If The Golden Girls had gay besties, they’d totally be the sunshine boys of Mid-Century Modern. Unapologetically queer and audaciously TV-MA, Hulu‘s new comedy from Will & Grace creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan essentially redesigns Golden Girls retirees Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche into buddies Bunny, Jerry, and Arthur — played by Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, and Nathan Lee Graham. The late Linda Lavin is also there as Sybil, Bunny’s Sophia-esque mother. And like the iconic Girls, these guys pack as much sass as Bea Arthur‘s withering glares.
“I haven’t done a [multi-camera sitcom] in a very long time, so it certainly helps to do it with some of the best,” says Lane, whose lingerie-biz mogul Bunny invites Bomer’s flaky airline attendant and Graham’s cultured ex-Vogue columnist to move into his sprawling Palm Springs home after the death of their fourth friend, George. “It’s also been so much fun to hear the audiences laughing and having such a great time, roaring at some of the outrageousness of it.” (All 10 episodes stream at the show’s premiere.)
The idea of three later-in-life gay men sharing a place and shooting the shade “had been bouncing around just with the two of us for a while,” notes Mutchnick. Things really fell into place when he discussed his and Kohan’s concept over dinner with American Horror Story and Doctor Odyssey exec producer Ryan Murphy, who immediately bit. “Ryan knows something good when he hears it,” Mutchnick continues. “And he said, ‘I want to do that with you guys.’” If that wasn’t enough gin in the gimlet, the duo was even able to secure legendary director James L. Burrows to helm the entire season. Also joining the party — a magnificent list of guest stars, including Pamela Adlon, Kim Coles, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Stephanie Koenig, Judd Hirsch, Richard Kind, and Rhea Perlman.
Rhea Perlman in Mid-Century Modern (Disney / Christopher Willard)
For the show’s still-randy roomies, Murphy’s connections to the project paid off quickly. But while Lane, an alum of the über-producer’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, is a top- tier comic force, Bomer is a surprise choice for the flamboyant Jerry, given his more dramatic turns in Murphy’s AHS and The Normal Heart. “I like to scare myself a bit and to stretch as an actor,” the seemingly ageless Bomer admits. “Working with these iconic actors, writers and director seemed like a pretty great way to do it. I was just watching and trying to keep up.” As for Graham, it was his stiletto-sharp timing and inimitable style that slayed Mutchnick and Kohan. “We had described Arthur as a cross between André Leon Talley and James Baldwin,” Kohan explains, citing the two famed writers. “He had to be erudite and literate and kind of an intellectual snob…that’s a hard needle to thread.”
Graham also had to spark with his costars, which the Katy Keene scene stealer nails with aplomb. “It felt like we had been doing it for years when we started,” Graham notes. “Maybe it’s because we all, including Linda, came from the theater, so there’s a bit of ‘kindred spirits’ going on.”
“We knew this was going to work because of the generosity they showed one another and the natural chemistry they had,” echoes Mutchnick. “There was none of that stuff where there’s an icky one in the bunch.”
If anything, they had a perfect den mother in Lavin, who sadly passed away in December shortly after being diagnosed with lung cancer. How the guys — and the entire MCM team — will handle the loss remains to be seen, but based on the heaps of heart tucked under the hilarity of the early episodes’ botched dates, houseboy woes and tricky father-daughter reunions, it seems Lavin’s Sybil leaves behind loved ones who lift each other up most when things fall apart. “It took the show in a direction that obviously we weren’t expecting and never wanted to go,” confirms Lane. “But in many ways, for my character to lose the most important relationship in his life only makes this chosen family of Arthur and Jerry all the more important.”
And there is nothing mid about that.
Mid-Century Modern, Series Premiere, Friday, March 28, Hulu
