The first season of Jeffrey Richman and Darren Star’s new breakup comedy series Uncoupled is currently streaming on Netflix. The show centers around a New York real estate agent named Michael (Neil Patrick Harris, “How I Met Your Mom” and “Gone”), who is stunned when his partner of 17 years (Tak Watkins, “Black Monday”) packs his bags and leaves with nothing. warning.
In his early forties, Michael discovers that he is “single and not ready to communicate,” and turns to his friends Stanley (Brooks Ashmanskas, “The Good Wife”) and Billy (Emerson Brooks, “The Last Ship”) to reintroduce him to the dating world. But although Colin initially seems to be the antagonist of the series, is he really wrong to break off the relationship between himself and Michael?
link: Where else have you seen an unrelated cast?
Screen Rant talks to Uncoupled stars Emerson Brooks and Tuck Watkins about whether viewers will see Colin’s side in the breakup.
Screen Rant: Tuck, your character, Colin, is essentially the catalyst for the premise of this show. He’s leaving his partner with 17 years of experience, and we’ll see what that does to Michael. But I’m interested… are we also going to explore Colin’s side?
Tuck Watkins: Well, that’s a good idea. Because usually in a breakup comedy we see a couple break up in the first couple of minutes, and then the ex turns out to be a jerk, and then we follow the hero to the end of the movie. But this is a different show. It’s called Uncoupled, and it’s about uncoupling. So Jeff and Darren wrote a more layered show in which we follow Neil, the hero, but to a lesser extent, FYI, we follow Colin and see how the breakup affects him. And the reason for the breakup, too.
Emerson Brooks: I think it’s great that we can see, you know, in a half-hour comedy a little more nuance and a little more depth when it comes to relationships, and not just embellish it and go with, you know, the typical and expected.
Screen Rant: Yes, I mean, there are two sides to every story. That’s why I was definitely interested to see what Colin’s point of view would be. And then, Emerson, what will Billy’s relationship with Michael be like? How is he going to help his friend get back there?
Emerson Brooks: Ultimately, its foundation will remain the same as it has been for 25-30 years. No matter what, he will cover his back, support him, give advice. Maybe sometimes it’s not the best advice, but support advice — and it will always be there in the future. We hope so. You’ll never know. I mean, there are ups and downs in any relationship, whether intimate or personal. But at the end of the day, that’s what Billy is. He’s a supportive friend who, you know, sometimes when he tries to support you, ends up talking about himself, but that’s okay.
Tuck Watkins: If I can answer this question on his behalf, Michael has an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. Guess who he is? He’s the devil.
Screen Rant: Everyone needs both! Now, how would each of you describe the tone of this show? Because it’s a comedy, but it’s also about this breakup, which has a pretty devastating effect on Michael’s character. How did you balance that as a cast?
Tuck Watkins: Well, I think the gap in adulthood is terrible. His tone is comedy. But the formula of comedy: tragedy plus time equals comedy. So the tragedy happens in the first minutes, and then some time passes. I think one of the great things about comedy in the series is its absurdity. The absurdity that we go through when we discover that we are breaking up, and the things that we are willing to try or do to feel like people again. And I think it’s pretty easy to laugh at such things.
Emerson Brooks: And I think that’s what you often find on Darren Star or Jeff Richman TV shows where you have your own comedy, but at the heart of it is heart and humanity and a real, you know, through-line drama. what comes with it. It’s an amazing balance and they’ve done a fantastic job with it.
Unrelated synopsis
Michael Lawson (Neil Patrick Harris) seems to have figured it out. He is a successful real estate agent in New York with a great career, supportive family, close friends and a loving relationship with his 17-year-old partner Colin (So Watkins). But when Colin unexpectedly moves out on the eve of his 50th birthday, Michael is completely stunned. At night, he has to face two nightmares: losing the person he considered his soul mate, and suddenly finding himself a single gay man in his late forties in New York.
Check out our other interviews with Uncoupled stars Neil Patrick Harris and Brooks Ashmanskas, as well as Tisha Campbell and Marcia Gay Harden.
