John Mulaney on Self-Titled Fox Comedy: ‘I Just Watched ‘Seinfeld’ and Copied It’

TCA 2014: “They run it all the time,” the former “SNL” writer jokes. “It was easy.”

mulaney tca

John Mulaney (pictured above center) has a pretty good strategy for his once-NBC and now Fox comedy, “Mulaney” — “I just watched ‘Seinfeld’ and copied it,” the former “SNL” writer joked at Sunday’s Television Critics Association panel.

He added: “They run it all the time. It was easy.”

The easy comparison though, is not completely a joke. Mulaney is a clean-cut, suit-wearing comic a la Jerry Seinfeld. His observational material is not completely unlike Seinfeld’s, and the multi-camera sitcom follows the protagonist curating a stand-up career, also like “Seinfeld.”

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Plus, Andy Ackerman executive produces and directs “Mulaney” — guess which show he also directed and produced? Yes, “Seinfeld.”

Ackerman was also asked about similarities between the two sitcoms at the Fox comedy’s TCA panel, where he said he sees “so many similarities” in terms of the cast’s chemistry and the talent. “If we had any small success of what ‘Seinfeld’ had, we’d obviously be thrilled,” Ackerman added.

As far as the show’s format, Mulaney told the media that there are “loose” continuous arcs for the sitcom’s characters over the next 10 episodes, but that he wanted the first six to be self contained.

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In terms of what to expect comedically, Mulaney explained: “My standup is probably a little cynical but hopeful as well. I’m someone with high hopes and aspirations that could be disappointed by the world.”

“Mulaney” also stars Nasim Pedrad, Martin Short, Elliott Gould, Seaton Smith and Zack Pearlman.

The sitcom is produced by Universal Television, Broadway Video and 3 Arts Entertainment. The series is created and written by Mulaney. Lorne Michaels, Mulaney, David Miner (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), Dave Becky (“Louie”), Andrew Singer (“Portlandia”) join Ackerman as executive producers.

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