“The Z-Suite” isn’t the first time Lauren Graham has helped a new network launch one of its flagship shows.
“When we did ‘Gilmore Girls,’ The WB was pretty new, so I thought it was cool to be part of a new platform,” Graham told TheWrap. The mother-daughter comedy-drama was the 16th original series to premiere on The WB and later became one of its most popular shows.
“Back then, I don’t think I understood pressure in the same way,” Graham said. “I got to an upfront where they told us we were up against ‘Friends.’ I was like, ‘Oh, that’s the literal opposite of pressure because no one expects us to do anything numbers wise.’”
Twenty-five years later, Graham is back in a similar position as the lead of Tubi’s very first entry into the world of scripted television, “The Z-Suite.” But unlike in the 2000s, she has the legacy and popularity of “Gilmore Girls” backing her. “I think what we made is genuinely fun. Right now, there’s not too many workplace comedies. The voice of this one is really fresh, so I hope it does well,” Graham said.
From showrunner Katie O’Brien (“Teachers,” “The Santa Clauses”), “The Z-Suite” is a workplace comedy that follows the generational divide between Graham’s Gen X boss and a group of Gen Z employees who overtake the company. But the more these two forces fuss and feud, they find out they have more to learn from each other than they previously thought.
“I don’t want it to feel like this is a war of generations,” O’Brien told TheWrap. “It really is an exploration of these people, and everybody’s trying their best.”
“The Z-Suite” came about after a conversation O’Brien had with Tubi. The streamer was looking for a project that included Gen-Z characters and was set in the advertising space. “I think a lot of their viewership is Gen Z,” O’Brien said. She was interested in writing a workplace comedy that explored a generational divide. Following that conversation, O’Brien went off to write the pilot for what is now Tubi’s first scripted series, consulting her younger brother on how exactly to portray his generation.
“In film and television, I’m so used to things taking forever,” O’Brien said. “‘The Z-Suite’ was unique in that it was freakishly fast. From pitching to delivery, it was a little under a year and a half … Perhaps because it was their first series, [Tubi] was eager and willing to have it move quickly, which was great.”
Later, a Gen Z writer was added to the writers room, and a team of consultants was hired to make sure the portrayal of the younger characters felt authentic. It was when the series was in its early stages that Graham was brought aboard. Graham credited the script, O’Brien and the role of Monica Frazier as reasons for why she signed onto the project. Unlike the many bubbly characters Graham has played in the past, Monica is an intensely determined corporate America power player.
“The character is unlike something I have done. It was a little like the thing I did on Jane [Levy]’s show ‘Zoe’s Extraordinary Playlist,’ but I didn’t have the scope there. I just had a small part,” Graham said. “I thought [Monica] was fun and flawed.”
O’Brien, who is a self-described “massive” “Gilmore Girls” fan, had high hopes when she first met Graham for the role. But the actor surpassed even those. “She’s very, very smart and brought so much to the character and the show that I couldn’t have on my own. She really elevated the show,” O’Brien said.
Graham is also in a surprising position where her onscreen character somewhat reflects what it was like to work on this show. At the beginning of “The Z-Suite,” the driven but ignored Kriska (Madison Shamoun) resents the veteran Monica. But as she tries to run this advertising company on her own, Kriska starts to realize that Monica’s management and pitching strategies aren’t as outdated as she once thought.
When asked what advice Graham gave to her younger castmates, she highlighted day-to-day situations such as speaking up if they don’t like their hair or makeup during a scene, and creating professional social media accounts in addition to their personal accounts. “It’s the things that you if you’re not experienced, you maybe wouldn’t know to ask,” Graham said. “I’ve learned quite a lot, but there’s always something more to learn.”
But at least for now, both O’Brien and Graham are just happy they had the opportunity to create their workplace comedy. “A big challenge is just making sure you are delivering a quality product that is worthy of them, of being the first,” O’Brien said, calling the experience “collaborative and wonderful.”
“It’s a crazy thing for everybody, right? It’s a crazy thing for [Tubi]. It’s a crazy thing for me,” O’Brien added.
“The Z-Suite” premieres Thursday, Feb. 6 on Tubi.
