Dead to Me creator Liz Feldman has done it again with No Good Deed: That is, the showrunner has made another addictive, smart television series. And this time, real estate is the main character, along with a stacked cast headlined by sitcom greats Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano that includes Abbi Jacobson, Linda Cardellini, O-T Fagbenle, Denis Leary, Poppy Liu, Teyonah Parris, and Luke Wilson.
“I wanted to see how far I could go with a very simple concept, which is buying and selling a house, even though it’s inherently a very high-stakes situation,” Feldman told TV Insider. “The three most stressful things in life are death, taxes, and moving. I did death with Dead To Me and as Abbi keeps joking, my next show is going to be a crazy show about accountants.”
In the Netflix dramedy (premiering December 12), three families are all vying to buy the same 1920s Spanish-style villa they deem their “dream home” — but they have no idea that the house owned by longtime married couple Lydia (Kudrow) and Paul (Romano) holds more than just potential fixes to their various real-life problems. It also comes with some very dark secrets.
“The drama in this was intense drama. It was intense sadness and real tragedy,” teases Kudrow of the story. Adds Romano, “I didn’t want to do a straight comedy again, but I never wanted to not do comedy. But this had a different tone to everything else I’ve done. So that was fun and challenging.”
Related‘No Good Deed’: Ray Romano & Lisa Kudrow Spark a Real Estate War in Full Trailer
Fans who watched Feldman’s previous series should prepare themselves for the same ride of emotional highs and lows — but be warned, because that’s where the similarities between the two shows end. “Part of the dream of this show was to work with a lot of actors,” Feldman explains. “What I wanted to do differently [than Dead To Me] was make it an ensemble — a true ensemble that wasn’t just resting on the shoulders of two characters. I wanted to give myself and the writers opportunities to tell as many stories as we could.”
Those stories include Jacobon’s Leslie and Liu’s Sarah (a married couple who hope to have a child to raise in the home they covet), Parris’ Carla and Fagbenle’s Dennis (newlyweds with a baby on the way), Cardellini’s Margot (a no-nonsense status seeker hoping to turn a profit on the expensive home), and Wilson’s JD Campbell (a down-and-out-of-work soap star looking for his next big break).
Netflix
“That’s one of the things that attracted me to this show — how many stories and families we would get to follow and how they all can represent very different things for anyone watching,” says Parris. “Not only will you find yourself in one family or one person, you’ll find yourself in many characters.” That was especially true for Jacobson, where the actress found herself inhabiting a character that literally hit close to home: Leslie was inspired by Feldman’s own personality and life experiences.
“That was exciting because I’ve never gotten to play a character where the person who inspired it has kind of followed me around,” she says with a laugh. “Leslie’s an ADA and there’s a level of control there that I think she thrives on. And I think that’s something Liz might thrive on as well. But then there’s the other part of Leslie, the more personal part, that is more fiercely protective of her family, which Liz is. And I really love getting to tell the story of a queer family building their family. You don’t see that every day on TV, still.”
Netflix
No Good Deed will have audiences on the edge of their seat with each twist and reveal throughout the eight-episode run, but Feldman, who has always written shows that center on intimate relationships and connection, is hoping to mine something deeper with her latest creation.
“Truly, I was hoping to accomplish creating a really entertaining show that makes you think and feel. I’m interested in giving audiences a feeling experience, coming away with a deeper understanding of themselves and their relationships,” Feldman says. “I want people to feel seen and less alone and know that these really high-stakes moments in life are universal and we all go through it.”
No Good Deed, Series Premiere, Thursday, December 12, Netflix
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