Nicholas (Nick) Stoller and Francesca Delbanco are the co-creators, writers and directors of Platonic, whose second season is now airing on Apple TV+. Speaking via video call from the West Coast of the United States, the couple discussed, with humor and complicity, the behind-the-scenes process of creating this series made by 40-somethings, for 40-somethings.

Francesca Delbanco: When I was younger, maybe in college and in my 20s, when I had very close friendships with women and with men, there was an equal representation in my social life. It was completely normal at that moment in my life for me and a friend of mine who was a guy to go to dinner together. [...] As I got older and as I got married and had children, and as my life began to sort of have a new form, I found that my close friendships with many of my women friends remained strong and close and intimate. And my close friendship with my male friends sort of evaporated.

As I grew into middle age, the friendships I made were much more with women. Other moms at school, other women at the jobs that I worked who were having similar experiences like juggling work and life balance. I wasn't making many new friends who were men. [...] It just seemed kind of strange to me because it doesn't jive or connect with my politics or my ideas about what women should be or what men should be or any kind of model I wanted to set. We have three daughters. But it just kind of happened. So we tried to think about why that happened and tried to build a show around it.

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