‘Trial & Error’ Showrunner Details Show’s Search for Streaming Home

When news hit earlier this week that NBC let the option to renew Trial & Error for Season 3 lapse, fans of the delightfully bizarre true-crime comedy feared the ol’ murder board was gonna get tossed in the dumpster. It would be a tragically early end for the critically-acclaimed comedy, which has found new life in its second season by focusing on a new case, one involving the extravagantly eccentric Kristin Chenoweth as a lady/killer. The first half of Season 2 has seen the show grow even weirder and double down on elaborate running gags (“lady driver!”), but the fresh case means the show works even if viewers missed out on the John Lithgow season.

Despite the grim headlines, there is still hope for #PeckerNation–the same hope that powers all fans of cult favorites with uncertain futures. WBTV, which produces Trial & Error, is currently in the process of finding a new home for the show. While it’s not new for a show to jump from network to network, it feels like the trend has spiked in recent years–perhaps because there are now dozens of streaming services, “networks” not beholden to traditional advertisers or ratings, looking for content. Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video–all of these services could be the forever home the bingeable Trial & Error has been waiting for.

But what does this process look like? And how hard is it for a show to make the jump from a network to streaming? To get an inside look at this shopping process, Decider spoke with Trial & Error co-creator and executive producer Jeff Astrof over email to find out what lies ahead for this lovable yet under-watched show.

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Decider: Let’s start with a clarification about Trial & Error’s future with NBC.

Jeff Astrof: I want to be clear that NBC didn’t “cancel” the show, they just didn’t pick up the option for season 3.  It’s a subtle difference, but it still means we may have life next year on the peacock.

Trial & Error Season 2 is heavily serialized, I’d say even more so than Season 1. Did the fact that you knew the season would air weekly as opposed to an all-at-once affect how you structured the story? And do you think that airing weekly hurts the show’s pacing?

The show was created to be binge-watched, or at least addictive.  It came from some self-reflection that the only thing I watched anymore was on Netflix or other streaming services, and none of it was comedy.  I had just finished The Staircase (from a DVD, if your readers know what that is) and I thought, “Man, if this was a comedy, it’s a show I would watch!” Of course, it took me two years to convince anybody that there was a comedy version of a guy accused of killing his wife, but once I did, it took off.  So, the short answer is — I write the show how I’d watch the show; how they air it is not in my control.

The addition of Kristin Chenoweth made the show feel super fresh and also accessible to new viewers, since the season focuses on a totally new case. I imagine that’s part of the built-in appeal of the show as you pitch to streaming services, that you can essentially slot in any number of mega-talented, magnetic performers into a starring role, backed up by a ridiculously talented ensemble. Do you think this endlessly refreshable format works better on networks or streaming?

I want to back up to give credit for my partner, Matt Miller, for this idea. But first I’d like to back up even further to a story I heard, which may be apocryphal, but is still excellent.  I had heard that the great William Goldman was given the script to Back to School, the Rodney Dangerfield movie that was on continuous loop in my college house, to punch up.  He wrote three words on the cover of the script— allegedly for $100k— “Make Rodney Rich”. That changed the entire movie.  Now, back to Matt Miller.

When I first pitched the idea to my studio, it was so out of my experience as a multi-cam tv writer that they asked if I would mind partnering up with a drama writer.  My first instinct was “how dare you!”— which is my first response, really to anything. Then, as always, I caved. Matt and I hit it off immediately; he watched The Staircase and got my vision of the show, then added his Make Rodney Rich moment, “let’s do a new case every year. That way we stay fresh and can hire an actor who normally wouldn’t do television.”  That changed everything.

Can you give us a walk-through of your initial thoughts to the news that NBC had let their option to renew Trial & Error lapse? Did you see it coming?

