I am even more excited for you to see the Alex, Inc. now that I've seen the premiere! How many new shows are currently being created that you can watch with your family? Not enough.
That is what drove Zach Braff and his writer-friend Matt Tarses to create the script for the new show Alex, Inc., a comedy based on a real podcast about a dad who leaves his job to start one. Starring Zach Braff as Alex Schuman and Tiya Sircar as his wife, Rooni, this is about to become your new favorite show.
Photo credit :ABC/Bob D'Amico
From ABC: Alex Schuman (Zach Braff, “Scrubs”) is a brilliant radio journalist, husband and father of two who is about to do something crazy – quit his job and start his own company.
Photo Credit ABC
He quickly discovers it’s going to be a lot harder than he thought. Zach Braff stars, directs and is executive producer with Matt Tarses (“Scrubs”) and Davis Entertainment (“Dr. Ken,” “Blacklist”). Take a look at the trailer:
When I interviewed Zach Braff, Tiya Sircar, and writer Matt Tarses, they shared what drove them to create a family-friendly show that also has you laughing every single episode.
Zach Braff said he had been listening to podcasts, and immediately wanted Matt Tarses - who wrote on Scrubs with him - to help him write this new show. You can tell from the photos that this was a fun interview!
Photo Credit: Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com
The Story Behind Alex, Inc.
It all began when John Davis from Davis Entertainment reached out to Zach and said 'You gotta hear this podcast.' He didn't even know if Zach wanted to act right then because he had been directing a bunch.
Photo credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin
Zach: He said it’s the best podcast I’ve heard in a long time. Everyone’s talking about it. We optioned it and we wanna turn it into a family comedy. On my drive home from the meeting, I listened to two episodes and then kept listening. I just found it fascinating and thought it would be a great TV show. And I said, 'I’m in if you can get my friend, Matt Tarses (who was one of my favorite writers on Scrubs) to write it.'
Something that really struck Zach was how there are plenty of shows for kids that adults are not interested in, and plenty of shows adults wait until after bedtime to watch. He said he wanted to create a show they could all watch together.
Zach: A theme that kept coming up as the producer in me was that there’s not a ton of content that we all [as a family] want to watch together. I was dating a woman for a bit who had a nine-year-old and I experienced that.
Photo Credit: Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com
We only watched Shark Tank together because he happened to love Shark Tank. It feels like to me like that’s an area where we need more content. Obviously ABC’s great at it with Blackish and Modern Family and stuff like that. So, I felt like it was a great space to do it.
In addition to the humor that adults and children will be able to enjoy together, this show also adds a beautiful multicultural storyline. Writer Matt Tarses said the podcast that inspired this show features a Persian American wife, and they felt it was very important to preserve that diversity. So hiring Tiya Sircar to play Zach’s wife was a natural move.
Photo Credit: Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com
Matt: This is based on this real podcast and the real couple. His wife is a Persian-American. And so, we just wanted to preserve it. We looked for all kinds of actresses, but we liked the idea of her. [Tiya Sircar].
Tiya Sircar said at first she was a bit confused about having heritage from India and being asked to play a Persian American. But the writers worked with her, and the character she played did get a background that more closely resembles her real-life history.
Photo Credit: Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com
Tiya: It was originally written that the character was Persian-American - just like the woman who she’s based on in real life. And when I got this job I thought, 'Guys, I can’t play a Persian-American.' But these guys were like, well, let’s change her and let’s make her you.
Photo Credit: Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com
And then the more we all got to know each other, they had me come in and meet the writers and we had this two-hour conversation about my upbringing in Texas and my parents’ upbringing in Calcutta. They also talked about when they came over as grad students and their experience as Indian immigrants.
And we just talked for a long time and then slowly this character evolved from who she was on paper to closely related to who I am in real life, which I have never gotten to play before.
In fact, the writers even sat down with Tiya’s parents and learned about their personal experiences and heard the stories her parents told her growing up. Then, they used that in the show and it made the show so much more relatable for Tiya.
Photo Credit: Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com
After meeting with her parents, Zach said he heard Tiya’s mom speak in Bengali and end it with y'all and he was hooked. He immediately wanted Tiya’s character, Rooni, to have that same character trait - to be from Texas and use both Bengali and y'all.
Zach: Because I had never seen a woman speak in Bengali and then end it with y'all. And I was like if that is not America! I want that in our show.
Photo Credit: Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com
For Zach, one of his favorite things about the show was acting with the kids. He learned so much from the actors that play his son and daughter on the show.
Zach: Family Ties was intended to be a vehicle for Meredith Baxter Birney, and Michael J. Fox completely stole the show. And I’m like that kid is gonna Michael J. Fox me. I’m gonna be a supporting character in the show.
Photo Credit: Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com
In fact, the actor that plays Zach’s son, Elisha Henig, really is a remarkably talented young man. Zach said he can watch just a few YouTube videos and learn immediately how to play guitar. They took these traits and wrote them into his character, Ben Schuman.
Photo Credit: Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com
Matt: So, we wrote it in. The key is to make sure we know his dad loves him still, but there’s a funny episode where Ben wants to score the podcast. And so, he’s combing around trying to get the job, and it’s really bothering his dad how good Ben is at it. And his dad keeps saying he’s fine.
Zach said one of his favorite ways to write and act in a show is to work extremely hard on the script and then also allow a lot of improv on the set. It worked on Scrubs and it's working on Alex, Inc too.
Zach: It’s both, yeah. It’s worked for us on Scrubs. We worked our butts off on the script. And then once we get to set, we do what’s written and then we play around. You could be doing a scene together and then all of a sudden a new idea comes to you and time permitting, you’re like, wait, let’s do this too. And then you just kinda riff jokes.
And then by the time you get to the edit room, you have a lot of options and you go with what’s making everyone laugh the most.
Alex, Inc is a very clean show, one you can watch with your family, but also extremely funny.
We were able to get a photo before the end of the interview. As you can see, someone to the side had a camera, too, and I was looking the wrong way! Leave it to me!
ALEX, INC premieres tonight, March 28, at 8:30|7:30c. Follow Alex, Inc on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram following hashtag #AlexInc. You’ll be hooked on this new family-friendly show!
Other New ABC TV Shows
While in LA, I was also able to check out these new ABC TV shows as well:
For the People is a fictional drama that follows public defenders and prosecutors in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, a.k.a. “The Mother Court”.
Deception is about magician Cameron Black who helps the government catch the world’s most elusive criminals while staging the biggest illusions of his career. That is really just the tip of the iceburg. This show gets crazy!
Splitting Up Together is a comedy about a couple in a loveless marriage who decide to try raising their kids together by taking turns living in the guest house. Like it would be in real life, it's not all funny. In fact, I was in tears at one point. I'm still routing for 'Getting Back Together' but not sure it can happen after the first episode. You can watch it on ABC if you missed it.
This was a hosted trip in exchange for sharing it with you. I can't wait to see your thoughts on the show!
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