Lauren Graham is no stranger to sitcoms. In her newest venture, The Z-Suite, Graham even played a large part in crafting the main character, with unifying qualities audiences can side with rather than alienating them.
The Z-Suite marks streaming network Tubi’s first original scripted series. The breakout sitcom deals with generational clashes in the workplace. There’s silly TikTok jokes, Generation Z phrases that may be lost on those not in their 20s — and also those in their 20s not chronically online.
While the 8 episode first season doesn’t take itself too seriously, there are multiple vaguely underlying themes watchers of all ages may relate to: losing your identity, imposter syndrome, justified entitlement and the concept of aging without feeling older. The 58-year-old actress herself spoke on the complicated emotions of growing older physically but not mentally on podcast Armchair Expert while promoting the new series. Feelings very similar to those her character, advertising mogul Monica Marks, also grapples with across the 8 episodes. In a phone interview with DECIDER, Graham delved more into this phenomenon, discussed the way she chose to portray Monica Marks and details about her upcoming black comedy, Twinless.
DECIDER: I want to start off and say happy belated birthday! I hope you had a festive weekend.
LAUREN GRAHAM: I really did, and I also had my dad in town, so it was a nice one! Thank you.
So first off, when I spoke to Katie O’Brien, she mentioned how she “blacked out” after you became interested in The Z-Suite. So, could you take me through how you became involved in the show and eventually became a creative collaborator?
[Laughs] Yeah. I mean, it’s always, probably each side thinks the other side is…I don’t know, like, it is so hard to find something you want to do. So, when I got the call, I was in a hotel lobby. I couldn’t really hear, and it’s just so fun to get any kind of offer. And then, my agent kept saying, “It’s called ‘The Disease Suite.’” And I was like, “It’s a medical show?” And he’s like, “No, it’s called ‘The Disease Suite.’” And so in “The Disease Suite…” And I was like, “That’s just not funny. How is this a comedy?”
Of course, he was not saying that. He was saying, The Z-Suite. And so it began in a little bit of confusion. And he’s like, “It’s a new network. You probably have not heard of it, but let’s read it and see what we think, “ and, I just really liked it. Then, there’s just all the steps. I liked but I had thoughts,and I liked it, but I had things I wanted to bring to it. It’s such a fortunate position to be in. I at least had some thoughts, and Katie could have said, “That’s not how I see it. I like it as it is.” You could tell from the beginning we were going to be good collaborators, I think, and that was as big a deal as anything.
Yeah. What aspects of the show did you create or kind of workshop?
Her personality, I guess. Yes, she’s the boss, and, yes, she’s tough. But, in that first conversation, I said, “If you want someone who’s kind of like the tough villain, I don’t think I’ll be happy in that, and I don’t think it will be what you want it to be, and that’s totally fine.” Like, I come at it from, “What’s specific about her? What is not the sort of broad ideas of like, tough woman boss?” I was really interested in– again, it’s a half hour thing, not even half hour, like 20-something minutes. But, I just wanted this person to feel unique, and not that what was on the page was a stereotype, but it leaned a little more just mean. I was like, “What if she’s not mean? But she’s just really odd? What if she has all these underdeveloped parts of her personality because the developed part of just trying to get ahead is what she’s focused on.” One thing that was my idea was, “I think she’s not good with children.” She doesn’t really understand how to speak to them. I can never remember what all the rewrites were, but I do feel that it ended up in that episode where I go to see my boss’ kid because I’m trying to get to my boss through him. I was definitely like, “I shouldn’t know how to talk to children. She’s never done that.”
We talked about– because I think I’m supposed to have a certain number of ex-husbands, and I was like, “Oh, I’m so interested in the ex-husbands. How many are there? Who are they? Can we reference who put up with this person? Who did she put up with?” It was a really fun– we didn’t get to get into it too much. I feel like in another season, you get to see who she spent time with, and what was the New York of in the late ’90s. You know, where was she going? Just old stuff like that.
