SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points from tonight’s Season 3 premiere of the hit CBS series Elsbeth titled “Yes, And…”
The drama behind the scenes of late-night television is spotlighted in tonight’s Elsbeth premiere for the show’s third season.
Stephen Colbert stars as Scotty Bristol, the host of his own late-night show, Way Late with Scotty Bristol. Andy Richter also took a role similar to what he does in real life, playing Mickey Muntz, Scotty’s hilarious but long-suffering sidekick and husband of the show’s head writer and executive producer, Laurel Hammond-Muntz, played by Amy Sedaris.
Colbert’s casting on Elsbeth was confirmed just weeks after it was announced that CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, with his final episode set to air next May. Showrunner Jonathan Tolins told Deadline that Colbert’s casting so close to the news that his stint on The Late Show was ending was a total coincidence.
“It all began when Wendell Pierce was a guest on Colbert’s show last February and Stephen joked about wanting to play a corpse on a CBS procedural. That got the ball rolling. The script was written before the news broke about the end of The Late Show. I did not rewrite the script at all to reflect what had happened, so whatever resonance the episode has in that regard is coincidental. (Some of the lines took on a whole new meaning!),” shared Tolins.
Tolins said before Colbert was even cast, he and the writers had planned to do an episode set in the world of late-night, “which is a fun setting for a New York show.” He mentioned the original idea was different, but “it did involve the host involved in the murder.”
“Since we would only have Colbert for a limited amount of time, we thought playing with his real persona, and the audience’s usual experience of him, would maximize the impact of his appearance,” Tolins said.
The inner workings of a late-night show are under the microscope in “Yes, And…” showing the inner workings behind the scenes, such as pages giving tours to fans and the writers’ room working hard to find jokes that will please the host. Later, the camera focuses on a segment being shot where Scotty takes the opportunity to drag Mickey for his weight, again, as Mickey’s face and confidence drop to the floor.
This is a familiar scene for Laurel, who is sick and tired of Scotty prioritizing everything over everyone else, and, of course, of him making fun of her husband. Mickey has been asking Scotty for time off to get his health in order, but there’s always an excuse.
“Andy is so great in the role. It was also so wonderful to have three people with a long history together, just like the characters they play. I actually saw Amy and Andy in a play, “Incident at Cobbler’s Knob,” as part of the Lincoln Center Festival back in 1997,” Tolins said.
Adding, “And, of course, I’m a huge fan of Strangers with Candy, the series Amy and Stephen co-wrote and starred in, and on which Andy also appeared. That connection between the three of them is really palpable in the episode.”
As he pumps himself up to demand his boss give him the time he needs off later that night, Mickey gets the courage to walk into Scotty’s office, where he discovers his corpse. Just moments before, Laurel had fed Scotty’s tie into the power shredder, which choked him to death.
“Most of us don’t choose murder, thank God! In this case, Laurel is seriously worried about her husband’s health. She has also seen Scotty, her friend and boss, humiliate Mickey, her husband, night after night in front of millions of people. I think Laurel has gotten to a place where she recognizes she has given Scotty so much power over her life, her career, and her marriage, and she’s had enough,” Tolins explained.
“Unfortunately, things don’t turn out well for her in the end. Also, the fact that Stephen and Amy have known each other for so long added something special to their scenes together. These people know each other deeply. I think it makes for one of our most complicated and interesting murders on the show,” he continued.
While the investigation into Scotty’s death continued, Mickey confronted his wife about where she was when their boss died. When he figures out she was present at the time of the crime, Mickey has a “catastrophic coronary” and dies. Laurel took the opportunity to blame Mickey for Scotty’s death, saying he confessed before he died. Elsbeth is, of course, too smart for Laurel’s weak excuse and gets the killer by the end of the episode.
As the season moves ahead, the precinct is dealing with budget cuts, and those employed there are “a bit unsettled, just as they are in the real world,” explained Tolins. However, the topic “doesn’t sound very sexy,” he said, so “I don’t think we will focus too much on the budget cuts this season.”
Next week’s new episode, “Dog Day Afternoon,” is a series best. It features David Cross and Scott Campbell, who are on opposite sides of a standoff at a toy store. All I will say is that there is a giant piano, which could be a nod to Big, that catches Elsbeth’s attention.
“I’m very proud of the new season so far. I think we’re doing what we’ve always done, but we’re getting better at it. We continue to attract incredible guest stars and we’re finding more fascinating slices of the culture to explore. We’re also taking more risks with the format this season, finding ways to keep the show surprising. I’m finding that the show — especially with Carrie Preston’s incredible performance leading the way — can handle everything we throw at it,” shared Tolins.
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