Production Company: Duplass Brothers Productions. Brothers Jay and Mark are a multi-talented duo who have produced, written and directed a number of projects. Two movies of note were The Puffy Chair and Cyrus. They also both have acting credits with the older Jay appearing in projects like The Mindy Project and Transparent. Mark has been seen projects including Zero Dark Thirty and the shows The Mindy Project and The League. One of the production company’s latest titles of note was 2014’s The Skeleton Twins with Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. The company will, as noted below, be spearheading many of the tasks to get TOGETHERNESS on air for HBO. this is the first project the brothers have with the premium channel.
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Written By: Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass (pictured). It is uncertain whether they took turns writing scripts or collaborated on each of them though the latter is the most likely.
Directed by: Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass. They also most huddle behind the camera together as they are credited as the sole directors of the series.
Executive Producers: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass, Jay Deuby, and Nowell Grossman. It appears the brothers actually allowed assistance with the money wrangling for the series. Deuby also serves as an editor for the project.
Cast: Mark Duplass stars as Brett Pierson; Melanie Lynskey(voice cast of HBO’s LIFE AND TIMES OF TIM, Two and A Half Men) stars as his wife Michelle Peirson; Amanda Peet (The Good Wife, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) is Michelle’s sister Tina Morris and Steve Zissis (Her, Trophy Wife) is Brett’s bestie Alex Pappas. Abby Ryder Fortson (Transparent, the upcoming Ant-Man) plays the Pierson’s oldest child Sophie.
Details: Pictured at top is the Pierson family on the way to the beach with friend Alex on the extreme right and sister Tina extreme left. The photo is clearly courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. TOGETHERNESS is about two couples living under the same roof struggling to keep their relationships alive and healthy while pursuing their own interests and goals without the cohabitation getting in the way.
Ordered: Eight half-hour episodes have been ordered as a First Season and are in production. We have the titles of each and they are – Episode 01 – Pilot, Episode 02 – Handcuffs, Episode 03 – Insanity, Episode 04 – Houston, We Have A Problem, Episode 05 – Kick The Can, Episode 06 – Ghost In Chains, Episode 07 – Party Time and Episode 08 – Not So Together.
Mark Duplass and Melanie Lynskey
Premiere Date: Though no actual date has been set EW mentions the show debuting in January 2015. HBOWatch will announce that date as soon as it is locked in but will be premiere on 01.04, 01.11, 01.18 or 01.25.
HBOWatch Links: This site has been mentioning this work on occasion since last year. Our first reporting of TOGETHERNESS was back in March of 2013.Early rumblings of casting started right away A cast announcement surfaced in June ’13. The process moved quickly with the project as it was officially ordered to series in July ’13 and now we find it well into production with a premiere date fast approaching.
In Conclusion: HBO continues to work hard to find comedy series that are as memorable as some of the half-hour stints we’ve seen in the past. Only time will tell how this series will fare. It appears it will get its chance when it debuts in January 2015.
Evidently Sunday nights at the top of the New Year will feature a comedy block. We will surely have GIRLS and maybe VEEP. That means TOGETHERNESS will need coupled with another half-hour program. As always we will be eager to see what develops about the lineup. Check back with HBOWatch’s schedule page for an easy guide to what premieres when. Details will be forthcoming as promos will surface during THE NEWSROOM, THE COMEBACK and GETTING ON.
Are you ready for another good comedy on the schedule? Do the Duplass Brothers have a chance with this one? What do you think? They have a good track record, so it is possible that we all can get chummy with the Pierson family as they fumble their way through some togetherness. More on TOGETHERNESS as it comes available.
