The spunky banter between “So Help Me Todd” stars Marcia Gay Harden and Sklyar Astin — by turns funny, offbeat and all-too-human — has driven the CBS dramedy to a breakout inaugural season … and an early Season 2 renewal.
The series returns March 2 (9 p.m.) with latest episodes after a two-week hiatus. It centers on the mother-and-son dynamic between high-powered attorney Margaret Wright (Harden) and her ingratiating son, Todd (Astin), a talented, quirky, somewhat reckless private investigator who, after losing his license, is hired by his mom to snoop around for information that can help her clients.
Their snappy repartee has been successful with viewers and critics alike as Todd and Margaret balance their personal and skilled lives: Margaret’s second husband left her within the series opener and she or he juggles different relationships with each of her three children; Todd lives in his married sister Allison’s (Madeline Clever) garage and pines for his engaged ex-girlfriend, Susan (Inga Schlingmann), an attorney at Margaret’s firm.
“It really was there from Day One,” Astin, 32, said of his rapport with Harden. “That’s to not say that it’s easy but I believe it comes naturally to us because we’re each fearless performers so we’re not afraid to make a mistake.
“We got here in at different times and were each offered the roles individually so it was sort of ‘Let’s see how this goes,’ he said. “I’ve all the time revered [Harden] and revered her work and we now have a really similar compass because we’re each theater people — so I believe there’s a really symbiotic connection there within the work and that comes across onscreen … within the humanness in the connection at the middle of the story.”
The multi-hyphenate Astin isn’t any stranger to TV viewers; he played Greg in “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” Max in “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” and Todd Eames on “Grey’s Anatomy”; his movie roles include “Pitch Perfect” and its sequel, “Pitch Perfect 2” (as Jesse Swanson) — on Broadway, he played Georg in “Spring Awakening” (amongst many other stage roles). He’s also an completed singer.
Astin said that the interplay between Todd and Margaret was there, on the page, from the get-go.
“I actually loved [series creator] Scott Prendergast’s script for the pilot and was intrigued by the story and loved the mother/song relationship,” he said. “And, on top of that, I loved how messy Todd was and desired to dive into his mind. I all the time find it really fun to play a personality who’s on the surface looking in and goes the more unconventional route.
“Todd’s point-of-view is different than most individuals’s and it’s fun to play with that.”
Astin said that he and the show’s writers made some adjustments to how he played Todd once the series got over the hump of its pilot episode and into its own rhythm.
“I believe they began writing toward me and giving me the liberty to improvise and add my very own embellishments and flourishes to the scenes and to Todd’s physicality,” he said. “Within the pilot, Todd wasn’t as physical as I’ve made him now, bumping into stuff, these blissful little idiosyncrasies that make playing him delightful. It sort of takes on a lifetime of its own.
“[Marcia and I] all the time do our homework and ask questions, like ‘What do you’re thinking that [Todd and Margaret] did right before coming into this scene?’ In-between scenes we’re like, ‘What happened within the automobile? Why are we starting the conversation at this point?’
“That’s a few of the nerdy stuff we’re into, however the delight is in the main points.”
And, with a second season on the best way, Astin said that Todd will undergo some changes of his own.
“I’m aware of a couple of latest elements coming Todd’s way,” he said. “I don’t think that each one of the sudden he’s going to be a businessman — he’s all the time Todd irrespective of how successful or unsuccessful he’s. I believe Marcia and I actually have done an excellent job of building the bickering and argumentative nature of Margaret and Todd — but underneath all of it there’s this layer of affection and love that may withstand anything.”
