, which John Hoffman createdwith Steve Martin, received 21 Emmy noms this year, including one for best comedy series — a feat Hoffman, a four-time Emmy winner, tells is “affirming.” For me to have any confidence in leading a writers room and building a season of a show like this with a cast like this, I have to feel I know this story in my bones. I based Oliver [Martin Short’s character] on an old theater professor of mine I was very close with until he passed away, Dr.
Richard Mason — he was known as “The Mayor of Charles Street” down in Greenwich Village. The pursuit of a theatrical endeavor through the mind of Oliver, I knew, would require a big swing, especially when we decided that it made sense for Oliver to take a straight play and turn it into a musical. There was also going to be this very tenuous and twisty romance with his new leading lady — and that was all there before we knew who that leading lady would be.
It’s crazy. I was with [EPs] Dan Fogelman and Jess Rosenthal going through the opening scene for season three potentially being this actress walking onto a stage, auditioning for a part, and Oliver being thunderstruck by both the talent and the woman standing before him, and I said to Dan and Jess, “Well, the perfect person to play this part — you know who that is?” They’re like, “Who?” And I was like, “Well, Meryl Streep.” And they were like, “Good luck with that, John.
” Then, literally two weeks later, I get a text from.