A comic mind
East Lyme’s Dave Goetsch: ‘3rd Rock.’ ‘Big Bang.’ Now, it’s ‘United States of Al’
Anew show is joining CBS’s hit packed Thursday night lineup next week, adding to the block of “Young Sheldon,” “Mom” and “B Positive.” The series that’s premiering is “United States of Al,” and one of its creators is East Lyme native Dave Goetsch.
Goetsch, 51, has had a long and successful career in sitcoms, having written for “3rd Rock from the Sun” and “The Big Bang Theory,” where he was a co-executive producer.
“United States of Al” has at its core the friendship between a Marine vet who is trying to get used to living a civilian existence again and the Afghan interpreter who is in Ohio beginning his new life in the U.S.
Goetsch co-created the show with Maria Ferrari, who was also a writer on “The Big Bang Theory,” and Chuck Lorre. Lorre has been called “The King of Sitcoms,” and for good reason. His litany of comedies include the trio that “Al” is joining on Thursday, plus “Two and a Half Men,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Mike & Molly,” “The Kominsky Method,” and “Bob Hearts Abishola.”
During a phone interview on Saturday, Goetsch spoke about “United States of Al.” Goetsch has sold a number of pilots over the years, and he was involved in the start of the animated “Game Over” on UPN in 2004.
But, he said, “This has been the dream all along — to be a part of the creative team from the beginning, to make your own show. So this is like 26 years in the making.”
He added, “When starting something from the beginning, you see how many decisions go into the making of a show. I’m just so excited and feel so lucky that we’ve been able to make the show that we have.”
“United States of Al” melds humor with fairly heavy topics, Goetsch notes, and that is “exciting for us to try to dive into.”
It does, though, require a lot of expertise and insight. That is why the show’s writing staff has military consultants to provide guidance on military matters, along with a writing staff that features Bobby Telatovich, a Navy vet; and Emily Ann Brandsetter, who is engaged to a Marine combat veteran who served in Afghanistan. The writers also include Habib Zahori, an Afghan-born translator who became a journalist; Fahim Anwar, an Afghan-American stand-up comic; and Ursula Taherian, a writer whose father is an Afghan immigrant.
Even so, the show became the subject of controversy over the weekend after CBS released
the first trailer for “Al.” A number of Twitter users raised complaints, particularly over the fact that a non-Afghan actor, Adhir Kalyan, who is from an Indian South African family, is playing the title role. In response, executive producer Reza Aslan noted that of the five Afghan characters on the show, four are played by Afghans. In addition, he mentioned the show's Afghan writers/producers.
Aslan wrote that he can make sure the show “is written and produced by Afghans and Muslims. That it uses the format to reframe the perception that people have of both. That it portrays a Muslim Afghan protagonist in a true and honest light.”
Goetsch said this: “We auditioned dozens of Afghan actors for the role of Al. But Adhir Kalyan's performance was not only exceptional, but his extensive experience with the multi-cam sitcom format was also vital to the decision to cast him as the lead. At this point, we have several recurring Afghan characters in the show, all of whom are played by talented Afghan actors: Sitara Attai, Zarmina Hamidi, and Wali Habib. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion includes more than just who is in front of the camera. Our writers' room includes Afghans, one of whom was himself an interpreter, an Afghan writers assistant, and an Afghan researcher. Our staff has been working hand in hand with Adhir to create Al's voice, personality, and cultural identity as a Pashtun Afghan.”
From EL to ‘Al’
Even though he majored in environmental studies and American studies at Yale, figuring he could become a lawyer, Goetsch dreamt of being a sitcom writer. He started out on MTV projects such as “Sandblast” before making his way to sitcoms.
The Day interviewed Goetsch, who is the son of John and Betsey Goetsch, back when he was writing for “3rd Rock” and covered his 2012 talk here with fellow East Lymers who are now working in the entertainment industry.
The Day also spoke in 2019 with Niko Mason, a fellow East Lyme native who has been Lorre's executive assistant and who is an associate producer on “Al.”
As it did with most things, the pandemic threw a wrench into “United States of Al.” The sets for the “Al” pilot were due to be built on March 16, but Hollywood shut down the Friday before. Over the summer, Warner Brothers (which, along with Chuck Lorre Productions, are the production companies behind “Al”) suggested that they write three episodes so that, if they got the OK to film the pilot in the fall, the show could go into production quickly. And that's how it happened. Of course, the nowtried-and-true coronavirus precautions were in place, including COVID tests; masking for everyone and for actors right before the director says, “Action”; and people staying six feet from each other.
Here is more of what Goetsch had to say about “United States of Al.”
About the show:
“We're seeing the things we see all the time in America but through (Al's) eyes for the first time. You have this a fish-out-of-water story, and you have this friendship story between these two guys who went through a lot as they were in combat and are really bonded and feel like brothers, but there's still a lot they don't know about each other.”
How the concept developed:
“I was lucky enough to be a writer on ‘The Big Bang Theory' for all 12 years, and writers are always thinking about pilots and what's a different dynamic to have, what's the next show they'd want to work on. (One was my ideas was for a show) about veterans because our country's just gone through these two wars, and it's something as a culture we're dealing with and maybe not talking about as much as we should.
“But what I learned when I talked to veterans was that, like so many people, they deal with stress and pain and so many things through humor, through teasing each other.
“One of the times I was back in southeastern Connecticut, I reconnected with a friend from East Lyme, Pat Reilly, who the character (of the marine veteran) is named after. Pat had served in the military and reached out to me because he wanted to be writer. … He was a fan of ‘The Big Bang Theory.' He shared how he tried to support his friends who were struggling with adjusting back to civilian life. Unfortunately, Pat passed away a few years ago from health complications, which led me to want to name the character Riley.
“So I was interested in a story about veterans, but as I was reading more articles about this Special Immigrant Visa program, and interpreters who are promised the chance to apply for citizenship to come to America, I saw how hard it was for them to come. It made me think: what if the story was about veterans, and one of them was an interpreter? What would that be like to have that character come to America for the first time, and what would happen if that character was in an American family?”
Goetsch mentioned the idea to Ferrari, whose office was next door to his when they were both working on “Big Bang Theory”:
“We just started talking about it and got so excited, we wrote a few scenes and shared it with Chuck Lorre. And he got it. You know, ‘Mom' is a show about alcoholism and women in recovery, and ‘Kominsky' is hilarious, but it's about mortality. Both those shows are about serious topics, but they mine the reality and the humor of it. So I was very inspired by what he's been able to achieve with those shows and how we could try and do it with these main characters and this topic.”
They then wrote a pilot and had Lorre look at that as well. They honed the script, and Lorre brought it to CBS:
“Maria and I knew we could not do this without him because we needed someone that the studio and network trust enough to do this because anyone can imagine all the different ways this could go wrong.”
Learning from Lorre:
“Chuck is just an incredible collaborator because, I mean, who's been more successful than that guy? ... He constantly wants to try to do something new and (figure out) how can that be different and how can we surprise the audience? I don't know who said it, but when you can tell a story that feels specific enough that you couldn't tell it on another show, then you're in the right place.”
Keeping it real:
“When you're working on a project with Chuck, he wants to know it's real. If you have a hilarious joke but it's just a joke and that character might not say that, he doesn't want that character to say it. He would do that on ‘The Big Bang Theory' all the time. ‘You know, guys, that Leonard line is a really funny joke, but I don't believe Leonard would say it. And we'd be like, ‘Yeah, you're right, we just thought it was funny.'” (Goetsch says there are a lot of Google docs floating around with a trove of funny unused jokes in them.)