After three seasons spoofing showbiz toxicity, The Other Two ends as HR complaints surface
Amid HR complaints against the show’s creators, Max announced The Other Two will end with season three
Aux Features The Other Two
The Other Two, a show nearing the conclusion of one of the most inventive and sharpest seasons of comedic TV in recent memory, will not be returning for another run. This isn’t another one of David Zaslav’s cost-saving measures. The show is ending where creators Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider “always knew” they “wanted to end.”
As if that weren’t already crushing news for those who loved the show, following it from its early days in the wastelands of Comedy Central to its resurgence on HBO Max, where it finally grabbed an audience, The Hollywood Reporter notes that creators Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider were the subject of numerous HR complaints, accusing Kelly of verbally abusing writers and Schneider of enabling him. Considering all the parodies of such behavior on the show, the story paints an ironic portrait of the creators. “There’s a lot of Chris and Sarah in the show,” one source said, describing them as “improvisers” and the show about “people who hungering for fame” as “their friends and colleagues became well-known.”
“It’s a lot like the show.”
The complaints spurred a formal investigation, during which Kelly and Schneider were allegedly barred from the set. Both were cleared of wrongdoing despite their behavior becoming folklore in the industry. “Writers tell stories about The Other Two writers’ rooms like other people tell ghost stories,” one source said. But it’s not like it was that secret. At the PEN America Literary Awards in March, Tina Fey hinted at this open secret, blaming Kelly and Schneider’s old SNL boss Lorne Michaels for fostering this kind of environment. “Nobody indulges writers like Lorne Michaels,” she said. “Lorne, you have unleashed an army of monsters into the world. You know it, I know it, and the crew of The Other Two knows it—oh, I was supposed to change that.”
But that’s not why the show is ending. Kelly and Schneider said they wanted to end the show with three seasons. However, speaking with A.V. Club in March, they said they were “not sure” about another season. “We have not decided yet. We could go either way. The season stands on its own, but we always could keep going. No decision.”
For now, though, they’re sticking to the three seasons explanation. “It is bittersweet to say goodbye to the Dubek family after three seasons, but we always knew, both creatively and personally, that this was where we wanted to end their stories,” Kelly and Schneider said in a joint statement. “And because we are quite literally out of ways to humiliate Drew Tarver, so what’s the point? We are deeply grateful to everyone (gays) who watched the show, to Max for giving us a second home and life, and to our writers, producers, and crew, who gave so much of their time, talent, and passion to this show over the last 45ish years.”
It is a shame to end the show amid such ugly reports. The Other Two was undoubtedly one of the funniest and wittiest comedies on TV, consistently meeting the moment with incisive observations about modern culture. That it was allegedly produced under the conditions the show lampoons is another disappointment in an entertainment landscape riddled with them.
The final episode of The Other Two airs on June 29.
78 Comments
What great shows were known for also being great work environments?
Judging by the bloopers and the behind the scenes, Breaking Bad looked like a really fun set to be on. Same with Hannibal. It seems the darker shows foster the more lighthearted behind the scenes working environments, perhaps out of necessity given the material.
I do find it weird how often the characters from that show appear in commercial or other things together. Definitely seems like they like spending time together. Like… three of them are now hawking Pop Chips?
It’s almost as if they like a lot of money for a small amount of work
Pop Chips? I blame Little Joey Hodges.
Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul also have a tequila brand they work on together. Seems like they’re actually friends.
TIGHT! TIGHT TIGHT TIGHT!
Malcolm and Malcolm Jr just had a great guest spot in It’s Always Sunny and it convinced me, Bryan Cranston should totally do a drama!
there seems to be an inversion that quite often horror movies/shows can seem to be quite often be fun shoots ?
Vince Gillian is famously a very kind person and a great boss. Which is refreshing.
Some actors have said that horror is the most fun to shoot. Horror is made in the editing bay, while shooting it just feels silly and ridiculous
Yeah, apparently Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould were mensch bosses and BB/BCS were wonderful environments.
The Good Place? Parks and Rec? Barry? Not being snarky, I believe these genuinely had good environments. No situation is perfect but these of three of seemingly good ones.
Yeah, hearing the way Bill Hader talked about his crew it seemed like he really fostered a very health environment. He has said that they rarely went over 8 hours a day while shooting, maybe 10 if it was an especially difficult shoot. That’s pretty rare in Hollywood.
Barry definitely. Everyone said Henry Winkler was just a joy to be around from the top down to the lowest key grip. And apparently it was fun to make Bill Hader break up.
If D’Arcy Carden, Ted Danson, Kristen Bell and… well, everyone on the show are to be believed, The Good Place set was an absolute joy to work on. Heard the same about Parks and Rec so it could be a Mike Schur thing. And a Bill Hader thing, with Barry. It’s not rocket science – when your top personnel care about the show and the people working on it, things can be pleasant.
