem like even Keisha and Angela were starting to get on the same page a little bit when Bernie is having her awful day at work. You know,

[00:43:05] it seemed like there are moments where they're really bonded and they're just electric on television. So you definitely want to bring them closer together, but it's so much fun when they're fighting. I have to ask what, okay, there's a question for each of you. You both can go

[00:43:19] separately. Alison, what is your favorite episode or moment of the entire series so far? I think the moment has to be, which I didn't think I would like. I thought I was going to be so embarrassed by, but when Keisha shows Angela how to seduce a man,

[00:43:39] because that is just comedy gold. And that's why I love her. She went for all of them. They do the physicality, like no problem. But that is one of the funniest episodes with those three women

[00:43:54] dating and that seduction scene, just, it took me out. I laughed so hard. I laughed a lot on that set, but that one took me out. Okay. Miles, what about you? One of them would have to be the cake fight. Speaking of seeing those two characters go

[00:44:11] back and forth, watching those two actresses go all the way in on a food fight was just so much joy to watch. And coming from the Lucille Ball, Ethel thing, watching them do that,

[00:44:25] it reminded me of the Chocolate Factory episode with them. Yeah, all of those type of things. So yes, it gave me so much nostalgia. Seeing them two go at it, it was insane. And then afterwards,

[00:44:35] they also tried to get me back because that was me and Capri's episode. So they tried to get us with a little bit of cake. So it's a moment that I will never forget. There was also a small moment

[00:44:45] in another episode that had AJ Johnson in it. And seeing AJ and Tisha together being such a huge house party fan was blowing my mind. And there's a very quick, subtle joke that Tisha does that we

[00:44:57] pitched to her at the last second where she's talking about AJ's character and she walks away, she realizes she's not going to get with her. She said, well, she ain't my type of hype anyway.

[00:45:04] And that was the last minute pitch that got in there. And just to have that little small nugget in there for the house party fans was just everything. So those are two that stick out.

[00:45:14] Oh yeah, those are real ones. We caught it. We definitely caught it. I had a good laugh at both those moments. No, you're right. That seduction episode is so funny to me because not only is

[00:45:23] Keisha hilarious describing how to, what is it, slut? But Angela is even funnier trying to emulate it and just completely forgetting all the steps. It was so good. I thoroughly enjoyed all of it.

[00:45:37] But I have to ask, what's next? So while we're trying to get this renewed, I know you both were very busy, but do we have anything coming up the pipeline that we should be looking for? Anything

[00:45:47] that you want to highlight or anything you want to talk about and get more eyes on? Because I'm always going to use my platform to highlight black media, television, authors, whatever the case may

[00:45:59] be. I'm going to use my position to do that. And so I want to give you both the floor to talk about whatever you want to talk about. Well, I'm back in the lab until we know what's going on with

[00:46:13] Act Your Age. I have to work. So I have some stuff in very early development. I wish it was close enough to announce, but nothing like that. Continuing to root for this show and like I said,

[00:46:29] thinking of other stuff I want to create and go out there and pitch. So not giving up. Not giving up. What about you, Miles? We just sold a pilot to another channel that we're in

[00:46:43] development on, early development as well. But right now, I just want to focus all the eyes and energy that we can get on Act Your Age because man, we want to be back in that room

[00:46:52] and back in those sets with those, back on stage with those sets and those characters. Just having a ball, man. We miss everybody so much. So we need everybody to keep writing, keep watching, keep tweeting, keep making your podcast, do whatever you need to do. Tag Netflix, request

[00:47:07] the show, do all of those things, man. We really want to be back. Oh yeah. And listen, we all want you back for sure. I know you've seen the outpouring of love that you've gotten on social

[00:47:17] media. I know I'm one of them, you know? So in our Facebook group, we had people talking about how they didn't just, they didn't know about the show, but they saw the podcast, they went and

[00:47:25] checked it out, and now they're hooked. And so I've been telling everybody to go ahead and watch the show, share it, all that good stuff, but also to keep talking about it and to, you know, at Netflix

[00:47:34] if you got to, and tell them that you want more of Act Your Age because we are waiting on season two. We're waiting on pins and needles, and we're really hoping that you don't let me down and

[00:47:43] drag this Jacob and Olivia thing out too long, okay? Because I will hold a grudge. And I will say, you know, at Netflix, at CBS, at- Anybody, whoever wants us.

[00:47:55] ABC, you know, it's a great show. We knew that when we did it for Bounce, and we were happy with it. We, you know, we were really overjoyed about what we did with a small budget, you know? But it was

[00:48:09] confirmed when it went to Netflix that people more than us really enjoyed the show. So I would love to continue to do that, and until then, I'm just going to keep writing for, you know, women,

[00:48:25] Black women, everybody. I just want to put comedy out there, make people feel good. Those half hours when I was sitting at home as a kid eating a TV dinner that made me laugh, and even later that

[00:48:37] I love the sitcom because for just 22 minutes, you forgot about the rest of the world, you know? So that's the kind of joy that I like putting out there. Well said. Before we go, could you let everybody know where they can follow you on social media?

[00:48:55] If you're into that kind of thing, if you want followers or whatever, this is the perfect time to do your plugs, Allison. I'm at Allison Fout, where's the little thing? On everything. It's my name, whatever.

[00:49:10] I'm a little more complicated. I'm at Really Mighty, R-E-A-L-L-Y, M-I-G-H-T-Y, on all the things as well. Yes, and hopefully we will hear more from y'all soon. I know we're very excited, and I know our listeners will be very happy to have this podcast dropping in their feed.

[00:49:27] So thank you both for joining me here on Recap Kickback. Our goal, of course, is to continue highlighting shows that are made by us, starring us, written by us, heavily featuring us, because representation does matter, and if we aren't willing to support our shining stars, nobody will.

[00:49:43] So thank you all again. Thank you. Appreciate it. All right. No problem. And thank you all for listening to Recap Kickback, and be sure to hit that subscribe button to support the podcast. Until next time, you ain't gotta go home, but you know the rest. Peace.