I’ve been writing tv for 26 years and hope to be writing for another 26.  Every time I write anything I’m assuming “This is the one!” And every time it’s not the one, I am equally shocked, devastated, finished, then get back up to write “the one”.  I am still shocked that I still get shocked, but that’s what you need to get up in the morning.  Look, this show has had a weird journey, everyone loved the pilot, but I think people had a tough time figuring out how to program it.  We premiered at 10 p.m., after the finale of This Is Us, and even I was too devastated to watch our show.  Plus, the double pumping was meant to give the sense of binge-watching, but I think that’s a tall order for network television viewers.  Then we were told we were dead, then through the grace of WB, NBC and Heaven, we were given a Season 2.  We’ve been dead before, so I’m holding out hope.  But my first response was, “How dare you!”

How much time passes between learning Trial & Error’s fate and the decision to shop it around? That seems to be the response that all fans have when a show is canceled, is it the same response that showrunners have as well?

I write by the motto, “Expect the worst, prepare for the worst”.  I am also a long-term thinker, I know how Season 4 starts already and was already working on Season 3 the second week we shot Season 2.  So, I was prepared to mobilize in the event of “the worst case scenario”.  I don’t advocate this way of living, by the way, it’s verrrry hard on digestion and you need a very patient spouse or partner.

What are the specifics involved with trying to get a show picked up elsewhere? Is it a process you as a creator are directly involved in, or is it higher-ups at WB meeting with higher-ups at networks?

I’m sure it changes from show to show.  I have a package prepared, reviews, sizzle reel, season 3 pitch, begging, etc., but all of the negotiations happens at the business level. WB is very much behind the show so they are doing all the “numbers talking” as I refer to it.  Again, I want to stress that the show has not been officially “canceled”, so maybe it has a future life on NBC.  That would be very very cool, too. Certainly easier to explain how to watch it to my parents.

What is the time window you have to get the show picked up elsewhere? Is this a mad dash, or is this process more drawn out?

I always operate at a “mad dash”– see: No way to live.  The networks operate at, “wait and see” speed.  I’m hoping this resolves itself quickly because I want to get started on Season 4!

What’s the difference between selling a show the first time around and, essentially, re-selling the show post-cancellation?

There are pluses and minuses to both.  The pluses to selling an existing show is that you have something to show them.  One of the ways I had to explain Trial & Error (which is essentially its own genre) was, “The Office in a taxidermist”.  Now it is what it is and I can show people how it works and that it works, and that especially this season, the critics have been very kind.   On the other hand, if a show gets canceled, or “not picked up,” it will take a person or people with incredible vision to see what they can do to make it work on their service.  I have ideas, of course, and that’s part of the pitch.

In your career, you’ve seen TV change dramatically with the rise of cable and then streaming. How have streaming services affected the industry, specifically where show cancellations are involved?

My answer will be irrelevant by the time I’m done typing it.  What I will say is that I’ve been doing this long enough to have gone through two golden ages and deaths of television.  When TiVo came out, we assumed we were dead— after all, TV writers essentially sell soap and automobiles through the commercials they put between our acts.  Then came streaming which saved us, but gave us different margins and essentially killed syndication.  As a creator, I love the idea of a 13 episode season, but as someone who needs to feed my family, I love 22 episodes which don’t exist anymore practically.  As far as cancellations, a show like Trial & Error was built and pitched to be streamed.  I’m hoping a streamer sees that and embraces it.

What are the pros and cons to being on a streaming service like Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon, as opposed to a network?

I’ve only worked on network TV so far, so I only know what my friends tell me.  I think streaming is not the Wild West anymore, and a lot of network execs have gone to the big streamers, so creatively, I think Network and Streaming are closing the gap.  Honestly, I will work anywhere that airs my shows.  I’ve been around long enough to know the people on both sides, and I’m fans of their work.  I’m happy to write Trial & Error for any network or streamer that shares my crazy vision.

In general, what can fans do right now to help make Trial & Error more appealing to the networks you’re shopping it around to? 

Watch the final six episodes!  It’s always about ratings.  No matter what people say.  Always.  And keep us in the news!!

Trial & Error airs on NBC on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET, with episodes available to stream on Hulu the following day.

Where to stream Trial & Error