Leanne co-creator Chuck Lorre and executive producer Nick Bakay spoke to ComingSoon about their new sitcom. The duo discussed the show’s Southern setting, working with Leanne Morgan, and more. The sitcom is now streaming on Netflix.
“Leanne’s life takes an unexpected turn when her husband of 33 years leaves her for another woman. Starting over when you’re a grandmother and in menopause isn’t exactly what she had in mind, but with the help of her family, she will navigate this new chapter with grace, dignity, and jello salad,” says the synopsis.
Tyler Treese: Such a pleasure to speak with you both. Congrats on Leanne. I really enjoyed the show. Chuck, naturally a lot of entertainment is based around the coastal cities and a more hustle and bustle upscale lifestyle. I’m not from the South, but I’m from a rural town, and this felt very real to me. And Leanne Morgan’s also very authentic. What kind of drew you to really diving into the show’s southern setting?
Chuck Lorre: I think it starts with Leanne and her extraordinary standup work is very much of that neighborhood of Knoxville, Tennessee. And a different look at the Southern lifestyle that’s not a clichéd look. These are remarkable, these are highly educated, very successful people.
I just thought, “Well, this is a great opportunity to do something that’s missing. That isn’t there.” And putting her and some kind of version of her life in front of the cameras.
Nick, I wanted to ask you about working with Leanne Morgan, because she’s not the most experienced actor, but you could never tell watching this show. What’s really special about her?
Bakay: Well, I agree with you. You wanna talk about a quick study because I know from my own experience, it takes years to just try and reproach being natural. You know, all that acting craft and all that stuff you learn in training, it does not serve you on camera particularly well. And it’s just an art.
And I watched Leanne pick this thing up at a rapid pace that I’ve really never seen before. And I know she’s got tons of experience as an entertainer and on stage, and it helps a lot, but it really is a different exercise.
I gotta tell you, it was just really something ’cause we jumped in and then there was that moment of like, “Oh, we will see how this goes.” It’s always that way with a pilot, you know, it’s like, “It looks good on paper. Yikes. Here we go.” And it was beautiful.
Lorre: Yeah. We asked a great deal of her, you know? Right out of the gate, she’s playing a woman who’s been traumatized and is really struggling emotionally, and that’s raising the bar pretty high — episode one in this endeavor to be an actress on an ensemble show.
Chuck, you’re both coming off Bookie, which was a streaming show. Now you’ve got two streaming shows, Leanne, and then Stewart Fails to Save the Universe. What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned about really embracing streaming versus broadcast TV, where you are like the sitcom creator?
Lorre: The show finds its own home. I don’t think you have to overthink that.
Actually, this show could have been on a network. It very easily could have been on a network. It’s built that way. But Netflix, God Bless ’em, to their credit, they were so just enthusiastic and determined to make it a Netflix show.
When you get that kind of support and enthusiasm, you know, you embrace it. But otherwise you don’t necessarily think in terms of what’s the right platform. You think of what’s the show and let the show find its own platform.
Nick, I wanted to ask you since there is some variation in episode lengths, thanks to this being on streaming — what’s that biggest advantage to that freedom where you can have an episode be like six minutes shorter if you need it?
Bakay: Oh, it’s huge because that way the art dictates the form. A network with that hard clock? It’s the opposite. We’ve all been a part of episodes where we’re like, “Oh, it’s great and it’s 12 minutes long.”
Lorre: Yeah, or we have to cut it to shreds.
Bakay: Either cut it down to size or put a lot of Hamburger Helper in. Never good.
Lorre: No, this is just put on the best show you can as the only requirement in streaming, which is a gift.
Thanks to Chuck Lorre and Nick Bakay for taking the time to talk about Leanne.
