Useless to Me creator Liz Feldman has executed it once more with No Good Deed: That’s, the showrunner has made one other addictive, good tv collection. And this time, actual property is the primary character, together with a stacked solid headlined by sitcom greats Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano that features Abbi Jacobson, Linda Cardellini, O-T Fagbenle, Denis Leary, Poppy Liu, Teyonah Parris, and Luke Wilson.
“I needed to see how far I may go along with a quite simple idea, which is shopping for and promoting a home, despite the fact that it’s inherently a really high-stakes state of affairs,” Feldman advised TV Insider. “The three most nerve-racking issues in life are demise, taxes, and shifting. I did demise with Useless To Me and as Abbi retains joking, my subsequent present goes to be a loopy present about accountants.”
Within the Netflix dramedy (premiering December 12), three households are all vying to purchase the identical Nineteen Twenties Spanish-style villa they deem their “dream residence” — however they do not know that the home owned by longtime married couple Lydia (Kudrow) and Paul (Romano) holds extra than simply potential fixes to their varied real-life issues. It additionally comes with some very darkish secrets and techniques.
“The drama on this was intense drama. It was intense disappointment and actual tragedy,” teases Kudrow of the story. Provides Romano, “I didn’t need to do a straight comedy once more, however I by no means needed to not do comedy. However this had a unique tone to all the pieces else I’ve executed. In order that was enjoyable and difficult.”
Followers who watched Feldman’s earlier collection ought to put together themselves for a similar experience of emotional highs and lows — however be warned, as a result of that’s the place the similarities between the 2 reveals finish. “A part of the dream of this present was to work with loads of actors,” Feldman explains. “What I needed to do in a different way [than Dead To Me] was make it an ensemble — a real ensemble that wasn’t simply resting on the shoulders of two characters. I needed to provide myself and the writers alternatives to inform as many tales as we may.”
These tales embody Jacobon’s Leslie and Liu’s Sarah (a married couple who hope to have a baby to boost within the residence they covet), Parris’ Carla and Fagbenle’s Dennis (newlyweds with a child on the best way), Cardellini’s Margot (a no-nonsense standing seeker hoping to show a revenue on the costly residence), and Wilson’s JD Campbell (a down-and-out-of-work cleaning soap star in search of his subsequent large break).
“That’s one of many issues that attracted me to this present — what number of tales and households we’d get to comply with and the way all of them can characterize very various things for anybody watching,” says Parris. “Not solely will you end up in a single household or one individual, you’ll end up in lots of characters.” That was very true for Jacobson, the place the actress discovered herself inhabiting a personality that actually hit near residence: Leslie was impressed by Feldman’s personal persona and life experiences.
“That was thrilling as a result of I’ve by no means gotten to play a personality the place the one who impressed it has form of adopted me round,” she says with fun. “Leslie’s an ADA and there’s a stage of management there that I feel she thrives on. And I feel that’s one thing Liz may thrive on as nicely. However then there’s the opposite a part of Leslie, the extra private half, that’s extra fiercely protecting of her household, which Liz is. And I actually love getting to inform the story of a queer household constructing their household. You don’t see that day-after-day on TV, nonetheless.”
No Good Deed can have audiences on the sting of their seat with every twist and reveal all through the eight-episode run, however Feldman, who has at all times written reveals that middle on intimate relationships and connection, is hoping to mine one thing deeper together with her newest creation.
“Actually, I hoped to perform creating a extremely entertaining present that makes you assume and really feel. I’m considering giving audiences a sense expertise, coming away with a deeper understanding of themselves and their relationships,” Feldman says. “I would like individuals to really feel seen and fewer alone and know that these actually high-stakes moments in life are common and all of us undergo it.”
No Good Deed, Collection Premiere, Thursday, December 12, Netflix