On May 29, “Abbott Elementary” creator and star Quinta Brunson received the key to the city of Philadelphia.
As a Philly native, Brunson never planned to set her series elsewhere. “Abbott” is based on her own elementary school and her mother’s experience as a teacher, and the show’s Philadelphia setting is part of its unforgettable charm.
“Quinta loves Philadelphia, loves it so deeply that she pores over every little detail that is Philly specific in the show, down to what’s in the vending machines in the school,” showrunner Justin Halpern told IndieWire. “She has a deep, deep love for the city, and because of that she wants the show to feel as authentic as possible.”
TV fans may have noticed that Philadelphia is having a moment; from “Abbott” to the ongoing “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (and their unlikely but seamless crossover) and “Deli Boys” in the comedy world to dramatic projects like Peacock’s “Long Bright River” and “Dope Thief” starring Brian Tyree Henry. It stands out from the popularity of other cities on TV (especially New York or Los Angeles) by embodying “an energy and a specific vibe.”
“So often when you’re creating shows or taking pitches out, you’re like, ‘Where should we set this?,’” Halpern said. “Sometimes it doesn’t really matter. You can set it anywhere — but you’re making a real choice when you set something in Philly.”
A Place to Be Free
When “Deli Boys” creator Abdullah Saeed first wrote the sample script that would become his Hulu series, it was set in New York. Despite the notes of “Succession” in “Deli Boys,” he wanted it to be fun, but remembered New York as “stressful and anxiety-inducing.”
“I want to love it,” he said of “Deli Boys.” “So I wanted it to be set in Philadelphia.”
In Philly, the Dar brothers (Saagar Shaikh and Asif Ali) made sense as “low-rent moguls” in an environment less cutthroat (and less policed) than New York. “I do think of Philadelphia, especially south Philadelphia, as a somewhat lawless place, where as a young college student I would get wild with my friends and it seemed there was no consequences,” Saeed said. “College kids are the least of the Philly Police Department’s problems, right? It felt like a place to be very free.”
While “Deli Boys” takes a humorous and “explosive” approach to local crime, “Long Bright River” stays true to the serious takeaways of Liz Moore’s eponymous novel. The limited series is based on her experiences growing up and volunteering in the Kensington area, which became a “North Star” for production, according to showrunner Nikki Toscano.
“Because of Liz’s close ties and presence in that community, I think that there was an openness to help us portray it accurately, as well as an investment in educating the cast and crew on what it felt like to live there,” she told IndieWire. “When you’re carefully coordinating with the people that work there and live there, with your production design departments, with your music departments, with casting and everything, it enriches what it is you’re trying to accomplish.”
“Long Bright River” filmed in New York, but brought in a number of Kensington locals to educate those working on the show about life in the neighborhood and especially dealing with substance abuse, a central theme of the show. Many of the smaller speaking and background roles were played by Philadelphia actors, and Philly graffiti artists came out to tag the sets and leave their mark on the visuals.
Toscano said that the city has been underrepresented, which is part of the allure drawing storytellers there. “I do think that there is a spirit to the community in Philadelphia that people are trying to represent and use as a metaphor for their series, and I think that we are no exception to that,” she said.
“Philly Is America”
During a Zoom meeting to write out the “Abbott” and “Always Sunny” crossover, Brunson and Rob McElhaney got very excited about “some in-the-weeds Philly thing,” Halpern recalled.
“For like two minutes they were in a fugue state where they were just talking about Philly shit that was so deep in the weeds that even some of the Philly people were like, ‘We don’t really know what you’re talking about,’” he said. “When you meet somebody who has that same kind of love for your town, it feels connective.”
Saeed found that kinship with “Deli Boys” showrunner Michelle Nader, who was born and raised in South Philly and once appeared in a Geno’s Steaks commercial. Though the show filmed in Chicago, Saeed doesn’t feel that it compromised the city’s spirit at all.
“In an ideal world, we would have our exact same crew that we had in Chicago, and shoot in Philly,” he said. “But that doesn’t make any sense, so… the actors are all playing characters Chicago’s playing Philly.”
From the college culture to the diehard sports fans, Halpern said that Philly pride is infectious — and once you’re in, you stay in.
“If there’s a group of friends and one friend everybody shits on, but then somebody outside of that group tries to shit on them, they’ll be like, ‘Hey, nobody talks shit about our friend except for us,’” he said.
“Abbott” films on-location roughly once a season, this time for the Season 4 finale episode. Co-showrunner Patrick Schumaker recalled the surreal experience of that journey, “he looks on people’s faces as they entered the plane as other passengers on the plane as they started to do the math.”
“They’d notice one cast member, then ping pong to another, then another, then another, and the looks of like joyful recognition and wonder about what they’re all doing on this plane was really cool,” he said. “It was really indicative of just how meaningful the show is to Philadelphians.”
One day on set, the mayor showed up; another day it was representatives from the Philadelphia Eagles, including offensive tackle Jordan Mailata and the actual Lombardi trophy. The show’s casting department receives constant requests for guest spots, but Philly gets the priority (and even then it can be tricky to organically write into the story, like Bradley Cooper as himself).
Schumaker said Philadelphia represents a perfect microcosm of the country, on its best days and its worst. And when Hollywood gets too high on its bullshit, Philly is the perfect chaser.
“You can act like an asshole in LA you can act like an asshole in New York — and you might even be champion for it in both those places,” Schumaker said. “But you can’t be a bullshit phony in Philly and get away with it. I really do feel like that’s the best of America: Philly is not going to buy your bullshit.”
Source link
