Sharp, popular series like Abbott Elementary and Ghosts are proving that broadcast comedy is not dead. And you’ll want to make sure to add NBC‘s Grand Crew to the list of must-see sitcoms on TV right now.
The series about a group of friends living in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Silverlake and typically hanging out at a local wine bar struck a chord with viewers when it premiered in December 2021, and the second season kicks off on Friday, March 3. As co-stars Nicole Byer (Nicky) and Echo Kellum (Noah) explain ahead of the new season, there are cliffhangers to address when the show returns.
Speaking of Nicky and her secret romance, Byer teases, “I don’t want to give it away, but it’s something that you might not expect,” before adding of her character’s mystery beau, “He’s a great scene partner. He’s so funny. And it’s such a fun arc because you think it’s going well and then it’s like, ‘Uh oh.’”
Kellum’s Noah also had a bit of a cliffhanger from the first season finale when his girlfriend, Simone (Ashleigh Morghan) told him she was going to be deported. “We definitely answer that cliffhanger from Season 1 and delve into that in the earlier parts of Season 2, as you got to see,” he says. “I really love where Noah is going with the romance this season and also self-love still. He’s still leaning into that.”
With a cast of funny people — Aaron Jennings (Anthony), Justin Cunnigham (Wyatt), Gracie Mercedes (Fay), and Carl Tart (Sherm) — how closely does the cast stay to the scripts since improv could come into play? “Our scripts are super tight,” says Byer, “so once we get the rhythm of the scene, the pacing of the scene, sometimes I’m like, ‘Let me throw a little sauce on it. Let me try this, let me try that.’ Then, sometimes a director will go, ‘Hey, stop.’” In fact, both she and Kellum were proud that recent lines they threw in did end up making it into the final cut of an episode.
Kellum then discusses a montage with the other guys in an episode (directed by Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s Melissa Fumero) that is an homage to an iconic R&B video. “We all rewatched that R&B video multiple times to get the vibes, to get the rhythm. That was a really, really fun scene,” he shares.
Watch the full video above!
Grand Crew, Fridays, 8:30/7:30c, NBC
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