I’m glad she didn’t turn out mean, because I think one of the best things about the show is that there are no heroes or villains. I think if she was more of a mean girl, it wouldn’t have translated as well. So I’m glad she’s just odd.
Yeah, and that was the idea, too. We’re all ridiculous, and you do want to care somehow, someway [about these people]. You care about Michael Scott, [from The Office] and he’s a very flawed person. It’s also just so much more fun. You know, I hear a slam or a put down– I never laugh at that. I don’t think it’s funny. It’s too easy… we even tried to soften some of the age references. I was like, “Alright alright, I get it. She’s older, they’re younger. What else can we do?”
How did your experience on The Z-Suite differ from some of the past times that you’ve produced on a show?
The producer thing can mean so many things, including not much. Truly, we didn’t have a directing producer when we started. It was just me and Katie having a lot of the conversations, sitting in on casting and just talking about the direction of the show and kind of just sharing. She’s just such a great boss. It’s what she was born to do, and that to me means she’s definitely a leader. Also, she’s open to input, but ultimately she’s gonna decide. It’s just more part of that early stuff of getting things set up and making choices. Even in the choice to bring Tristram Sparrow on, who’s our wonderful director producer, I had worked with him on a movie. We just really worked together setting things up.
The finale concludes with none other than Minnesota Matt, of all people ending up on top. Horribly undeserved. I thought we’d get a bit more of an allyship between Monica and Kriska at the end, but now there’s a race to hire Matt onto their respective agencies. With such an open-ended finale, what can you say about season two of anything?
I think it’s a good set up because if we were resolved as allies at the end, then there isn’t really… I mean, this as opposed to a Hacks or something. This is more about the workplace. It is about the relationships, and we do want to see them grow. But, this is like the fun and games of, “How do I run a company versus how does she run a company? How do we come at things differently?” I think you will continue to see more alliance and more togetherness. But, I think it’s sort of what’s going to happen now, that was kind of a good twist. It really is born out of how funny Evan [Marsh] is. This is such a fun part of being on season one too, is you just start to see people emerge and fill out these characters, and then the writers, in a shorter season like this, there’s almost not enough time to respond to the actor. But, he really made a kind of supporting part into– speaking of specifics, like there are probably 150 ways to play the guy at work that everybody pokes fun at, but he really made this guy very funny, and I think you want to see what kind of company he would run.
Yeah, I envision Kriska coming to work at Marks & Marks with Monica, so I’m excited to see where they can potentially go from here.
I mean, who knows? I think it would just be so fun to keep going.
Absolutely. You’ve talked a bit while doing the press for this show about the surprise and slight loneliness you felt stepping onto set as a veteran actress and having people turn to you as a leader and wanting your opinions and validations, and also people starting to say things to you like, “You raised me.” That must be such an endearing yet peculiar feeling. I thought it was so interesting hearing you describe these emotions in interviews, because this concept of growing up but not feeling older is such a big part of The Z-Suite. I mean, in Episode 6, Monica even gives a monologue about how you can be 50 and still feel like you’re in your 20s, even though no one sees you that way, and how you continue looking at your past selves thinking, “Oh, I had no idea what I was thinking back then.” With all of that said, I was just so curious how you work through these feelings. At the end of the day, and potentially going into season two, will those feelings kind of remain?
I think they do remain. It’s the heart of life and comedy probably, and this set up, this premise is, “How do you find what’s important?” Are you important because you have a million views on TikTok? Is it important to be young? Is it important to be successful? Is it what gives you satisfaction? What gives you currency in this world? I think, in a fun way, the question that this show asks is, “What is it specifically now?” Of course, you couldn’t have done the show ten years ago, and probably ten years from now we’ll have different issues in terms of the generations, and how we’re getting our news, or how we’re defining ourselves, or how we’re dressing or any of those things. So, I remember talking to my acting teacher at the beginning and in quick, early conversations like, “Oh, what is this? What does she want?” I was like, “Oh, she wants her job back,” and she was like, “Oh no, the job is not the thing. She wants her place of importance and sense of self and that’s what’s underneath it.”
