Emily Kapnek, who you might know from Aliens in America, Emily's Reasons Why Not, or even Parks and Recreation, has a new subversive ABC comedy coming to fall television. Suburgatory stars Jane Levy and Jeremy Sisto as a Gilmore Girls style father-daughter duo who move to the 'burbs from New York City after he finds condoms among her possessions and freaks out that his little girl is growing up too fast in the big city. The story is plucked, in part, from Kapnek's own life, having moved from New York to suburbia with her own single parent (though in her case, her mother), experiencing a mega culture shock upon doing so.
"We were transported to a town where families certainly didn't look like ours, and we didn't have as much as they did," Kapnek shared during ABC's TCA presentation in Los Angeles today.
"I did escape as quickly as I could!"
But Levy's character of Tessa isn't entirely made up from the fabric of Kapnek herself. Kapnek admitted at times the character could easily fall into the "Ellen Page or Mean Girls territory," but because Levy herself has such a unique and strong voice, Kapnek will write to that as episodes go on.
"Tessa, I don't think is a typical sixteen year old kid. She's smart," Levy said. "I narrate the show, so obviously [she's] sort of a backbone, a throughline. You walk with her; you're kind of on my back as you meet these crazy characters, but I don't think there'd be a show without these guys!"
Surrounding Levy in the cast, in addition to Sisto, are Cheryl Hines, Alan Tudyk, Carly Chaikin, Allie Grant, and Rex Lee. We will see Tessa in her two worlds: at home with her dad who was young enough when he had her that he's still learning and growing along with her-- and also still attractive enough that he becomes bait and "fair game" for many of the moms in the neighborhood. Of course, we'll also see her in school, as well, where she has no interest in fitting in but no self-conscious qualms about spending time by herself either. She has a confidence many teenagers want but struggle to actually achieve. Still, Kapnek hopes she, along with the show as a whole, will feel real, relatable, and grounded, despite at times delving into seemingly over-the-top territory with characters who look like they're modeling themselves after The Real Housewives.
Hines shared that since she is a real life mom, though to a younger child than her on-screen teenage daughter, she partakes in carpools and picking up from school, and she often runs into women who are the epitome of the seemingly stereotypical woman she is playing on Suburgatory. And by their own admission!
"I was actually talking to another mom, and I was telling her about the show, and I was telling her about my character. And I said, 'The hair extensions. It looks like I have a boob job. I have my eyebrows raised.' I said, 'The spray tan.' And she said, 'Oh, my God. That sounds like me'!" Hines laughed.
"I said, 'I hope you watch.' She said, 'I will because I can't wait, and then finally somebody is representing me in a positive light on TV.' So, you know, these are real people."
In other words, don't expect Suburgatory to be anything less than three-dimensional and full of characters that may act a bit wacky on the surface but have really good hearts underneath. And don't expect the show to fall into the usual pitfalls of teen television right off the bat, either. You will notice that the pilot episode sets up no love interest for Tessa, though a quite flirty dynamic begins to form between Sisto and Hines' characters that promises to be fun to watch.
"I think, in time, we'll get there," Kapnek admitted. "I don't think it would have been a very organic story to tell for a girl that is somewhat disenchanted with the suburbs-- so just keeping it sort of true to form, we didn't push her in that direction. Yet."
Suburgatory premieres on ABC on September 28th at 8:30pm. Stay tuned for our advance review!
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