Age of The Nerd
(Updated with release date information) “Underdeveloped” is a mockumentary-style limited series follows a group of failed and inexperienced producers forced to work together at a production company made its’ premiere this September on Fox Entertainment’s free streaming service Tubi!
The series was the brainchild of Brian Metcalf who also stars in the series along with Thomas Ian Nicholas, Tom Arnold, and Mark Pellegrino to name a few.
Underdeveloped is the story about a group of inexperienced misfits who are forced to work together in a film production company. But the show is more about the relationships these misfits have with one another as they make mistakes and learn from them.
It all begins when Stan (played by Brian A. Metcalf), a completely inexperienced nerd is given the opportunity to run one of the lower film divisions by his brother-in-law, Ralph (played by Tom Arnold), after his wife demands he do so. This irks Joe (played by Thomas Ian Nicholas) who was originally meant to take on the job. So, Ralph puts Joe to work alongside Stan in the new division.
Ralph has little faith in the faltering division or in Stan, so he places him with a team of people who are one step away from the chopping block. But somehow this group manages to get through everything together.
We had a chance to catch up with series stars Tom Arnold and Mark Pellegrino for an exclusive chat about “Underdeveloped” while at San Diego Comic Con 2023.
*Please note this interview was conducted with a waiver from SAG/AFTRA
How excited are you for people to see this project? How long has it been in the works? We’ve only gotten to see a bit of the trailer and it looks hilarious!
MARK PELLEGRINO: I don’t know how long it has been in the works. I went over to Brian’s [Metcalf’s] house to talk to him about another project we were working on, and he said, ‘Hey, we’re doing this comedy thing. Would you like to be a part of it?’. I was filming in Pittsburgh at the time, so I said send me the scripts and I had to film myself in my apartment because I’m on Zoom. All of my stuff is via Zoom.
TOM ARNOLD: You’re lucky! I just had to sit in the office! I’d love to film everything at my house!
MP: It was fun. I’ve never done anything like that before and they did have to cut it down a bit from the thirty minutes to the twenty minutes, so I’m not sure what they’ve lost in the meantime, but I’m anxious to see the finished product.
TA: A lot of people were very happy to be there as I noticed. Much like, with you [Pellegrino] they reached out and said do you want to do this project. I said, “oh, yeah, yeah, is it going to be SAG?’ because a lot of people want to do a lot of things and they said ‘Yeah, we love it’ so I said, ‘Alright, let me know when it’s a real deal and I’ll try to make this work’. They shot most of it at a big studio I’ve worked at a lot so that was cool, and it seemed legit. Funny story, I got lost trying to get out at night…like drove around and around! It seemed like there was an easy way in and out, but that gate was closed off and it was the creepiest thing just being there and driving around and looking at everything. Eventually, someone on a golf cart had to come and escort me out! I was genuinely lost! My memory is not what it used to be! (laughs)
I’m shocked when anything goes these days! People talk about a lot of things, but these guys are solid guys, so you never know and then you do and now we are sitting here!
MP: Normally, from the time somebody pitches something to you to the time that it actually gets up on a screen somewhere, a lot of time passes, and very little time has passed. I mean, I was filming this up in my apartment while I was doing another show and that was in December.
TA: That is when I first heard about it as well! I told them I was going somewhere with the kids, and they were like “oh, when is that?’ and I said ‘December 22nd’ and they said, ‘Okay, we’ll do it right before that!’, it was a really quick process.
MP: I said, I’ve got a few ideas we could improvise, and they said, ‘well, we’ve already shot the other scenes, so you pretty much have to stick with what’s written’ so, I was like, “okay!”, but it would be fun to do more!
TA: I was just starting to figure out who’s who, so it would definitely be a lot of fun to do more with this series!
Do you know if there are any more seasons planned?
TA: Everybody has more planned!
MP: I hope so! If I know Brian, he does! He usually knows the answers at the back of the book.
Listen to the full interview with Age of the Nerd’s Kristyn Clarke and Nicholas Gonzalez below:
