‘Call Your Mother’ creator Kari Lizer reveals impact of Covid on sitcom Empty-Nester – Deadline

Call your mother Creator Kari Lizer said the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has impacted her new ABC sitcom, starring Kyra Sedgwick, in more than one way.

Written and executive produced by the New Adventures of Old Christine creator, the new ABC comedy is set in a world that survived the fatal Covid-19 pandemic, which in reality continues to rage in parts of the country. The sitcom characters roam freely without masks or the need for social distancing in this post-Covid world – a setting that was born out of a desire for normalcy, Lizer said.

“Covid is part of the world, we just made the decision to start the series after we were all quarantined and masked because frankly we had had enough of this,” Lizer said during the panel.

Revolving around the unique and empty nesting box of Sedgwick, which travels the country to reintegrate into the lives of her children; Call your mother does not pretend that the dark months of disease and infection do not exist. Instead, the series uses midlife and feelings of isolation to heighten Jean Raines (Sedgwick) ‘s desperation to find her children.

“We’re talking about what 40s was for Jean, actually it kind of intensified her experience of being separated from her children and it impacted the level of her feeling of being disconnected from her children,” he said. added Lizer.

During the panel, Lizer, Sedgwick and other castmates, including Joey Bragg and Rachel Sennott, explained that Call your mother isn’t just about reigniting a faded connection with loved ones. The series also makes a case for building new relationships, at a time when Zoom calls and socially distant dates and celebrations have become the new normal.

“We are at a point where we feel disconnected. I 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 like they’ve lost their connection with each other, a show about people trying to find each other.”

Call your mother also stars Patrick Brammall, Emma Caymares and Austin Crute. The series is produced by Sony Pictures Television and ABC Signature alongside 20th Television and Touchstone Television.

Call your mother debuts on ABC on January 13 at 9:30 p.m. PST.