Writer, producer and director Phil Augusta Jackson sat down to discuss what’s to expect in the second season of “Grand Crew.” The chill comedy is about friendship and navigating the ups and downs of life and love.
What was your approach going into season two?
The goal for season two was to expand on the fun and grow the show. Be better than the previous season. I think you get to make a pilot and do the best job possible to get up to season one. You get that season one, and the whole time I was thinking, “let’s create a season that covers some themes. Themes with a lot of heart have a lot of humor and leave it all out on the court.” And they gave us a second season, and it felt like it was just an opportunity to really expand everything that made season one work and come back even stronger, which I think we did. We sat at the table in season one, getting to know the characters, exploring issues, and being silly. Season two is all these characters; now that you know what you’re walking into with the show, we can dig in and get even more specific and funnier.
How do you balance the creativity with a cast that is so very talented?
The cast is just a bunch of hoopers. They know what they’re doing, and they really skilled. We have a lot of actors in the main cast with an improv background, so they’re very playful. They oftentimes use their improv to expand on ideas in the script. Everybody felt like they were coming in with the same mentality. Let’s make this show even better and grow it. As far as the balance, that’s what I like about ensemble comedies, the fact that on any given week, from week to week, from episode to episode, you can have an episode that leans more into any character and still not miss a beat in the show. To me, that’s the beauty of an ensemble show that you get to play with combinations. You get to play with your lineups. That’s part of the joy. The process of figuring out different alchemy forms that we could put together to make the episodes great. To make “Grand Crew” great.
Be sure to watch “Grand Crew” season one and two streaming now on Peacock.
