"It's been an absolute blast. I can't recall ever being part of something that garnered such an immediate and overwhelming positive response," Tina Fey exclaimed, reflecting on the past few weeks as 'The Four Seasons,' a series she co-created and stars in, made its debut on Netflix.
The show, which takes its cue from the 1981 romantic comedy of the same name directed by Alan Alda, follows three couples embarking on seasonal vacations - spring, summer, fall, and winter - encountering marital and friendship challenges along the way. In a shocking twist, Steve Carell's character, Nick, who had divorced his wife Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver) and was in a relationship with the much younger Ginny (Erika Henningsen), met a tragic end in a car accident during the second-to-last episode. Fey addressed this plot development at an Emmy FYC event on Monday.
From the outset, Fey and her co-creators, Tracey Wigfield and Lang Fisher, had envisioned Nick's death and disclosed this fate to Carell when they first pitched him the project, she revealed to The Hollywood Reporter. "He responded with something like, 'Why does this keep happening to me?'" Fey joked, recalling Carell's character's similarly heartbreaking conclusion in 'The Morning Show.' "I didn't know about that when we pitched it, so that's on me. But I stood my ground," she admitted.
Elaborating on the decision to deviate from the film's plot and incorporate a death, Fey explained, "At that time, we felt that the story was grounded and on a human scale, and we wanted something significant to happen - something that could realistically occur in human life." Fisher added, "We wanted the show to truly mirror the lives of these characters. And in your 50s, it's not far-fetched to imagine losing a friend. We aimed for the show to have significant human stakes, and thus, someone dying and the group having to come together to cope with it felt appropriate."
Shortly after its premiere, the series was renewed for a second season, and Fey disclosed that they had already commenced the writers' room last week. "It's been delightful. We have the same writing staff, and it's been incredibly engaging for us to converge and share experiences. We've not only talked about the previous season but also our personal lives," she continued. "The writers have been incredibly generous - much of what you saw in season one stems from the movie, but equally from our own lives." She further noted that without the movie serving as a template as in the first season, "we're essentially starting anew."
Wigfield remarked, "In some ways, it's challenging to start anew without the movie as a guide. However, in many ways, the second season of any show is much easier because you've already made numerous decisions. We know these characters inside out," she added. "We set up intriguing dynamics in the finale. Ginny is pregnant, and this group of friends is moving forward in the aftermath of their friend's death. There's going to be fascinating material to explore, and we're already discussing it. It's incredibly exciting."
