This week I sit down for a quick interview with Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, and Chris Sullivan about That Was Us, an upcoming episode-by-episode rewatch podcast covering the NBC drama This Is Us.

Interview Segment Transcript

Bryan Barletta:
So, why podcasting? All three of you are accomplished in so many other categories. What about podcasting appeals to you?

Mandy Moore:

I think we are a very tight-knit group. We are a family. We worked on a television show together for 106 episodes, six seasons on a project that was very near and dear to all of us, as well as an audience out there.

So, I think all of us were quite sad when it came to an end, and doing a podcast, and specifically a re-watch podcast allows us the opportunity to connect with one another, the opportunity to re-watch this show and everything that goes along with it. And truly, most importantly connect with the people that connected with the show to begin with, and having them included in each episode. We’re going to have these dedicated fan segments, and I think that’s one of the things that we’re most excited about.

Because the show really resonated on a deep level with so many people for a variety of reasons. So, to be able to have those conversations, dig into it a little bit more in a way that I don’t think we were able to while the show was on the air in hindsight, and reflecting back now I think is just… It’s the ultimate opportunity for all of us.

Chris Sullivan:

Yeah. On a base level, I love podcasts. I had started this conversation about this podcast with Rob Holysz at Rabbit Grin Productions, who runs the armchair umbrella, the Armchair Expert shows.

I’m listening to podcasts from morning to night, from news, to comedy, to narrative, into sleep meditations. Podcasts in my opinion, in a world where the attention span is shrinking, is the opportunity to keep the art of long-form conversation alive. So, I love doing podcasts, I love listening to podcasts, and so far I’ve loved making a podcast.

Sterling K. Brown:

You just took a lot of my answer.

Chris Sullivan:

Oh, but do it with the British accent.

Sterling K. Brown:

I could do it with a bit of a British accent. I really enjoy podcasts because of the long-form conversation that we have there, but also because with so much social media going on, 180 characters or whatever it is, it’s an opportunity to delve deep. So, I guess I said the same thing, but I did it with a British accent.

I will also say I just did a podcast with my wife, as well. I think it’s just an opportunity to share… This is saying the same thing, just in a slightly different way. You connect with fans through social media, but whether it’s on X, or Instagram, etc., your characters are limited or whatnot.

To be able to give them a bit of what’s behind the scenes, like the secret sauce behind the episode that they watched, like what a director possibly did in that episode, a conversation that happened off-camera between castmates, something that happened in the writer’s room that contributed to what you wound up seeing on-screen… It’s really nice to give our audience sort of those behind-the-scenes little things that like, “Oh, man, did you know that that’s how Randall came to be in this particular situation? Etc., etc., etc. So, there. That’s my five cents.

Bryan Barletta:

One of the things that really stood out to me is the show ended in 2022. This might just be the fastest finale to re-watch podcast we’ve seen to date. [Editor’s note: as of this publication the fastest turnaround we’ve found is QCODE’s 2023 podcast My Mrs. Maisel Pod, which debuted 10 days after the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel finale] What does that say about the audience, the show, the general appeal of everything?

Chris Sullivan:

Nobody wanted the show to end, Bryan. Nobody. Not a single person. Except for Dan Fogelman, who had the vision and the actual incredible restraint to understand the story he wanted to tell, and where he wanted it to end, and how he wanted it to end. And he refused to inject a bunch of filler and fluff into the show.

So, that’s why. We are looking forward, Sterling, Mandy and I to getting a chance to hang out, and to keep the show alive in spirit, and in actuality, and to share it with other people. And it gives us an opportunity to hang out and talk about something we love.

Bryan Barletta:

With that in mind, Chris, to harp on that for a second, the re-watch podcast and the continuation… You talk about how you listen to all these other types of podcasts. If a show was cut too early, is that an exciting possibility in the future to see podcasts be extended with a final season as a podcast? Like a show be extended in a podcast form?

Chris Sullivan:

I like it. I like it. When we’re done going through all the episodes…

Bryan Barletta:

You’ll make those filler episodes.

Chris Sullivan:

We start doing fan fiction. Future fan fiction episodes where we reenact how the fans want the future of the Pearsons to play out. That’s a good idea, Bryan.

Bryan Barletta:

With you guys being podcast fans as well and re-watch continuing to grow in popularity, what’s your personal favorite show that you would want to see a re-watch podcast of?

Sterling K. Brown:

Ooh, that’s interesting.

Mandy Moore:

I loved West Wing, and I’ve listened to a few of those episodes of [West Wing Weekly]… Obviously I feel like they sort of kickstarted the trend in a way. So, I feel like I had that box checked.

Sterling K. Brown:

West Wing is really good. God, what do I want to do… That’s a tough question. I could nerd out on a sort of Battlestar Galactica level. I could do that. I could go nostalgia. [Editor’s note: after the interview we discovered SYFY WIRE’s rewatch series Battlestar Galacticast, hosted by former Cylon Tricia Helfer.]

And there’s no one… Well, very few people are still around. Like if somebody was around for All in the Family, may he rest in peace, the producer who just passed away. That was a show that made me sort of understand what the medium of television could do by showing flawed human beings who still were capable of love, and affection, and grace, showing how complicated people were. And you fell in love with this dude, Archie Bunker, even though he probably wouldn’t want to kick it with your boy, but I was like, “Archie, I see you, dawg.” Yeah, that might be one.

Chris Sullivan:

The first show that grabbed my attention as a young-man was the X-Files, and if you got David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson to sit in a room and go back through that show, you wouldn’t see me for months.

Bryan Barletta:

That’d be a good one. I guess to wrap it all up, are you guys excited about the hands-on potential of advertising in podcasting, like to really be involved with the brands that help make your show possible?

Mandy Moore:

Yeah.

Sterling K. Brown:

I would say so. I think none of us are people who want to just sort of… We’re not grabbing at anything. We would want all of the advertising to feel authentic to who we are as human beings and what the show is about. So, it’s not like we’re going to do a lot of green thumb sort of things like, “Oh, man, you can go get weed from here.” That wouldn’t make sense for our show, even in the State of California. You know what I’m saying?

It would make sense for Beth and William in one particular episode. So, that’s about it. But to do something that felt sort of real to who we are as people, things that we could utilize, or things that we actually do utilize… Because I wouldn’t want to talk about something and put it out there unless I’ve really had sort of like, “No, this is something that I can actually stand behind.”

Mandy Moore:

Yes. I think we’re all aligned on that same page. We are consumers. I can’t tell you the number of things that I have been influenced to purchase because of listening to the advertising on podcasts, and we know the difference between stuff when people can really stand behind a product, and really use it, and speak to that sort of authenticity. And I think we very much want to find those things and align ourselves with products and services and whatnot that we truly do use in our lives. That’s going to be an important factor.

Chris Sullivan:

Yeah. One of the things that This Is Us did really well was respect its audience, and it took care of its audience, and we want to do the same thing. So, if they’re taking time out of their day to spend an hour with us, we want to keep them engaged in a way where the products are something they might want, something they might use. So, yeah, we’re excited to figure out what those things are.

Bryan Barletta:

That’s fantastic. I’m so excited for the show as a big fan of the TV show. I’m looking forward to the podcast, and thank you guys for joining the podcast family, being a bigger part of podcasting and helping make it grow.