‘Connecting…’: The Story Behind NBC’s Remotely-Shot New Series
Fall Preview
Think of it as Zoom, the Series. Not even a pandemic can keep great friends apart.
The ensemble piece, Connecting…, shot remotely from the actors’ homes, begins 10 days after California’s stay-at-home order was issued in March and features a group of Los Angeles pals who stay connected by turning their weekly Sunday dinners into online hangouts.
(Credit: NBC Entertainment)
The gang includes husband and wife Garret and Michelle (Keith Powell, 30 Rock, and real-life spouse Jill Knox, Keith Broke His Leg); homebody Annie (Otmara Marrero, Clementine); and conspiracy theorist Rufus (Ely Henry, Perry Mason).
Like the best sitcom squads, this crew has a lot to talk about. “Sex, basketball, cooking, flirting, politics, parenting, drinking, gambling…and that’s, like, the first 10 pages of the pilot,” previews exec producer Brendan Gall, who created the show with his Blindspot collaborator Martin Gero.
The idea came from chats with their own friends during the pandemic. Adds Gero, “[The characters] are all trying to be there for each other while none of them can actually be there for each other” — the same social-distancing dilemma so many of us have faced.
Connecting…, Series Premiere, Thursday, October 8, 8/7c, NBC (*Note: The show will move to the 8:30/7:30c time slot beginning Thursday, October 29)