So I don’t know, I think mainly, truly, I just walk around, like, I was so glad to be working and be challenged by something new and be in a position of creativity where somebody does care about my opinion. The last show I did was a bunch of kids and I was like, “Oh, wait, I’m the oldest adult here.” So, I think I’m still living in a world where we’re all in our 20s, and we’re doing the sitcom, and like, that’s how I started. That’s sort of what all the shows were then. It was like playing with your peers. And then Parenthood had such a wide variety. I became friends with so many of those people. It was like ageless in a way. I think, were this not the premise of the show– like I had some of the cast over here yesterday hanging out, and I didn’t feel any of that, kind of boss or whatever relationship. So, some of it just takes time. Also, we were so separated. The storylines were kind of so separated, so they became their own kind of group. Nico and I would kind of hang out, but yeah, it just all goes by really fast. That’s the headline.
It’s fun to hear you’re all hanging out. Is there going to be any sort of finale watch party together?
I don’t have a good time watching things I’m in, so I would not be the host of the party. But I don’t know, like, do they get together and do that? I don’t know, but I think, you know, this birthday was sort of a celebration. But, we definitely keep talking about getting together here, and I hope we’ll do that in the next week or so.
That’d be so fun. Also in Episode 8, we finally see the extent of Doug’s Christmas Village obsession, and we get a sweet exchange where Monica appreciates Doug as her “Tiny Claus.” Is there an item that’s your “Tiny Claus?” A lucky memento or sentimental item that you keep close to you?
I’m not big on like, I don’t have a ton of jewelry. But, my mom did some paintings and when she was in her 20s, and I have a couple of her paintings in the house, and, you know, my house was okay, but when there was all the fire kconcern and worry going on, I took a photo album and I took one of my mom’s paintings. So those are things that I really treasure. And also, they’re just pretty.
Yeah. I hope everything’s okay.
Everything is okay.
Okay, good. I know a lot of new slang was thrown your way while filming the show. Is there any new Gen Z lingo that you’ve not learned, but adopted yourself into your own vocabulary?
No, I try not to be an embarrassing older person. But, you know, I feel like if you ever use any of that language if you’re over 30, you have to put air quotes around it. Like, I know this language is not for me, but I’m using it because I’m aware. So, not really. It’s all the stuff that we’re all exposed to. It’s saying it’s giving “coastal grandma” or it’s the way you talk about what vibe something has. Some of it I think is really fun because it’s like all the objects and outfits get assigned like, “Oh, she’s hot today.” Like everybody, you know, we’re really, really free with our pronouns. And I mean, it’s just kind of fun. But no, nothing has made its way.
So, no “cheugy” in our daily lives?
No, and I’m still not totally sure what it means. I think it’s bad.
And you know what? I’m Gen Z, and I don’t really either, so I think it’s okay.
Okay, good.
If it’s okay. I’d love to ask about your upcoming movie Twinless. It was so successful at Sundance and I’m so, so excited for that to be released. What was your favorite part of creating that film, and what are you most excited for people to see?
I am literally in it for two seconds. This is another example of decision making that people think might be more linear and thoughtful. I just love the movie, and it’s not about my character, but I just thought, “This is an interesting voice, and I love Dylan O’Brien.” I was only there a couple days, but it’s nice when you have a sense of something on the page, and then it turns into something even better than I could have imagined. It just really struck me. That’s all it was. I just read it and I was like, “This really hits me like, I want to see this movie, so why not be in it?” So, I’m so happy for its success and again, as much as it was on the page as it’s just the tone of it is, I just can’t even compare it to anything. I guess Anora struck me that way this year. It’s like, “What movie am I in right now?” I’m watching a love story, it’s a caper, it’s a chase movie? It was just its own thing, and that’s how I feel about this. Then, we sat at Sundance in an audience that totally got it and laughed in all the right places and were surprised in the right places. I just can’t wait for it to come out.
All episodes of The Z-Suite are available to stream now on Tubi.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Claire Waheed is a recently graduated freelance writer currently based in Texas. She loves all things pop culture and new adventures.