Parents always try to the best they can, so follow a group of single parents while they attempt to live their lives and raise little ones in ABC’s new television series, Single Parents.
This ensemble comedy follows a group of single parents as they lean on each other to help raise their 7-year-old kids and maintain some kind of personal lives outside of parenthood. The series begins when the group meets Will, a 30-something guy who’s been so focused on raising his daughter that he’s lost sight of who he is as a man. When the other single parents see just how far down the rabbit hole of PTA, parenting, and princesses Will has gone, they band together to get him out in the dating world and make him realize that being a great parent doesn’t mean sacrificing everything about your own identity.
The new series comes from New Girl creator, writer, and executive producer Elizabeth Meriwether, who teamed up with New Girl writer J.J. Philbin. Meriwether approached ABC because “ABC has such amazing comedies about family and we felt like this was a great home for it.”
As for our characters, Meriwether says “they aren’t necessarily people you would be friends with if you could choose your friends.” Philbin likened it to people “in a foxhole together trying to get through the day.”
Everybody Loves Raymond alum Brad Garrett stars as Douglas and he describes his character as a “strong cup of coffee”; he’s a widower, after losing his exotic-dancer wife. They say ‘play what you know’.”
Leighton Meester, best known for her role in Gossip Girl, told Us Weekly that she brings a lot of her own life into the role, even though she didn’t mean to.
“At first, not intentionally. I’d be like telling stories and then I’m like, ‘You’re gonna use this in the show, aren’t you?’ But I think the character is similar to me in a lot of ways and being a mother and being able to come in and have those experiences and bring it to my work is actually really important to me and it kinda feels good,” said Meester during the interview. She also revealed she will be singing at some point.
Starring Taran Killam (Saturday Night Live) as Will, Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) as Angie, Kimrie Lewis (Scandal) as Poppy, Jake Choi (Front Cover) as Miggy, Marlow Barkley as Sophie, Tyler Wladis as Graham, Devin Trey Campbell as Rory, Grace Hazelett (Why Him?) as Emma, Sadie Hazelett (Why Him?) as Amy, and Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond) as Douglas.
