How Andrea Savage Transforms Her Stories Into truTV Series ‘I’m Sorry’ & What To Expect From Season 2

You may recognize Andrea Savage as Will Ferrell‘s therapist in the classic comedy Step Brothers, but if you’ve watched Season 1 of her truTV series I’m Sorry, you’d know that she’s so much more than that. Her brilliant style of comedy and use of situational humor is undeniably relatable to young couples and families who are just trying to navigate the challenges of the 21st century. Her unique blend of sarcasm and crassness make her show one of the best comedies to binge-watch, and lucky for you, the entire first season is currently streaming on Netflix.

With Season 2 of the series premiering on Wednesday, January 9th on truTV, we got to chat with Savage about her creative process, the true-to-life characters on the show, and some of the things we can expect from the upcoming second installment.

How closely related are the characters on the show to their real-life counterparts?

[laughs] Well, some of them very very close. I think obviously the main one, me, is very close but definitely an exaggerated version of myself. I know when to stop talking in real life, so, it’s definitely an exaggerated version.

The mom character is probably the closest to real life. That’s pretty much right on. All of the stories with my daughter are real as well, but she’s a little older so it’s a couple of years back. Jason Mantzoukas and I are friends in real life so that relationship is based on our friendship in real life but we’re not actually writing partners. Yeah, I think literally every single character [is close to their real life counterpart]. The stories about my Dad are all pretty much true. Even when I say it’s pretty close though, it will come from a story that’s real, but when we write it and I write it, it gets expanded upon.

When I made the show I really wanted to show my relationships and also I think there’s a sweetness underneath the dirtiness and edginess of the show because of the characters genuinely like each other and that was really important to me. Like, even when I’m giving people shit, like my Mom or my Dad or my friends, it comes from a place of love, and that’s sort of the way I am in real life.

How do you draw the inspiration & confidence to say the hilariously inappropriate things that most people think but hold back from saying in public?

Yeah, I mean I don’t usually get into situations where I’m saying inappropriate things in real life… that’s definitely more exaggerated for the show. There are situations, though, where it’s not that I take it too far but that things get taken out of context, especially where things cross over from being a comedian to being a Mom and a mother at the school. That’s definitely the case. Like, when you think everyone is joking but your style of joking takes things way further than theirs.

Take, for example, a story like the “Butt Bumpers” from Season 1, like that’s based on a real story where suddenly I was on a playdate alone at a house where my husband wasn’t there and his wife suddenly wasn’t there and it was a swim date. We didn’t bump butts in real life, that was added to exaggerate, but it was taking something that was already an uncomfortable position an maybe pushing it another step further.

How much of that is coming from your own mind or are there other writers who help transform your stories into their end product?

Well, most of the stories are from my real life, but this year we used other peoples’ stories and melded them in. I had a team of 3 writers for Season 1 and this year we also had a team of 3 writers, but since most of the stories are coming from my real life, we room write together and take my stories and figure out how to push them out. I end up writing most of the dialogue and stuff though.

Which comedians or television shows have inspired your comedy style?

Um, well for this show definitely Curb Your Enthusiasm was one of the inspiration points, but it’s really just those single point of view shows that are basically the same logline of a person just getting through their life with a father/wife/husband, whatever it is. It’s Larry David, it’s Louie, Aziz did it, you know, those kinds of shows. It’s definitely the kind of show that I went in wanting to make. The logline is not particularly sexy but it’s all about the execution and telling your version of the events and stories that we tell on the show. Like, there’s a network sitcom version of it, there’s a dark comedy version of it, and then there’s our version of it. So it’s just finding the tone and just really leaning into my way of doing comedy and my timing and stuff.

How did your role in Step Brothers help to jump start your career?

Well, number one it was one of the most exciting things to ever happen to me. I auditioned for it and I only knew Adam McKay slightly but not really and I didn’t know Will Ferrell so it was purely an audition situation. I then got to know Adam and Will and we all really hit it off and I started working with them a lot. They then produced another TV show that I developed for Comedy Central, then I went on a comedy tour with Will and Adam, and just started working in their world. Step Brothers was such a big movie, you know, and people just really loved it. It’s one of those where I get recognized for more than most things that I’ve ever done.

You had starred in a short for Funny Or Die in 2012 called Republicans, Get In My Vagina!, which mocked female support of the Republican Party. In today’s political climate, can we expect Andrea to get more political on the show?

I did. I wrote that and directed it. It was like, “where are you ladies, what’s going on?” By the way, this was back when Obama was running for his second term, so this was awhile ago, before things got real bad. You won’t get any [politics] in Season 2. I purposely stay away from politics. To be honest, I don’t find it very funny right now, and my show isn’t the kind of show that’s making points about that kind of thing. It’s just not the right platform for talking about politics, I really don’t think, so we have stayed away from it completely. Also, there’s enough other people talking about it and it’s just not funny. It takes you out and it sort of makes everything sad and scary all of a sudden.

What kind of antics can we expect Andrea to get into in Season 2?

I mean, this year our daughter starts a new school. She starts Kindergarten, which sort of moves us into a new phase of parenting where it’s no longer just sort of keeping your kid alive but realizing that the outside world is going to start having influences on them. Um, we deal with death, we deal with divorce, we deal with breaking up with friends, we deal with marriage, etc. It’s similar stories but with different themes, you know? I don’t want to spoil anything but it’s an episodic so there’s not necessarily continuity. I’m really excited and I think there’s some great episodes and I hope people are just as happy with Season 2 as they were with Season 1. We tried really hard not to keep it nuanced and repetitive and not a caricature.

Are there any cool celebrity cameos in Season 2?

Oh yeah. We got some great people this year. All the super hits are back. Martin Cappy, Mantzoukas, Paul Scheer and like everyone. But, Adam Scott does a cameo, Scott Aukerman is in a couple of episodes, June Raphael, Rose McIver, Rob Huebel, and I’m sure I’m missing some great people who I’m going to be mad about not mentioning later.

What are some of your favorite shows to binge watch?

Um, I feel like I’m so lame right now. I feel like I’ve been under a rock since Season 1, like I’m working such crazy hours and we’re still in post so when I come home, watching TV is not top of my list since I’m dealing with it all day, so I haven’t been watching anything. The only thing that I’ve really watched in the past year has been with my daughter where we binge watched all of The Little House on The Prairie, which was a real roller coaster, and The Great British Baking Show. I feel like I watched like two episodes of The Americans and loved it but didn’t watch anymore. I watched an episode of that Elena Ferrante on HBO and have been meaning to watch more. Same thing with Better Call Saul. I’m just the worst pop culture television person ever right now. I did watch Big Mouth, though, which I love.

Any plans for a Season 3 of I’m Sorry yet?

Here’s the thing. I feel like I’m still like in the middle of giving birth right now and the baby is like crowning and I’m in the worst hell ever and then people are asking “are you thinking of having another?” That’s where I am right now. But we have not had any talks about it yet. I assume that will happen once Season 2 comes out, and we’ll see how it goes!

Michael is a music and television junkie keen on most things that are not a complete and total bore. You can follow him on Twitter — @Tweetskoor

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