Editor’s Note: Spoilers ahead for ‘The Four Seasons’
One of this season’s most highly anticipated series is finally onNetflix, setting the bar for what adult comedy dramas can be. With its series premiere on May 2, the streaming platform has opened its doors toThe Four Seasons, a half-hour series across eight episodes of six old friends taking what is supposed to be a relaxing weekend away… only to learn that one couple in the group is about to split. The three couples — Kate (Tina Fey) and Jack (Will Forte), Nick (Steve Carell) and Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver), and Danny (Colman Domingo) and Claude (Marco Calvani) — are shocked in the wake of the news, which shapes their lives for the next year.
The series follows the six friends through four vacations, opting to continue their longstanding tradition of quarterly getaways, where they must face the new reality of their dynamics, with old and new issues shaping the series' comedy and drama. Co-created by Fey,Lang Fisher, andTracey Wigfield, the series is said to be a heartfelt love letter to long marriages and old friendships, and is based on the 1981 feature film of the same name.
In a recent interview with Collider’sTania Hussain, showrunners Wigfield and Lang unpack the emotional highs and comedic brilliance of their latest project. They dive into everything fromAlan Alda’s poignant cameo and bold narrative choices, the show’s balance of humor and grief after a major character dies, and how that loss captures the complexities of long-term friendships and marriage. The duo also teases what fans might expect in a hopeful second season, including new relationships, emotional twists, and — of course — more unforgettable group trips.
Nick’s Death in ‘The Four Seasons’ Was Filled With “Regret”
“It was right for the story.”
COLLIDER: I want to talk about the first episode with that Alan Alda scene. He gave this thesis statement on marriage, and I thought it was so lovely. Did you always know you wanted a scene like that, or did that emerge later on in the writing?
LANG FISHER: The challenge of adapting the film is that we had eight episodes, so we obviously had to add more plot. The decision to have Nick die was one we thought about for a while. Middle age is a time in your life where you’re acting younger than you are, but then there are the realities of actually getting older, and things do happen. In real life, you do lose friends. The thing that’s beautiful about Nick is he’s taking his own life into his hands. He’s like, “I need to live. I want to feel alive.” We wanted to show someone who was having a midlife crisis,but actually making a decision for himself to live the life he wanted to live. I think that that is the tragedy of it is that he finally figured out what he wants. Also, just to show that these friends loved him so much and were struck by the suddenness of it, and that is how it happens in real life.
It works so well, but was there ever a version where you didn’t have to kill Nick because Steve Carell’s wonderful, and I’m sure you guys loved having him on set?
WIGFIELD: We regretted it immediately. When we were shooting the show, and it was too late, we were like, “Why have we done this?”
FISHER: He’s so wonderful.
WIGFIELD: He’s so wonderful both to work with and on the show. We made a terrible error. No, no, no, it was what was right for the story.
FISHER: It was right for the story. But I think that if there are future seasons, hopefully, there are ways we can do flashbacks or incorporate him again becausehe is one of a kind.
What Season 2 of ‘The Four Seasons’ Could Mean
“Always when a terrible tragedy happens, or I feel like this in my own life, it often comes on the back of something hopeful happening.”
There are a lot of scenes I love. The “Candle in the Wind” was my favorite when Anne’s trying to get out of the boat, and she’s not helping herself. Was there anything that made you guys crack up when you wrote it on paper, and then when you finally saw it, you just kind of lost your shit?
WIGFIELD: The one that killed me…
FISHER: I know what you’re going to say.
WIGFIELD: I loved it when we wrote it, and not being able to open the strawberry guy to show the surf instructor that she had had a little flirtation with, that it was wrapped for the airport, and she couldn’t get it open for a long time. I love that as an idea, but on the day, I was losing it. We were in Puerto Rico, and we did it so many times. Kerri [Kenney] was so funny and just taking this emotional journey where at one point I was like, “Oh, she’s laughing and is going to start crying while she’s opening this strawberry.” It was a case of you write something, but then only great acting can elevate it to what the scene ended up being, which I thought was the perfect version of what we had written.
It was so good. It was really funny. I was screaming in the sense that it was more like cringey funny, and it worked so well because he’s trying to help her, and she can’t.
WIGFIELD: And he’s being so nice to her. It’s so human and sad.
It’s not very relatable, though. Working with Tina Fey and having her have this character in the show working with Will Forte, the two of them have amazing chemistry, obviously from past history, but they worked so well as a couple. Do we think in Season 2, which fingers crossed, I really hope we see more, they’ll be okay after that ice issue? I was really scared. I didn’t know what was going to happen!
FISHER:We wanted their story to be the truest to most marriages out there, that, you have these ups, you have these downs, you fight, and then you are like, “No, but you’re my person. You’re the person I love the most in the world.” So, yeah, if there is a Season 2, whatever it would be, we love these two together. They will have their problems, and issues, but what we hoped we showed is that they’ve been together for decades, and they are the reason why long marriages are great.
The reveal that Jenny is pregnant with Nick’s baby is a huge twist. I did not see that coming. What were the goals in helping make that reveal, and how do you see that shaping Season 2?
WIGFIELD: We loved the idea of keeping Jenny in the group. Because of these things that happened — her partner died, and now she is going to have a child who is a sibling to Anne’s daughter — it sort of kept her in the mix and part of this little gang going into Season 2. It also was from the original movie. That happens in the movie, and it also is how life is. Always when a terrible tragedy happens, or I feel like this in my own life,it often comes on the back of something hopeful happening. It always, in life, is happening at the same time.
I really did love this show, and I really hope that there’s a Season 2. Were there any other stories that you guys feel like we should be looking forward to for Season 2?
FISHER: We have a bunch of ideas, but we haven’t settled on anything yet. You can probably expect four more trips. [Laughs]
WIGFIELD: They go on more trips. It isn’t an anthology kind of show where we would want to mix up the group so much. You want to see this group of friends continuing their next year of life, and the hills and valleys of their marriages and their friendships.
FISHER: But there could be new additions. Anne could have a new partner or Jenny could have a new partner. Who knows? There could be fun new guest stars to add.
How do you top Terry [Toby Huss]?
