WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Abdullah Saeed wasn’t seeking to write a groundbreaking comedy. He was simply searching for a job.
The “Deli Boys” creator wrote a pattern script in 2019, hoping to safe a workers place in a writers’ room after transitioning from journalism to screenwriting. (“Nobody was buying my documentaries,” jokes Saeed.) He had not too long ago co-written a script for a characteristic movie, however wanted one thing to showcase his personal voice.
Saeed sat down to jot down with out fear about representing his complete neighborhood, and determined to freely create a present that was as lighthearted as he’s.
“The pressure was off because I didn’t think it was going to be a TV show. I was just like, ‘OK, whatever, I think that’s funny,’” mentioned the Pakistani American author.
“Deli Boys” quickly landed in entrance of tv writers and producers Jenni Konner (“Girls”) and Nora Silver (“Single Drunk Female”), who instantly needed to do greater than rent Saeed. They needed to develop the half-hour pilot and convey it to life.
“It was so unique and so funny and fresh, and (there is) nothing like that in the world, ever,” mentioned Konner who later introduced on showrunner Michelle Nader (“2 Broke Girls”).
The ten-episode Hulu authentic comedy offered by Onyx Collective stars Saagar Shaikh (“Ms. Marvel”), Asif Ali (“WandaVision”) and Poorna Jagannathan. Premiering Thursday, “Deli Boys” follows two Pakistani American brothers, Raj and Mir — performed by Shaikh and Ali — who lose their snug existence after their comfort retailer mogul father (Iqbal Theba) dies unexpectedly from a {golfing} accident. Raj and Mir should now work collectively to take over the household enterprise, however quickly be taught they’re in means over their heads after they uncover the shops had been a entrance for cocaine distribution.
Saeed, who used to cowl tales centered on music, hashish and leisure medicine, says he was impressed by the “unverified stories about stealth and smuggling” that he heard over time.
“It’s just lore,” he mentioned of the tales he was by no means in a position to report out. “But in this show, we can borrow all that stuff, right? And so, like, there’s all these elements about, you know, stealth, like how you actually package and move drugs that really made their way into the show.”
The brothers on the present’s coronary heart are two full opposites who’ve to search out themselves whereas being comically thrust into the drug-smuggling underworld: Raj is the free spirit who depends on hashish, his shaman and beauty to get him by, whereas Mir is the buttoned-up, mannequin baby seeking to make his father proud.
“It was great to finally, for the first time, be a flawed character not a model minority,” mentioned Shaikh. “The spectrum for white shows goes from like, ‘Full House’ to “It’s Always Sunny.’ And, you know, we are, like them, not a monolith, right? We have different stories. We have different values from house to house. We have different cultures from house to house. And we rarely get to see any nuance.”
For Ali, portraying Mir was one thing he by no means would have imagined.
“It really is above just being, you know, an exploration of what being South Asian is,” mentioned Ali. “It’s something that I have never seen our community have before. Just like straight-up crazy comedy.”
Jagannathan performs their father’s right-hand girl Fortunate, who rapidly takes the boys beneath her wing in an effort to salvage the household’s dwindling drug operation. In response to Jagannathan, Fortunate was initially written as a person till Saeed was suggested to return to his script and alter two characters from males to ladies. Quickly, Fortunate turned a mix of Saeed’s mom, whom he describes as a “self-starting, headstrong badass,” govt producers Silver and Konner, Nader and Jagannathan’s previous roles as a mom on “Never Have I Ever” and “The Night Of.”
“She’s sweet and loving and nurturing and then the next scene is her putting a bullet in someone’s head,” mentioned Jagannathan. “And I think the juxtaposition of that is so funny, but the script has so much of that. It’s the expected with the unexpected right next door.”
The forged additionally contains Alfie Fuller (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) and Brian George, a well-recognized face to “Seinfeld” and “The Big Bang Theory” followers who’s now entrance and heart as Fortunate’s second-in-command. Visitor stars for this season additionally embody “Queer Eye’s” Tan France, who makes his performing debut within the sixth episode.
“I saw the script, and it was a fully formed character. I was so nervous. But the first day I got on that set, I had the best experience,” mentioned France, who initially thought he was solely going to play a small function.
Saeed and Konner hope the present could have the chance to welcome extra South Asian visitor stars in later seasons. “There’s a lot of people we would die to have,” mentioned Konner.
“And then for each of them, we’ve now set this thing up for ourselves where they have to play someone against type,” mentioned Saeed. “So, that makes it more fun for us if we get somebody huge, right? And we’ve only seen them one way; we get to put them into something different.”
