LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� 鈥淧onies鈥� is a bit of a unicorn.
The Peacock series that stars and as widows of CIA operatives who become intelligence assets in the 1970s Soviet Union has real stakes, and real blood. But its tone is comic first and foremost. And it has been submitted for the forthcoming nominations as a comedy, despite its hourlong episodes that on television usually mean drama.
The tone-mashing comes naturally to its showrunners, Susanna Fogel and David Iserson, a couple of veterans of film and TV writing. 鈥淧onies鈥� 鈥� intelligence-speak for 鈥減ersons of no interest鈥� 鈥� is the first show they have worked on that they created.
鈥淲e understand that we鈥檙e not a pure comedy and we鈥檙e not a pure drama, which is nothing that we wanted, and we were happy with that. But it was always also part of the calculus that when our characters are in peril, we should feel like they could die,鈥� Iserson told The Associated Press in a joint interview with Fogel. 鈥淭hese characters are experiencing grief. These characters are experiencing peril and also they鈥檙e funny people, and that is just the way that we both see the world.鈥�
Fogel puts it a little more succinctly: 鈥淔unny people in serious situation is our thing.鈥�
Their two stars have youthful vibes but mature acting skills and they seamlessly handle the show’s swerves. Clarke’s character, Bea, begins as an innocent in a dangerous world the same way her Daenerys Targaryen began on 鈥淕ame of Thrones.鈥� Richardson’s Twila starts as the same sort of worldly, savvy character she has played on 鈥淭he White Lotus鈥� and elsewhere.
Then both go on major arcs.
鈥淲e wanted to give these actresses something new that they hadn鈥檛 done, but that didn鈥檛 feel like they were fighting some essential part of who they were,鈥� Fogel said.
She and Iserson have what she calls 鈥渁n open creative marriage.鈥�
Separately, Fogel was a writer on the 2019 film 鈥淏ooksmart鈥� and the HBO series 鈥淭he Flight Attendant.鈥� Iserson has written for series including 鈥淢ad Men鈥� and 鈥淢r. Robot.鈥�
Together, their work includes the 2018 film 鈥淭he Spy Who Dumped Me,鈥� which stars Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon as women thrust into espionage. In retrospect, it feels like a dress rehearsal for 鈥淧onies.鈥�
鈥淭hat was more on the comedic side of the spectrum for both of us and we were more excited to do something that was more grounded but had the same friendship story to it,鈥� Iserson said. 鈥淪o we took the things we loved about that experience and then used some of our other skills to make something that felt a little bit more in the dramedy sphere.鈥�
The show felt grounded enough to some viewers that if you Google it, a question that pops up on search: 鈥淚s the TV series Ponies a true story?鈥�
鈥淚 think good comedy is like a high-wire act. In a way it feels like a high-risk, high-reward thing to be able to do anything that鈥檚 doing that,鈥� Fogel said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure how you can stand out with things that are just 100% serious.鈥�
The half-hour comedy vs. hourlong drama split, which the overwhelming majority of historic TV series follow, really seems to matter where Emmys are concerned.
It is probably the reason the half-hour has been able to pass as a comedy and dominate those categories at the Emmys, to the chagrin of some makers of more purely funny stuff.
Though the hourlong comedy isn’t unheard of and the Emmys have recognized that before. 鈥淎lly McBeal鈥� would get an annual raft of nominations in the late 1990s and once won best comedy series. 鈥淭he Marvelous Mrs. Maisel鈥� did the same in the 2010s.
Many of the Emmys’ technical and craft awards, including cinematography and sound, are broken into half-hour and hour categories instead of comedy and drama.
Another Emmy contender, HBO’s latest 鈥淕ame of Thrones鈥� spinoff, is the flip side of 鈥淧onies,鈥� since it’s a drama with episodes that land at just over 30 minutes.
Showrunner Ira Parker says the old distinctions maybe ought to be scrapped.
鈥淟ook at all your favorite dramas of all time, like 鈥楾he Sopranos鈥� and even like, 鈥楾he Wire,鈥� how funny those were,鈥� Parker said. 鈥淚 actually think the difference should be 30 minutes and an hour versus comedy and drama.鈥�
鈥淧onies鈥� has not yet been renewed for a second season, but a few Emmy nominations could change that.
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