We are just days away from the premiere of the American version of the BBC comedy series GETTING ON. We thought that we’d better hurry up and get on board with the show and we will try to take you with us. This is what we know.
Production Company: BBC Worldwide Productions is involved because of the original series but the American production company is a familiar associate of HBO. Anima Sola Productions was behind HBO’s BIG LOVE. They now undertake this comedy stint.
Written By: The creators/writers are Will Scheffer and Mark V. Olsen. They were the consistent writing duo for BIG LOVE.
Directed by: The pilot episode is credited to Miguel Arteta. For HBO he has directed episodes of ENLIGHTENED, HOW TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA, SIX FEET UNDER. He has also directed the yet to be released movie Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, very Bad Day.
Executive Producers: The number of producers on this half-hour is insane. How many do you need? This one has a total of TEN including Scheffer and Olsen plus the three creators of the original U. K. version Jo Brand, Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine who were also actors in the original work.
Cast:
Laurie Metcalf as Dr. Jenna James, director of medicine
Alex Borstein as Dawn Forchette, the head ward nurse
Niecy Nash as Marta Ortley, a nurse
Mel Rodriguez as Patsy De La Serda
Joel Johnstone as Andrew Cesario, a medical resident
Molly Shannon as Phyllis Sullivan
Harry Dean Stanton as Leonard Butler
Daniel Stern as Richard James, husband of Jenna
Metcalf’s most r
ecognized gig may have been the sitcom Roseanne; Borstein is the voice of Lois Griffin on Family Guy; Nash was popular on Reno 911; Rodriguez was in the movie Panic Room and a character on BIG LOVE; Johnstone’s should be noticed from his role of Cameron in THE NEWSROOM; Shannon is prolific but was in HBO’s ENLIGHTENED and SEX AND THE CITY; Stanton was Roman Grant in BIG LOVE and Stern famous for a number of roles including from the Home Alone franchise.
Details: Portions of the following are from an HBO press release –
At the Billy Barnes Extended Care Unit of Mt. Palms Hospital in Long Beach, Cal., the staff attends to the needs of female patients who are often “getting on” in years, while dealing with the challenges of a health-care bureaucracy in need of an overhaul. Even as they attempt to serve their charges under less-than-ideal circumstances, the lives of this ragtag crew are complicated by conflicting agendas, both professional and personal.
The show follows the daily lives of overworked nurses and doctors as they struggle with the darkly comic realities of tending compassionately to their aging charges in a rundown, red-tape-filled hospital extended care wing, blending outrageous humor with unexpected moments of tenderness.
Ordered: This half-hour series’ Season One will offer a total of eight (6) episodes. It is shot as a single camera comedy.
Status: The show is upon us and ready to premiere.
Premiere Date: November 24 is a Sunday night. The show will debut then and air for the next consecutive seven Sundays at 10:00pm ET.
HBOWatch Links: We first picked up on this States-side version of the series early in its development. The first post was on 08.16.12. We were able to announce that the series was ordered on 03.21.13 and state its premiere date in a 09.11.13 post . The “Turd in the Chair” trailer was put up on 09.29.13.
Before we conclude let’s add the two following clips as well.
In Conclusion: It looks like this premise is just ripe for comedic mishaps. Putting on an Americanized spin on the whole thing will make it more relevant here though I don’t know if they came up with new scripts or are merely reshooting the British ones. It will be a quick comedy, since it is only six episodes long, and should be a treat no matter what.
It touches on a relevant and uncomforting situation in America as the country populace leans towards a more elderly society. As is seen in the one clip above the golden years can still be filled with uncomfortable and laughable moments. But, as much as it is about the residents “getting on” in years it is also about this staff ‘getting on’ with their jobs no matter how odd, sad or stressful it may get for them.
Anyone care to invest six half hours to delve into this dark comedy? It sounds like it could be funny. What do you think about GETTING ON?
1 comment
We enjoyed the first episode, it wasn’t action packed, but it had some really funny moments. It was certainly a HUGE step up from sitting through Hello Ladies every Sunday!