Amy Sherman-Palladino Says Dan Fogelman ‘F*cking Saved Network Television’ With ‘This Is Us’
People can’t get enough of This Is Us. Creator Dan Fogelman talks fan theories with viewers and after every episode, audiences wonder what’s next for the Pearson family. Amy Sherman-Palladino says This Is Us has made people watch network TV again. And it’s all because of the TV show’s creator.
‘This Is Us’ became an immediate hit with viewers when it debuted in 2016
Viewers first met the Pearson family when This Is Us premiered on Sept. 20, 2016. The drama quickly developed a fan base drawing millions of viewers every week.
Each episode, This Is Us revealed more about Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and Jack Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia) as well as their children, Kate (Chrissy Metz), Kevin (Justin Hartley), and Randall (Sterling K. Brown).
This Is Us received high ratings and positive reviews from both fans and critics. As a result, NBC renewed the series for two seasons during This Is Us Season 1. Then in May 2019 during the show’s third season, the network announced This Is Us would continue for another three seasons.
Amy Sherman-Palladino says Dan Fogelman deserves a ‘statue’ courtesy of network TV
Fans of Gilmore Girls know Sherman-Palladino as the show’s creator. Her latest project is the award-winning Amazon original series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
During a 2018 Variety interview, Sherman-Palladino sat down with Gilmore Girls alum and This Is Us star, Milo Ventimiglia. She talked about how Fogelman brought people back to network TV with This Is Us.
“Network television, in general, should build a statue to Dan Fogelman because he f*cking saved network television,” Sherman-Palladino said. “Everybody was like, ‘And we’re done with network television,’ and then This Is Us proved, no, no.”
She continued, saying network TV wasn’t “respecting the audience” until Fogelman came along with This Is Us.
“I think he’s proved that if you just tell the audience, ‘We’re interested in more than just you buying an Audi. We would like you to laugh and cry and feel something and care about something and think about it once you turn your TV off,’ that’s a great place television is in,” she said.
“And I think he proves that you can do that, and I don’t actually know that other networks have picked up on the clue yet, but maybe they will,” Sherman-Palladino added.
‘This Is Us’ Season 5 premieres in November 2020
NBC announced new episodes of This Is Us will start airing in November 2020. This Is Us Season 5 is set to premiere Nov. 10, 2020.
Fans will get to spend two hours with the Pearson family when the show returns at 9 p.m. ET. And yes, Fogelman’s assured fans “emotional monologues” on This Is Us will still be a thing.
