Reboot showrunner talks shows-within-shows and season 2 hopes
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Not all TV reboots are destined for chaos! When EW spoke with Reboot showrunner Steven Levitan earlier this year about his Hulu meta sitcom, he cited Roseanne as one of the inspirations for showing a TV revamp from the inside. But whereas real-life reboots can result in personality clashes and fired stars, Levitan's Reboot has been a lean, mean machine of hilarious meta comedy over eight episodes.
Reboot stars Keegan-Michael Key, Johnny Knoxville, Judy Greer, and Calum Worthy as the stars of a '90s-era sitcom called Step Right Up that is now being rebooted by Hulu, giving them a chance to reconnect with old friends and make up for past mistakes. Paul Reiser plays the creator of the original series, while Rachel Bloom plays the new showrunner and Krista Marie Yu is an inexperienced Hulu executive overseeing it all.
With the Reboot season finale hitting Hulu this week, EW caught up with Levitan (who previously created Modern Family) for a bookend Q&A about shows-within-shows, his hopes for season 2, and how his real life is starting to blend with the sitcom. Check out our chat below.
Michael Desmond/Hulu Selma (Rose Abdoo), and Gordon (Paul Reiser)
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When we last spoke, Reboot hadn't premiered yet. How does it feel to be on the other side of season 1? Keegan told me that this is an idea you've had for years, how does it feel to finally have the show out there in the world?
STEVEN LEVITAN: Well, as somebody who is very used to doing 22 or 24 episodes a season, this has flown by. So that's different. But I feel good about the show and the response that we've gotten to it from friends in the industry.
I wanted to ask you about the character of Gordon, because I really came to love him over the course of the season, which made his story in the finale episode hit hard. How much of that character is influenced by your own experiences as a TV showrunner, and how much of him comes from Paul Reiser?
It's funny, that character started out as more of a comedically sloppy character. Very much an old man of another generation who sees no problem with a show that exists for no other reason than to make people laugh. "We're not making art here, we're making comedy" and all that. But then when Paul came aboard, it added a whole other dimension to the character that was hard to deny. Paul is, obviously, a very intelligent person and a very soulful person. I think he immediately felt protective of Gordon and didn't want him to be quite that shlocky. Yes, he did a show that wasn't thought of as one of those top-tier shows, but in Paul's mind he was much more soulful and complicated than you might think at first blush. Then on top of it, Paul just makes him lovable. There's just a warmth to Paul that immediately filled out that character.
I love the age range of actors on the show. You've got really funny young characters, like the basketball team Reed plays against, and also older characters like the director played by Larry Pressman that Clay has to apologize to for past behavior. What do you like about having that range?
Well, I think that we are living in a time when the business is changing very, very quickly. When a business changes this quickly, you can really see that played out on the people who've been in the business for a while. I think right now to some degree, everybody feels like the world is changing so fast that it's hard to keep up with what's acceptable, with what's funny, with what's good or bad, what we're allowed to do, how people consume media. It's all changing. So I think we all feel a little bit out of step at times, even young people. They can't just be young and carefree, they have to start a mini-empire and have followers and be doing content and whatever. I think that it's interesting to see that phenomenon happen to people of all ages.
Something that never failed to make me laugh was anytime a character mentioned a fictional movie they'd done, like Hannah's C--- Saw. Did you have any particular movies-within-the-show that you were most proud of?
I liked Minor, Minor. That was one of my favorites, that one always made me laugh. You know, I never would've thought of C--- Saw. That came from one of the female writers in the room, as it should have, and immediately every single other woman in the room was like, "Yes, that's it!" And I went, "okay! I wouldn't have pitched that, but okay!" I love that whenever Rachel mentions it, she delivers it so proudly. But those are fun. Sabbath Night Fever was also fun. I'm also a big fan of Hunchback of Notre Dame High.
They're all so good, especially when Zack uses his to make a specific reference, like, "oh I know this fact because of Lil Slumlord."
He speaks about each of those movies as if he's talking about Citizen Kane.
Hulu Gordon (Paul Reiser) and Hannah (Rachel Bloom) on 'Reboot.'
Speaking of fictional projects within Reboot, I wanted to ask you about the main one: Is the new Step Right Up supposed to be good? Everytime we see what they're working on, it just seems so silly, like when Zack and Clay are up in harnesses against greenscreen.
I think that they're trying to find the right level for the show, somewhere in between what Gordon did with it and what Hannah wants to do with it. There's a pretty good show in there, halfway between them, and I think that they're still finding it. Some days Gordon wins, some days Hannah wins, and then there are the occasional moments where everybody is reflected in that. That's how I see it.
It is tricky to write those scenes. We are often asking ourselves, How good is this supposed to be? I don't think it's suddenly the most sophisticated show in the world, because you can only change something so much. But I think they're all trying to make it better.
I think when people see the season finale, they'll be dying for more. What are you interested in exploring with possible future seasons?
We have actually started talking about that already. There were a lot of balls in the air during the finale, and the first thing to do is to make sure that those all land in a compelling and entertaining way. But it's amazing how quickly the world expanded, there's a lot to explore. I think in season 2 we will get into the premiere of the show and all that goes into that. As somebody who just went through a premiere, there's fresh stuff for me to delve into about what it's like in this day and age to launch a show when the whole world can comment on it. It's a pretty fascinating time. That's one of the things we'll talk about.
The season ends with the Reboot characters themselves wondering whether they'll get renewed for future seasons. Do you ever feel wires crossing with all this meta stuff?
Oh, constantly. We're awaiting our fate and starting to work on future things just in case, but everything that I just went through is stuff that they're all about to go through. That's just a fascinating thing for me — to be able to so quickly take something that is powerful and fresh on my mind and put it on the screen is pretty exciting. Every experience I have, including this interview, I'm babbling because I'm half wondering, "what could I say in this interview that would get me in trouble?" and then, "how could that happen to one of these characters?" That's the world I'm living in right now. Every move I make in life makes me wonder, "how do I put that on the screen?"
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Reboot season 1 is streaming now on Hulu.
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