*For Ian Deitchman and Kristin Robinson, the creative duo behind “It’s Not Like That,” the spark for their new series came from deeply personal places. The show, which debuted January 25 on Wonder Project’s subscription on Prime Video, marks a full-circle moment for the longtime collaborators who first wrote its pilot script years ago – the very script that landed them jobs on “Parenthood.”
“Ian and I, our TV writing background leading up to this moment in time was, we were fortunate enough to work with Jason Kadins on Parenthood,” Robinson explained. “We love the kind of shows that live in that space of family and relationships. We wanted to make one of those that was uniquely our own, that had some rom-com humor in it.”
The eight-episode series follows Malcolm (Scott Foley), a pastor and recently widowed father of three, and Lori (Erinn Hayes), a freshly divorced mother of two teens, as they navigate their newly minted singledom and the complexities of modern faith leadership. Their families once did everything together, but now Malcolm and Lori must figure out if their deepening bond is the beginning of a love story, or if it’s not like that at all.
Drawing From Real-Life Pain
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The genesis of “It’s Not Like That” stemmed from real experiences with loss and friendship in Deitchman and Robinson’s lives. Deitchman recalled how he, his wife, and Robinson all had a college friend who passed away suddenly from cancer, leaving behind a family. He also drew from watching close friends, parents they’d met through their own children, go through an unexpected divorce.
“We use people’s pain. That’s what we do. We take their pain, and we turn it into something magical and beautiful. I’m joking,” Deitchman added with a laugh.
A Unique Take on Faith and Friendship
What sets “It’s Not Like That” apart from other family-oriented series is its honest portrayal of faith leadership and the unique friendship at its core. Deitchman noted that Malcolm’s role as a pastor brings a faith element rarely explored in this genre, approached from the perspective of showing him as a fully human character navigating community expectations, fatherhood, and personal grief.
“We’re going to show what it is like to have a role in your community as a faith leader and as a father and how that complicates the lives of everyone around you,” Deitchman said. “It’s kind of, to some degree, the more we did research, it’s kind of a lonely experience because you are this faith leader.”
Robinson emphasized that the show’s central friendship is what makes it distinctive. “It is not the bond of the two women, but it’s the bond of these two people, one who lost his wife and the other who lost her best friend, and their families had a bond and they are trying to hold onto the goodness, the pieces of that that their kids still need and provide a healing space,” she explained.
The series also tackles grief head-on while maintaining room for comedy. “We’re starting from a place of characters who are dealing with grief, and we’re hopefully playing that in an honest, emotional way but also playing the comedy of it that can come out of these situations,” Deitchman noted.
The Will-They-Won’t-They Question
At the heart of “It’s Not Like That” lies a classic romantic tension, but one complicated by circumstances and responsibility. When asked about the central conflict, Robinson teased the emotional complexity driving the narrative.
“There’s a will-they-won’t-they at the core of this, but I think what that speaks to and hopefully what that takes into is all of the elements that that entails,” Robinson said. “These are people who have feelings and needs but also recognize the complexity of their situations and their family’s needs, and it is emotionally rich.”
A Creative Partnership Years in the Making
The collaboration between Deitchman and Robinson, who met at Northwestern University, has been refined over years of working together. Their process involves constant calibration of tone, balancing humor with emotional depth. Robinson characterized their partnership as a creative marriage, distinct from their real-life families.
“There’s a creative marriage there. We like to say we are married to other people in real life, and we have children of our own in real life. Our scripts and our projects are our children,” she explained.
Their dynamic naturally influences what appears on screen. “Some of the dynamic that we write is the dynamic that we share because we have a very rich friendship ourselves, years long now, going back to Northwestern at college,” Robinson added.
Bringing Families Together
For both creators, “It’s Not Like That” represents more than just another series; it’s an invitation for families to watch television together in an era of isolated viewing experiences. Robinson expressed hope that the show would create meaningful co-viewing moments across generations.
“We live in modern times. My newly adult son watches everything on his phone alone,” Robinson reflected. “We grew up where you sat down with your family on the couch and watched together.”
The creators aligned with Wonder Project’s vision for family content consumption. “We are hoping It’s Not Like That can create that kind of co-viewing experience with parents and their children, that there are storylines that will appeal to everyone together,” Robinson said.
When asked to describe the series in his own words, Deitchman focused on its emotional resonance. “I would describe it as a show that you can fall in love with. Those have always been my favorite kinds of shows, and they tend to be shows that are character-driven and have an emotional life to them and that aren’t purely funny or purely dramatic, but all of that is there,” he said.
Robinson offered a more succinct summary: “It’s Not Like That is all the messy goodness that is life. That is, it’s painful, sad, funny, hopefully all of it together.”
“It’s Not Like That” premiered with two episodes on Sunday, January 25, on Wonder Project’s subscription on Prime Video in the U.S., with subsequent episodes debuting weekly.
Watch our conversation with Ian Deitchman and Kristin Robinson via the clip below.
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Scott Foley on Why ‘It’s Not Like That’ Offers the Kind of Character-Driven Drama Television Desperately Needs | EUR Exclusive
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