Nathan Lane, Nathan Lee Graham & Matt Bomer star in a bold new sitcom from the creators of Will & Grace
It’s not every comedy that kicks off with a funeral, but Mid-Century Modern isn’t just any comedy. The latest from Will & Grace creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan begins with old friends Bunny (Nathan Lane), Arthur (Nathan Lee Graham) and Jerry (Matt Bomer) reuniting in Palm Springs to say goodbye to their recently deceased pal George. When Bunny impulsively invites the other two to live with him in his expansive mansion, they take him up on it — despite the presence of his acerbic mother, Sybil (Linda Lavin).
If the premise of three single gay men of a certain age living together with the mother of one of them seems a tad familiar, that’s not coincidental. As Lane explained, he was sent the script by über-producer Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story). “And you know, he referred to it as the ‘gay Golden Girls.’ So that was troubling — on so many levels,” Lane jokes.
“And then I read it, and it lived up to all of the expectations and beyond. It was just hilariously funny, and I thought very well set up and smart, and you saw where it could go, where the potential was for these characters and where they were in their lives. And so, yes, once I read it, it was an easy yes.”
According to Mutchnick, the “gay Golden Girls” descriptor is superficially accurate, but “served more as a way to pitch the show very quickly. It’s a shorthand that you understood.” In fact, he noted that the idea had been gestating for quite some time. “It’s an area that we’ve always been interested in. We like, you know, the personalities of older people . . . let’s call them more seasoned. And it’s always something that has interested us.”
Sadly, tragedy struck when 87-year-old Lavin passed away in the midst of production. “She was just an extraordinary, one-of-a-kind actress who could do comedy or drama, and brilliantly,” said Lane. “And I think she was just — she was in a great place in her life. She was very happy in her marriage, and I think this experience was really wonderful for her, and certainly it was wonderful for us to have her there and get to work with her. And so . . . you know, she’s greatly missed.”
In the ninth episode, Lavin’s death is addressed when her character, Sybil Schneiderman, passes away. Admitting that scripting that episode was “one of the scariest things” they’d ever done, Kohan adds: “One of the things that Linda had said to us shortly before she died, when she knew she was ill, she said, ‘Whatever is happening to me, put it into the character, put it into the script.’ That was sort of our directive. Whatever happens, put it in the script — and we ended up using a lot of who she was and what the circumstances were around her situation.”
That said, the core of this show is the relationship between the three men, and Lane offers some insight into why Bunny would want to have roommates. “I don’t think he’s ever had that great romantic relationship, and I think that’s the big realization for him is that this chosen family is, as he says, his love story,” Lane explains. “And so, you know, obviously, there’s going to be issues whenever you put humans all together in one space. But I find it very moving and it makes a lot of sense and, hopefully, it also makes for a lot of great comedy.”
For Bomer, it’s that long-standing bond between the three friends that’s at the heart of Mid-Century Modern. “I think the idea of found family resonates profoundly with me. And I think I would say — I don’t mean to speak for everybody or generalize — but for a lot of folks in the queer community it resonates,” he says. “I think as much as I love the family I was born into, my found family is who I really got to explore my authenticity with. And I think on the show and with these characters and the circumstances they’re under, it makes all the sense in the world that they decide to cohabitate because they come together over a death of a friend. I think that’s a time when you’re all mourning, but you’re also thinking, ‘What’s my future look like?’”
Mid-Century Modern, streaming on Disney+