TCA Press Tour: No character left behind on ‘My Generation’? Maybe not.
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This is the story of nine (nine!) friends picked to be filmed by a documentary crew in Austin, Texas. It’s not the next location being revisited on MTV’s “The Real World.” It’s the premise of ABC’s new mockudrama “My Generation.” Although there may be a lot of characters in the lineup, some folks are wondering if someone is being left out.
The ensemble cast and executive producers unsurprisingly took up most of the stage during the show’s panel at the TCA press tour to discuss the series, which presents a documentary crew revisiting a group of new-millennium high schoolers a decade later — after Enron, 9/11, Bush — to get an update on their lives as they find themselves returning home to deal with a variety of issues.
The cast is a mash-up of high school archetypes: There’s the jock, the punk, the nerd and so on. But missing from the large cast of players is a gay character — a striking omission considering the way shows such as Fox’s “Glee” and ABC’s “Modern Family” have helped their respective networks score recognition for their inclusive choice of characters.
Creator Noah Hawley, also an executive producer on the series, noted that the original version of the pilot included an appearance by Dawn’s (Kelli Garner) brother, who was written as gay. “It’s still a character we plan to bring into the show,” he said. “It’s my intention that’s his sexual orientation.”
And it won’t end there. As if there weren’t enough names to remember, even more new kids will be coming to the block.
“We will absolutely be meeting more characters,” Hawley said. “We have a whole high school cast we can meet over time.”
-- Yvonne Villarreal
twitter.com/villarrealy
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