There are no other shows like this! For me, that’s why I was so excited to be working on this. When I started reading the scripts, I started to get thrilled beyond belief. I don’t hear these sorts of stories anywhere else and if there are stories like this out there they’re not framed with the same humanity, humor, and acceptance of how messy life can get. All you can do is try to be honest about your own self, your own issues, and the people around you. I’ve never, ever seen a show like that before that’s taking place in this demographic.

I mean the show isn’t just about women—it’s about people—but Pamela just happens to be a woman so those are the stories that you’re getting. It’s just about her, her daughters, her mother, and all the relationships in between—they just happen to all be female. Seeing those sorts of scenes that are specific to the female experience though are just fantastic. There’s nothing else like that out there.

It’s also really nice to see a show where there’s such generational bonding going on. Was Sam’s mother being a part of the picture a big topic when starting things out?

She’s a huge part of the picture! I think Pamela and Louis wrote her beautifully. We were so lucky to get Celia Imrie to play her because she is fantastic. That’s a mother I’ve never seen before – just the great joy of having your mother—the grandmother to your kids—living across the street, and the total nightmare of having your mother live across the street from you. There’s a scene where one of Sam’s daughters is talking to Sam about her relationship with the grandmother and it’s just priceless.

You were an associate director for a few episodes of Horace and Pete. Is directing something that you’d like to do more of?