Cast & Crew Of New NBC Comedy "Free Agents" Talk Tragedy, Office Romance and Gay Sex on TV

The cast of NBC's Free Agents

“Sooner or later, when you’re all trapped in one space, somebody is going to sleep with somebody.”

So says Todd Holland, executive-producer of the new workplace-set comedy Free Agents, based on the profane, critically-acclaimed British TV series that aired on Channel 4. The upcoming NBC show jumps off from the same basic premise as its predecessor, following two corporate PR executives (who were actually agents in the British version) as they develop an awkward office romance.

Hank Azaria (Huff) and Kathryn Hahn (Crossing Jordan) star in the show as Alex and Helen, who we see waking up in bed together in the very first scene of the pilot. Alex has just suffered a soul-crushing divorce, while Helen is quietly grieving the death of her fiancé.

Within the first 60 seconds, the emotionally-wrecked Alex begins to sob uncontrollably, and Helen hurriedly calls him a cab. Hijinks ensue.

Yes, it’s a comedy.

Hank Azaria and Kathryn Hahn as Alex and Helen

Following the show’s TCA panel in Los Angeles earlier this month, I spoke to director/executive-producer Todd Holland (pictured right), and he admitted that even his two lead actors initially had trouble walking the line between the gloomy and the gut-busting.

“Our show is so grounded in dramatic truth that [Hank and Kathryn] came in and they were so dramatic,” said Holland of the first day of filming, which had Helen and Alex sharing an awkward encounter in a department store dressing room. “I go ‘Wait, wait, wait! This is not a drama! It’s not even a dramedy! It is a comedy with dramatic underpinnings!’…

“But we got enough that we were able to cut the scene that you see,” he continued. “We didn’t reshoot anything. But they were so dramatic. …They went for the truth, but the truth is not funny always.”

The panel itself was lively and rapid-fire, as if the cast had been directed to engage in as much breezy back-and-forth as they could to distract from the show’s downer premise. Here’s Azaria and Hahn, speaking about the time they spent at a real-life corporate PR firm to prepare for their roles:

HAHN: We went to a corporate public relations firm, and they were very, very, very helpful. And they’re actually called strategic –
AZARIA: They insisted on being called corporate strategists –
HAHN: Corporate strategists.
AZARIA: - not corporate publicists.
HAHN: Yeah.
AZARIA: And frankly, I wasn’t not creeped out by the whole visit –
[Pauses for laughter]
AZARIA: - but it was an interesting world.

For Hahn – best known outside Crossing Jordan for a string of “second-banana” performances in Hollywood comedies (“I’m usually the girl, you know, with the long armpit hair”, said the actress) – the show represents her first real “leading-lady” role.

“I have to say that we had to twist Kathryn’s arm to play the leading lady,” said Holland. “’This is your moment. Come out in the light.’”

“Shave your legs!” joked Hahn. “Run a brush through your hair!”

“Take off the overalls!” added Enbom.

Anthony Head

The lone import from the British version is former Buffy star Anthony Head, who reprises his role as foul-mouthed corporate boss Stephen in the remake.

“It’s a lot of fun playing somebody who doesn’t have a care in the world,” said Head. “And also, it’s great playing comedy like this. It’s beautifully written. It’s like it’s got a great soul and a great heart to it. You don’t often get scripts like this. Occasionally they come up. And it was a no brainer.”

“They also offered him money,” quipped Azaria.

“That helped,” acknowledged Head.

Next page! A gay, sex-crazed brother for Mo Mandel's character.