After changing the way network television viewed queer comedy with their revolutionary sitcom Will & Grace, creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick are set to alter the landscape of the streaming space with Mid-Century Modern, a classic multi-cam comedy series about old friends, new roommates and chosen family.
Executive produced by Ryan Murphy, directed by James Burrows, and starring Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, Nathan Lee Graham and Linda Lavin (in her final on-screen role), Mid-Century Modern is a riotous comedy about three gay best friends who, after an unexpected death, decide to embrace their golden years together in sun-soaked Palm Springs, where the wealthiest one lives with his mother.
As the series sets its premiere this week on Disney+ here in Australia and Hulu in the United States, our Peter Gray spoke with Kohan and Mutchnick about the evolution of their comedy from Will & Grace to now, the content freedom that comes with airing on a streaming service, and how Ryan Murphy got the show wheel’s running more than they could have ever imagined.
Going off the success of Will & Grace and going into a show like (Mid-Century Modern), is there an approach for both of you in seeing this as a natural evolution, as well as a departure? Balancing that familiarity with the unexplored, so to speak?
David Kohan: Yes, that is kind of…that’s pretty much how I would describe it. We didn’t set out to say to each other, “Okay, what’s going to be the next evolutionary step in gay representation on multi-camera sitcoms?” What we did was, we wrote Will & Grace at that age, and now we’re this age, and we want to cover characters that are similar in some ways and very different in others, but they just happen to be our age. That’s the whole of it.
Being on a streaming service, as much as this is a multi-cam sitcom, which I was so glad to see as a format still being around, but does it give you a certain license to go places you couldn’t before? I’ll say the language in this show was unexpected! When the great Linda Lavin says what time is…that was awesome. But being on a streaming service, do you feel like you have that buffer? To say what you perhaps wanted to say back then?
Max Mutchnick: I mean, it’s part of the job. I’m glad to hear that you like multi-cams. It sounds like you want to see that format again. We felt like with this go around, we got to freshen up the way it’s done, and because we’re on Hulu they allowed us to go to places that we weren’t allowed to go when we were on a network like NBC with Will & Grace.
And speaking of the great Linda Lavin, and that final episode of hers is handled so beautifully, but the chemistry of this cast is so key. How did it come about that you got Linda, Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer…everyone feels so lived in as characters. How did that process go about for you in finding the right people to give us these beautiful characters?
Max Mutchnick: A lot of luck. And Ryan Murphy.
David Kohan: We had Nathan Lane in mind when we wrote it. It was his voice in our heads when we were writing the character of Bunny Schneiderman, but we had no idea whether or not we’d be able to get him. And then when Ryan got involved, he said, “I think this would be a good vehicle for Nathan Lane.” It’s like, “Really? You do? Because we think so too.” He said that he would give him the script on the set of one of his shows and see what he says. That’s exactly what happened. The next day (Nathan) was doing our show. It was really one of those extraordinary things where things can come together quickly when Ryan Murphy’s on it.
Max Mutchnick: There was a lot that took place in the making of this show that felt like it was meant to be, (that) this was going to work. Writing is always difficult, but it was fun for us to write this and then hand it over to Ryan and have Nathan get on board. And then Matt Bomer came on board, and we were lucky enough to find Nathan Lee Graham, and the great Linda Lavin. It just felt like it was all meant to be, and that was bigger than us. It had nothing to do with us. We just wrote this script and the right people responded to it.
You can tell it was a lot of fun to write. I couldn’t be happier that a show like this exists in this time. It’s the kind of show that we need to have, to show that this type of comedy still matters. It really meant so much to me, so thank you for creating this show. And I hope we get a season two, because I need more of these characters!
Max Mutchnick: You’re very kind.
David Kohan: It’s very gratifying hearing you say all this. Thank you for saying.
Max Mutchnick: Tell your neighbours!
All episodes of Mid-Century Modern are available to stream on Disney+ in Australia and Hulu in the United States from March 28th, 2025.
