In "The Kids Are Alright" Eight Is Definitely Enough

Doyle pictured below the fifth of eight boys may not be a household name though his work is well known amp160He has produced and written for shows that are comedy gold Roseanne Grace Under Fire Sports Night The Big Bang Theory Last Man Standing and Speechlessamp160 The Kids Are Alright is inspired by his childhood in the 3970squotI didnamp8217t expect anyone would be interested in the Tim Doyle origin storyamp8221 he admitted to MediaVillage in a recent interviewamp160 amp8220The fact that stuff that is so personal to me feels relatable to other people is surprising amp160I am pretty narcissistic but not so narcissistic that I think everything about me is fascinatingquotThe most contrived part of the pilot is that the family has eight boys which is also the most accuratequot he explainedamp160 quotIamp160grew up in a family of eight boys no girlsamp160 Yes some of the material some of the inspiration some of the moments have been kind of divvied up to different characters and this and thatamp160 The character of Timmy who is a bit of a jackass who39s got this wonderful verve for putting himself in front of the audience that39s pretty much meBut there is more about the show that may connect presentday viewers to stories set five decades agoamp160amp160quotWe are living in a time with a lot of political divisivenessquot Doyle saidamp160 quotThere39s a generational divisiveness rightamp160amp160There are younger people that feel one way and older people that feel anotheramp160 There39s waramp160 There39s a president who gets on a lot of our nerves and perhaps may not finish out his term knock on woodamp160 And you know there39s lots of stuff to comment on that makes 1972 feel a lot like 2018amp160 I think the parallels kind of suggest themselvesquotWhile his brothers went on to more traditional careers Doyle recalled amp8220I looked like I was headed for neamp8217erdowell status through my 20samp8221 amp160Growing up he was interested in writing and acting and did some commercials including one for McDonaldamp8217s amp160After graduating from USCamp8217s School of Cinematic Arts he landed a job on the show Dinosaurs and has worked steadily ever since learning the business along the wayThe Kids Are Alrightamp160was not his first title choice he admittedamp160 He expects comparisons to The Wonder Years because both are set in the same periodamp160 Coming of age in the 1970s was a very specific experience amp160Doing so with brothers fighting over a pork chop and when one has to sleep under the dining room table sets this show in very much its own spacePeggy Cleary the mom is a woman who knows how to stretch a budget and has zero bandwidth for shenanigansamp160 While she could easily be distracted drunk or ditsy she is instead focused frugal and funny amp160Sheamp8217s so hyper aware she can read a sonamp8217s bad thoughts before theyamp8217re fully formedamp160 Mary McCormack In Plain Sight The West Wing brings a sly loving kindness to the role even when she is terrorizing her sons by telling them they could get ricketsquotThere was aamp160 funny kind of offhand unintentional cruelty that my mother had that sometimes just her way of expressing apprehensions of life outside of our homequot he recalled amp160quotThe process of making the show and casting the show was a process of letting go of actual specifics of who my family members are and take their various attributes and share them among the actors who were castquotYou look at them and see whatamp8217s fun about them so it shifts from person in your head to person in the room and start to write for the person that actor isquot he continuedamp160 quotAll of the characters have changedamp160 Thatamp8217s good because my brothers did not sign up to be characters in a sitcomquotamp160Doyle marveledamp160at his luck in being able to cast McCormackamp160amp160amp8220I was astonished that Mary wanted to come in and auditionamp8221 he said amp160amp8220She is a nononsense woman a very sensible woman amp160When she read I knew we wouldnamp8217t do any betteramp8221Plus she knows this family in her bones amp8220I grew up in the 70s as only one of threeamp8221 McCormack pictured at top told MediaVillage at an ABC party amp160amp8220But I have 50 first cousinsamp8221McCormack39samp160onscreen hubby Michael Cudlitz pictured at top had something to say about the time period tooamp160 amp8220Thereamp8217s no filter on the amp821670squot he laughedamp160 quotThey are portraying it to pretty close to what it wasquotAlthough sitcom dads are often written as hapless Cudlitz The Walking Dead Southland is very wise as Mike Cleary amp160A sweet scene in the pilot reveals him to be accepting of his oldest sonamp8217s decision to leave seminary while counseling him to stay in college amp160Mikeamp8217s lack of a degree held him back amp8220My father scratched the Earth for a livingamp8221 he says amp160amp8220I want my sons reaching for the starsamp8221amp8220He plays all these tough guys and killers and copsamp8221 Doyle said of Cudlitz amp160amp8220Yet he is one of the most gentle affectionate guys you have ever met in your life amp160He is a very very nice guy who happens to carry this wonderful mantle of intimidation wherever he goesamp8221A mantle of intimidation is precisely what some might assume is a component of Doyleamp8217s position as showrunner amp160He described the work as amp8220definitely the biggest job you can have in television in terms of response and power amp160Itamp8217s what you think of with an oldtime movie producer or auteur movie director amp160You have as much control as you can over the creative aspects of the show and you supervise all of it amp160The only limitation is your staminaamp8221At 59 he acknowledged needing at least six hours of sleep a night amp160And after a career in TV including shows that looked as if they would be successful but werenamp8217t Doyle is philosophical about this comedyamp8217s successamp8220I do not assume anythingamp8221 he said amp160amp8220I have been involved in enough shows that you feel if people find it they will like it amp160The marketplace so scattered right now and there are so many really worthy things people donamp8217t find amp160Our competition is against The Voice amp160So there is a decent chance that people wonamp8217t ever find their way to this show amp160Thatamp8217s okay those are the vagaries of this businessamp8221Click the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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In "The Kids Are Alright" Eight Is Definitely Enough

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In "The Kids Are Alright" Eight Is Definitely Enough

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Jacqueline Cutler

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