I’ve heard Schur goes out of his way to foster good environments for his shows, and have heard the same thing about ‘Brooklyn Nine Nine’. Apparently the craft services in particular are top notch.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 seems like a big family.
Although…Jim Mallon is apparently kind of a jerk. But otherwise: yup.
Paging Crow’s New Hair
How come they split into Rifftrax and the other one (Cinema Titanic I think?) after the show?
I hear they got out at 5 every day at Emily Overruled, at least until some jackass showed up on set with a lot of opinions.
There’s one or two old interviews on here where actors talk about going on set during their offdays on Deadwood just to be around.
The only negative thing I’ve heard about the Deadwood set was that Milch was basically writing or changing dialogue right up to the point where the scene needed to be filmed. But it was more that his prose was very Shakespearean so the actors were worried about having enough time to go through it and memorize it. But I think that stemmed from wanting to do the words and the show justice and that everyone loved their time on the set. Man, that show was so good.
Like you imply, every actor I’ve heard mention this never did so negatively. They all seemed so happy to get to act what Milch was writing that it didn’t matter when it came in late.
I read that about Milch too, rewriting right up to the wire. But, no, no actors complained about it that I recall. On that Green Room show (comedians talking about their careers), Franklin Ajaye, when asked what his best job was, said “Deadwood” so quickly I almost applauded. This is a guy who’s been in the business since I think 1973, in comedy clubs, on tv and in movies. He was in 11 Deadwood episodes, plus the movie. No hesitation about what his favorite job was.
Deadwood is so underrated. I know it was critically acclaimed but it never got the widespread traction it deserved. The last season’s dialogue got a little Shakespearean /unnatural for me but I still experience my recollections of the characters in a visceral way that speaks to it’s depth & brilliance… the movie was a decent way to wrap it up for the fans.
I often think of Garrett Dillahunt’s “Past surprise” monologue in terms of some of the best writing meeting some of the best acting to ever grace a TV show.
The entire cast was remarkable (excepting Timothy Olyphant) with Titus Welliver, Kim Dickens & William Sanderson (and of course Ian McShane) being my standouts.
Everybody Loves Raymond famously had one of the best writers rooms.
I’ve been listening to Pod Meets World, getting the full story about Boy Meets World. While it sounds like the cast was very close, there were issues with some of the directors and the show’s creator. I doubt any show’s set is perfect, but there seem to be very few that had universally positive experiences for all involved.
The Dick Van Dyke Show, maybe?
And the show on his show.
Well, there were some tensions between Buddy and Mel, and Alan Brady himself was portrayed as being something of a jerk with a big ego, but it was still far less toxic and more pleasant than most TV productions, apparently…
The people involved with The Sopranos seem like they speak fondly of each other and the experience for the most part. I’ve heard multiple stories of James Gandolfini going to bat for the other actors in the show as far as pay, showing appreciation, and being ok on set. It seems like the times the production people did fail, Gandolfini took care of it. Peter Riegert told a story on Talking Sopranos about how he was supposed to be fully nude for a scene and the director (I think?) was pushing for it even though Riegert wasn’t ok doing that. James Gandolfini basically said to him the show would do whatever Gandolfini wanted and Gandolfini wanted whatever Riegert wanted.
Setting aside Tony Soprano since he’s a fictional character, I wouldn’t have fucked with James Gandolfini either.
Just a few weeks ago there was an article about how good of an experience Barry was for set members because Bill Hader used his experience of working as a production assistant and assistant editor to think about other people.I also think anytime you see a creator or director get the same famous people to work with them over and over, people who can get any movie they want, you can assume it’s a pretty decent place to work.
anytime you see a creator or director get the same famous people to work with them over and over, people who can get any movie they want, you can assume it’s a pretty decent place to work Yeah, that’s usually a good indication. There are actors (I’m not going to name them) who have literally never worked with the same director or producer twice, and that usually means something. It could be the actor is not good to work with, or the director, or producer or even the company…
Very few – and it’s a problem that’s been around since the early days of TV but the internet has made it easier for stories to surface. For example, few people know about the brutal elder abuse that Robert Culp suffered at the hands of Connie Sellecca on the set of “The Greatest American Hero.” Culp actually ate Milk Bone dog biscuits in character on the show because she threatened him with lit cigarettes if he refused.
Where’d you hear that?
From Michael Pare’s maître d’
To be fair, Connie Selleca was pretty hot back in the day.
Seems like I’ve only ever heard good things about the Succession set, and a lot of the cast seems pretty tight. About the worst we’ve seen is Brian Cox vaguely throwing shade at Jeremy Strong’s acting methods, but the latter doesn’t seem to have taken it personally.
From what I’ve read watched, they all seemed fairly annoyed with Strong.
