Kaley Cuoco did not need many words to celebrate the news that her next HBO Max project had officially become a series.
After HBO Max gave How to Survive Without Me a 15-episode order, Cuoco shared a screenshot of the announcement on Instagram Stories and wrote, “Let’s f****** go,” according to AOL.
Cuoco plays Kate De Angelis, the eldest daughter in a family trying to hold itself together after the death of its matriarch, Beverly. Ray Romano, Joshua Jackson and Rita Wilson lead the ensemble with her.
The pickup moves the project beyond the pilot stage and gives it a notably long first season for a streaming drama. Cuoco had already joined the pilot earlier this year.
Cuoco Plays the Daughter Who Looks Like She Has Everything Under Control
Kate inherited her mother’s perfectionism, elegance and talent for keeping things organized. She is balancing marriage, motherhood and a full-time career as an interior designer while presenting what appears to be an immaculate life to everyone around her. Beneath that surface, however, the character is carrying deeper wounds she has never fully addressed, according to TheWrap.
The role also reunites Cuoco with Greg Berlanti after The Flight Attendant, which Berlanti executive produced for HBO Max. Joshua Jackson plays Kate’s brother Cooper, a chef preparing to open a members-only dining club in Los Angeles while carrying forward his mother’s recipes and approach to food.
Cooper presents himself as confident, but he is hiding a secret that could threaten both the friendships he has maintained for years and the culinary career he built in Beverly’s honor.
Julia Schlaepfer plays their sister Liz, while Romano stars as Leo, Beverly’s widower and the father of five adult children suddenly forced to find his own way of holding the family together.
Wilson plays Beverly, whose death happens before the central story begins but does not end her influence over the De Angelis family. If the family wants to experience Beverly’s last work, they must continue making time for one another and remain connected through the problems still ahead.
HBO Max Gave the Family Drama 15 Episodes
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HBO Max moved the pilot to series on Sept. 16 with a 15-episode order for the one-hour drama, TheWrap reported. The episode count is considerably larger than the shorter seasons common across streaming and fits with HBO Max’s recent effort to develop projects with longer runs and the potential to return annually.
That strategy gained attention with The Pitt, which also uses a 15-episode season instead of the eight- or 10-episode structure that has become common for prestige streaming dramas.
The regular cast extends well beyond its four best-known names. Julia Schlaepfer, Jack Ball, Kylar Miranda, Julian Grey, Scarlett Abinante, Tommy Dewey, Matthew Kellison, Colette Porch and Ella Rubin are also series regulars.
Dar Zuzovsky, Genevieve Angelson, Joe Romano, Katie Aselton, Katie Monds, Kevin Changaris, Pressley Hosbach, Richard Blackmon, Sofía Rodríguez-Toymil and Will Yun Lee have guest roles.
Sarah Aubrey, HBO Max’s head of original programming, called Romano, Cuoco, Jackson and Wilson a “dream cast” for what she described as an emotional and extraordinary family story. The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television and Berlanti Productions.
Greg Berlanti Says the Story Is His Most Personal in Years
Berlanti wrote the pilot with Bash Doran from a story they developed with Robbie Rogers. The project also brings Berlanti back to the type of family-centered television that helped establish his career. He noted when the series order was announced that the first show he ever created was a family drama almost exactly 25 years earlier.
Returning to that kind of storytelling has been particularly emotional because How to Survive Without Me draws from the creators’ own experiences. “To also co-create it with Bash and my husband, Robbie, and draw from our own families’ experiences of love and loss has made the whole show the most personal thing I’ve worked on in years,” Berlanti said.
Daniel Minahan directs and executive produces. Doran, Rogers, Sarah Schechter, Leigh London Redman and Ryan O’Connell are also among the executive producers.