While they say to never work with kids are animals, that’s where the magic happens on the Single Parents set. We were able to have a behind the scenes tour of the set, with Director Jason Winer as our guide. What I quickly learned while on set is that the kids rule — and the sets are full of tricks that will surprise any Single Parents fan.
What is Single Parents?
If you haven’t seen this hilarious ABC sitcom, let me share what the show is all about.
This ensemble comedy follows a group of single parents as they lean on each other to help raise their 7-year-old kids and maintain some kind of personal lives outside of parenthood.
The series begins when the group meets Will Cooper, a 30-something guy who’s been so focused on raising his daughter that he’s lost sight of who he is as a man. When the other single parents see just how far down the rabbit hole of PTA, parenting and princesses Will has gone, they band together to get him out in the world and make him realize that being a great parent doesn’t mean sacrificing everything about your own identity.
The Single Parents Cast
We were so delighted to be able to run into the cast of Single Parents while touring the set. Actually, Jake Choi, who plays Miggy Park, hung out with us the whole time! We even got a few group pictures with the cast on the playground set.
The series stars Taran Killam as Will Cooper, Leighton Meester as Angie D’Amato, Kimrie Lewis as Poppy Banks, Jake Choi as Miggy Park, Marlow Barkley as Sophie Cooper, Tyler Wladis as Graham D’Amato, Devin Trey Campbell as Rory Banks, Mia Allan as Emma Fogerty, Ella Allan as Amy Fogerty and Brad Garrett as Douglas Fogerty.
One of my favorite things I learned is there are 5 7-year-old actors within the ensemble. Director Jason Winer said it was important that they treated the younger cast members like any other actor. The production team honors the talent of each child, which is why they always kill it in every episode. They also write scenes where the kids are able to interact with one another, and that always produces comedy gold.
Elaborate Sets
Single Parents has more sets than normal for a comedy, because they need to move from one environment to another, in a short amount of time. Since there are child actors on set, they have to abide by strict labor laws.
We also learned that some of the single parents share sets. For example, Poppy’s bathroom is easily turned into Miggy’s bathroom, depending on what they are shooting that day.
I loved visiting Angie’s home, because it looked exactly like a a place that was lived in and run by a bus single mom. As Jason showed us around he said the “mess” we saw was very intentional. I thought it felt very familiar. I wonder why.
What an awesome day we had on the Single Parents set! So much to see and so much to learn.
