‘The View’: Helen Hunt says it was a conscious choice to make ‘Mad About You’ reboot more inclusive
Remember the 90s when all sitcoms were set in New York and cast only white actors, be it 'Mad About You', 'Friends', 'Seinfeld' or 'Will and Grace'? With the reboot of 'Mad About You', it was a fact that jarred stars Helen Hunt about the original series that ran for seven years.
Helen Hunt on 'The View' spoke about how "inclusivity" became an important thing for the creative team this time around, with several people of color running the show as directors, even though the cast still remains predominantly white with the original members of the show returning to provide continuity.
"I am not often in a position of power. Peter Tolan, our showrunner, Paul and myself, we made every decision together and I just knew I wasn't going to walk on to another movie set with 95% [of people from] one demographic," Hunt said.
Speaking about how diversity had to be a conscious choice, the Academy Award-winning actress said: "I do find that the ship won't go there by itself. You need to keep the tension on the wheel and keep hiring different kinds of people. It is about people in a position to hire noticing their own bias [like] am I nervous to hand this project over to a woman [or] I've never given a movie to a woman of color. That there is something within that is pausing and how to push through that."
Helen Hunt also spoke about the new addition to the cast, Abby Quinn, as their daughter, Mabel Buchman. "She's great because now it's a triangle. She's funny and she's fast and moving and very much herself." Describing the reunion gig as "really fun", Hunt said, "we don't have one jerk in the group, so it was beautiful".
The 'Mad About You' revival show airs exclusively on Spectrum's 'On Demand' platform. The first six episodes dropped November 20, while the remaining six episodes were released December 18.
