Debra Messing returns to NBC on Wednesday night, trying to balance carrying a badge and co-parenting rambunctious twins in “The Mysteries of Laura.”
As Detective Laura Diamond, Debra hits the streets, chasing down perps and working to solve cases for the NYPD. At home, she’s dealing with the break-up of her marriage to Jake Broderick (Josh Lucas) and figuring out how to co-parent their twin sons who seem to love their mother and trouble, equally. For example, there are incidents with paint, public urination and some ill-timed vomit in Wednesday’s series premiere, following “America’s Got Talent.”
“Part of the fun of this show is that it does not take itself too seriously and also, I think part of the fun and uniqueness of the show is that it lives, to some degree, in what I would call the in-between moments of life,” Executive Producer Jeff Rake told AccessHollywood.com.
PHOTOS: ‘The Mysteries Of Laura’ Star Debra Messing
“Often, in a procedural, you never go home with the protagonist and often, in a family show or a family comedy, you never cut away to the protagonist having a quiet reflective moment on acknowledging the fact that it’s not all just fun chaos in a dysfunctional family dynamic, so, we’re trying to achieve all of those things by playing those in-between moments,” he continued.
Fitting under the dramedy tag, the show (which is based off of a Spanish language program) also allows Messing to show off her comedic side that made her a household name with “Will & Grace” in the late ’90s (be on the lookout for a scene in “The Mysteries of Laura Premiere” involving a swimsuit in the premiere).
WATCH: Debra Messing & Josh Lucas Talk ‘The Mysteries Of Laura’
Rake said once Messing signed on to the show, he felt at ease.
“Even before we’d shot a frame, I could close my eyes and picture her in scenes that I had written and I just knew they were gonna work,” he told Access.
“Her iconic comedic chops are just kind of unparalleled, but for those who saw ‘Starter Wife,’ she is a grounded actress and she knows how to play dramedy and drama. And I just knew it was gonna work,” he added.
Although Laura and Jake are splitting up on the show, Messing and Lucas have a lot of chemistry in their scenes together. Rake said there was no chemistry test needed though (as often happens in Hollywood) for the actors while casting for the show took place.
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“The only reason there was no chemistry test is because Debra Messing is so chalk full of chemistry and Josh Lucas is so full of chemistry that nobody asks for a chemistry test,” he said.
“But I must say that similar to my last answer, once I knew that those two roles were cast, you could just close your eyes and picture it,” he said. “A couple wonderful scenes come to mind, but there’s this wonderful scene in their den, where they’re just kind of having the chaos of the kids and he’s just kind of being a big kid with the little boys and she’s trying to get him to focus, and I just knew that that the comedy between them was going to work. And then, on a different note, there’s this wonderful scene that we shot in Central Park… and they’re having a quite dramatic moment and the clash between them is quite sincere and emotional and it is just real and I was just standing there at video village with the director and we just knew we were going to be on the air because it just felt so real, so relatable and that’s what we’re just trying to do. We’re just trying to tell at times fun, at times dramatic, but always real, relatable stories. It’s just supposed to be a release for the audience that any working parent – I hope anybody can relate to it, but particularly that any working parent can relate to because it’s a working parent’s journey.”
“The Mysteries of Laura” premieres Wednesday, September 17 in the special time slot of 10 PM ET/PT following “America’s Got Talent” on NBC.
— Jolie Lash
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