I can’t speak to “great” work environments, but Scrubs and Bill Lawrence’s other shows do seem to engender very long term relationships. Donald Faison and Zach Braff have basically made a career of their friendship and the friendships of others from the show
I have no direct knowledge of the working environment, but didn’t Bob Odenkirk set up Mr. Show to be the exact opposite of his experience writing at SNL?
Community seemed like it was a good time. Then again after Chevy Chase left everybody talked about how it was awful because of him so who knows what other secrets there actually were that have just gone unmentioned because the problem people stuck around.
“Community seemed like it was a good time” Apart from Dan Harmon sexually harassing one of his writers, publically feuding with Chevy Chase, drinking at work, and getting fired because he was constantly behind and doing last minute rewrites. There was an abnormally large amount of turnover in the writers room from season to season and it was known to be pretty rough on actors and crew with delays and 12+ hour shooting days being the norm, especially in the third season. On the other hand, the actors did seem to laugh a lot in the bloopers. On the other other and, there was a running bet to see how often Chevy Chase would say the N word in front of Donald Glover.
Welp. Like I said, “seemed like”
I watched a Shield reunion with the creator/writer/showrunner and the main acting group. And other than the guy in jail for murder, they all seemed to genuinely miss working together.
I’ve heard a lot of positive behind the scenes stories about The Sopranos, but I’m not sure if your question if genuine or rhetorical. If you’re implying that there’s a correlation between making great shows and treating people like shit, I think that’s a claim that requires more proof.
My question wasn’t rhetorical and I wasn’t implying any correlation.
I know you are asking this rhetorically, but you seem to have fallen under the idea that a great show must be stressful. That’s clearly not the case as other examples show.
How’d you get the idea I thought great shows must be stressful?
This show will be missed. Not by me.
Same. All satire, all the time got old fast.
This whole method acting schtick is getting out of hand.
That really sucks. Such a genuinely funny show. A lot of the premise of the show does make sense now – self-loathing comedians wrote a show about people desperate for fame and recognition while losing sight of what they originally wanted. It could have been seen as self-parody, but now it seems like self-pity. At least take it out on yourself instead of on your employees.
So this is basically an Illuminaughti situation.
dang, I think this is the funniest show in years. and yet, somehow this feels like the perfect ending for Cary and Brooke, to be done in by its creators in a very Hollywood way.
I liked the first season, but really it just made me miss DIFFICULT PEOPLE
Love this show but yeah, Difficult People was its own special thing
I heard it was the blurst of times.
Tina Fey making more jokes about Hollywood malfeasances instead of using her position to actually call anybody out? Shocked.
Within NY production world, Tina is not liked and is infamous for being an asshole.
She called them out by name at an awards show, a pretty public affair.
I’m so fucking tired of these bullshit articles. This is National Enquirer levels of sickness. That’s the irony. Report on your own fucking nightmare work situation instead of projecting out some holier-than-thou horse shit. Work is hard and not fun. Only the insane or those with dream jobs (not fame) find being shut up in the same room with the same people for months on end, talking in circles, writing and rewriting.This is every fucking writers room. No fucking story here.
Hard work and work not being fun is fine. Verbal abuse isn’t.
Except what is considered verbal abuse these days is a pretty low bar…
But there isn’t a single example of “verbal abuse” in the Hollywood Reporter piece to support the allegation.
These include allegations that Kelly verbally abused writers and overworked crew
In other cases there are always a few quotes. Isn’t that a bit suspicious? Not one quote???
Claiming something and hoping something sticks – that’s the only thing that’s sure to have happened here.
And this sounds like a pseudo-psychological character assassination:
“As a team, they’ve been very destructive, but Chris is also mean to Sarah,” explains one The Other Two veteran. Agrees another production source: “Sarah is in a toxic professional relationship with him.”
How “destructive”? How “mean”? Nowhere anything specific. Like somebody gossips about neighbors they don’t really know. They all worked together and they’re writers but they can’t describe one instance in detail?
It’s so sad someone made you click on it, and made you read it, even though you’re definitely “tired of these bullshit articles.” So sad it’s not possible to just skip the ones you don’t want to read.But definitely the feedback of one person will stop them in their tracks. You’re not at all an unhinged narcissist who can’t experience empathy.
Someone’s projecting
If every writers room is constant verbal abuse, they should strike or something. What a weird take to say “this is rampant, therefore don’t talk about it”
Exactly. “This is the way it is and it’s impossible to every change and shitty behavior is just the way of the world, tough shit.” Uh, no, it’s not. Plenty of talented, hard-working people aren’t actually assholes.
Hello Chris and/or Sarah
You’re right. Everyone should be subject to personal abuse from their supervisors simply for trying to perform a job they were hired for. What the fuck were they thinking, right?
I first want to say, I hate that this article exists. No writers rooms should suffer verbal abuse!
But I also want to say I now feel vindicated for my extreme dislike of this series.
This is such a bummer 🙁 on all accounts.