Call your mom creator Kari Lizer revealed that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has affected her new ABC sitcom, starring Kyra Sedgwick, in more ways than one.
Written and executed by the New adventures of old Christine creator, the new ABC comedy takes place in a world that survived the fatal Covid-19 pandemic, which is in fact raging in parts of the country. The characters of the sitcom roam free without masks or the need for social distance in this post-Covid world – an environment that arose out of a desire for a degree of normality, Lizer said.
“Covid is part of the world, we just made the decision to start the series after we were all quarantined and in masks, because honestly, we’ve had enough of it,” Lizer said during the panel.
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Wrap around the single, empty nest of Sedgwick, who travels across the country to put herself back in her children’s lives; Call your mom does not pretend that the dark months of illness and infection do not exist. Instead, the series uses quarantine and feelings of isolation to reinforce Jean Raines (Sedgwick)’s desperation to reunite with her children.
“We do talk about how quarantined it was for Jean, it increased her experience of being separated from her children a bit and it had an impact on the level of her disconnection from her children,” Lizer added.
During the panel, Lizer, Sedgwick and co-stars, including Joey Bragg and Rachel Sennott, explained that Call your mom is not just about re-establishing a faded connection with loved ones. The series also matters for building new relationships, during a time when Zoom calls and socially-distant dates and celebrations have become the new norm.
“We are at a time when we feel disconnected. “I just think the state of the world, the state of the pandemic, has made us all feel really isolated,” Lizer added. “I think it’s a show about people who feel they have lost touch with each other, a show about people trying to find each other again.”
Call your mom Patrick Brammall, Emma Caymares and Austin Crute also star in the lead roles. The series is produced by Sony Pictures Television & ABC Signature along with 20th Television and Touchstone Television.
Call your mom debuted on ABC on January 13 at 9:30 p.m. PST.