LOS ANGELES 鈥� The new NBC comedy I Feel Bad, from executive producer Amy Poehler, revolves around Emet Kamala-Sweetzer (Sarayu Blue), a mom whose Indian parents want her to show more respect to the traditions of her family heritage while she鈥檚 trying to be a modern woman. It鈥檚 not going perfectly, and that makes her feel bad.
The diversity of the cast is a selling point, but Poehler stresses the show should be looked at as having a much larger appeal.
鈥淭his is a lens in which to tell a working-woman story that I haven鈥檛 quite seen before. This idea that whenever we鈥檙e doing it all, there鈥檚 about two or three things on that list that we feel like we鈥檙e giving 10 per cent to,鈥� Poehler says. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 so fun about the show is it takes a very human and real look at parenting, and the characters that Sarayu and Paul [Adelstein] play are a real team. What they share is the knowledge that they know very little about what they鈥檙e doing.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e well aware that they鈥檙e in over their heads a lot of time. I love watching that messiness, because I think that too often in television, especially women in television, are supposed to have all the answers, but we never get to see them. They never have to show their work. And so there鈥檚 a lot of that in the show which is great. Big mistakes and big swings.鈥�
Executive producer Aseem Batra adds that I Feel Bad is a comedy that reflects the way families in 2018 look. The bottom line to cast and crew is you can have a family that looks like this without it being a thing. That鈥檚 the story they are trying to tell.
Proof that the series was not created to promote one culture is that the role Blue landed originally was not written specifically to be played by someone from India.
鈥淭his role was just a role,鈥� says Blue. 鈥淲hen I was auditioning with people, it was every ethnicity. And they were just looking for the right person. And when they then cast me in it, obviously we got South Asian parents, and made it more specific in that sense.
鈥淏ut this was not specifically written to be this style. This just ended up being that because that鈥檚 how we got here, which is really cool.鈥�
The tweaking to build around Blue鈥檚 Indian heritage has made her happy. The Wisconsin native recalls watching a lot of family comedies when she was younger, but never saw anyone who looked like her. The dream she had was she would one day be on one of those family comedies and now that it has happened, she feels good.
Blue laughs and says getting to this point has been a long road, as she鈥檚 been offered a lot of roles as doctors over the years. That includes playing Dr. Sydney Napur in David E. Kelley鈥檚 TNT medical drama Monday Mornings. She also has appeared on No Tomorrow, The Real O鈥橬eals, Sons of Tucson, Wisdom of the Crowd, Grey鈥檚 Anatomy, The Big Bang Theory, Franklin & Bash and Harry鈥檚 Law.
鈥淲hen I first started out, the roles I would be sent out to audition for where very specific,鈥� Blue says. 鈥淭hen it started branching out to roles of any ethnicity. I could press my agents to send me out for other roles, but whether the roles up in that direction is the difficult part. This is very new territory to be able to read for a lead role like this.鈥�
Adelstein, who plays the father counterpart to Blue鈥檚 character, likes that the show uses the perspective of a working mom to show the kind of anxieties that aren鈥檛 specific to any nationality. He calls it a 鈥渕odern anxiety鈥� that makes them feel bad.
The series gives Adelstein the opportunity to work in a comedy arena, not the typical acting playground for him. His most recent work has included the series Chance, Girlfriends鈥� Guide to Divorce and Prison Break. He spent six seasons as Dr. Cooper Freedman on Private Practice.
NBC is trying to give I Feel Bad, the only original comedy the network will launch as part of the fall season, the best chance to attract viewers.
The network has picked up the discarded Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but it has been around for five years. To make sure the new series gets as many eyes as possible for the first episode, it will debut Wednesday following the season finale of America鈥檚 Got Talent. The series will launch in its normal time slot at 9:30 p.m. on Central Oct. 4.
