Step On Set Of Single Parents With Me! Exclusive Single Parents Cast and Set Photos!

Have you seen Single Parents on ABC? This new show airs Wednesdays at 9:30|8:30c on ABC (also available streaming and on demand) and I've got a behind the scenes look and exclusive photos of the Single Parents cast and set!

Visiting television studios and going on-set is completely fascinating to me. There is so much to take in and so much detail and thought put into every single thing. From the way a room is lit to the family photos adorning the walls to props that reflect a character's personality, it's all so cool to see and experience. On my last trip to Hollywood for the Ralph Breaks the Internet premiere, I got to stop by the set of ABC's Single Parents and meet some of the Single Parents cast and crew members

Not familiar with Single Parents? Here is a little synopsis if you need to catch up:

This ensemble comedy follows a group of single parents as they lean on each other to help raise their 7-year-old kids and maintain some kind of personal lives outside of parenthood. The series begins when the group meets Will Cooper, a 30-something guy who’s been so focused on raising his daughter that he’s lost sight of who he is as a man. When the other single parents see just how far down the rabbit hole of PTA, parenting and princesses Will has gone, they band together to get him out in the world and make him realize that being a great parent doesn’t mean sacrificing everything about your own identity.

Single Parents Cast

Single Parents stars Taran Killam as Will Cooper, Leighton Meester as Angie D’Amato, Kimrie Lewis as Poppy Banks, Jake Choi as Miggy Park, Marlow Barkley as Sophie Cooper, Tyler Wladis as Graham D’Amato, Devin Trey Campbell as Rory Banks, Mia Allan as Emma Fogerty, Ella Allan as Amy Fogerty and Brad Garrett as Douglas Fogerty.

We were met on set by Jason Winer, the director and one of the executive producers of Single Parents. I seriously love meeting the team behind the series because they are so passionate about the projects they're working on and can give you the backstory behind the decisions they make for the creative direction of the show.

Mr. Winer led us throughout the set and I was surprised at how big the set actually was, but it totally makes sense since there are so many families involved. He told us, "It’s a lot of sets, more than normal for a comedy. And part of that is the concept. They're single parents, right? So, it's all the different houses, and they're rotating." He added, "That's really fun, I think, for the writers to be able to set things in these different environments and keep things fresh. But it's also important for us on the production side because the challenge of doing a show with five kids as series regulars is that their hours are restricted. So, we had to build every environment in here so that we can do the whole show moving from environment to environment and somehow manage to shoot each episode in a week. So, it's a challenge, but it's one we have fun with."

So, having different sets helps them cross-shoot and be able to shoot more than one scene at a time, but it also sounds like they optimize every single scene to shoot with different cameras in different directions. Mr. Winer told us, "The other thing that makes us able to accomplish the show in the hours that the kids have to shoot is this cross shooting style where we're always shooting everybody at once. It's not like most shows in which you'd shoot this direction, and we light it this way. And then we turn around and do this direction. We don't want to kinda miss any of the spontaneous magic." He added, "So, the cameras are firing both directions at once, and it requires the actors blocking to be really specific. Otherwise, you'll see the other camera. Again, that's another way that we trust the kids. They can handle it. We're saying, you literally can't move an inch that way. And they get it. They're amazing like that."

Another fun fact about this show? When we walked through the home of Douglas Fogerty we were told that they actually had to build a set with ceilings since Brad Garrett is so tall.

And speaking of Brad Garrett, we did run into him on set as well!

On the day we were visiting the set, we also got to chat with Jake Choi who plays Miggy Park on Single Parents. Jake admitted to us that he actually has a little bit of baby fever thanks to this series. He spends a lot of time with the twins that play baby Jack and Mr. Winer told us he has such a great rapport with both of them. Jake added, "I love them so much." Seriously?! So cute.

What was really cool to see was how they utilize every bit of space on the set. If the room isn't be used for shot, it's being used for storage. They also swap out sets completely. For instance, in Douglas' home, there is a study. But in the past you’ve also seen it as the twins’ bedroom. They switch it over since there isn't enough space to do every environment. As you can see in the photo above, they take photos of how things were left in a room so they can easily redress it later.

The details are just amazing!

As we walked through the set, we came upon the home of Angie (played by Leighton Meester). The space was cool, but felt pieced together. Turns out, that's exactly the look they're going for. Mr. Winer said, "We're really mindful - and this is actually something we have to work very hard to make sure our dressers do - is to make it messy. We're like more stuff, more stuff, more mess, stop cleaning it up. We're trying to make it feel real and lived in. And also if you notice like the walls are almost white, which you never see on television. That's something I insisted on 'cause they're always painting it colors to look pretty. And we're like, no, just let it be. She rents this place. She doesn’t own it. She doesn’t get to paint it whatever color she wants."

Did I mention we met Leighton Meester?! Of course, I didn't crop this photo so it looks like we're besties... Kidding. I totally cropped our group out. 🙂

The most notable place within the show is probably Hilltop Elementary School. We spent a good bit of time there and got a lot of cool photos in the courtyard, on the playground and in the classrooms.

We also spent a little time in Poppy's Winebrary. This was such a cool set!

If you haven't tuned in to Single Parents yet, now is your chance! You can catch the latest episodes on Wednesdays at 9:30|8:30c on The ABC Television Network or streaming or on demand. Check out the website for even more details and join the conversation on social media with #SingleParents

Special thanks to the Single Parents cast and crew for having us! Also, thank you to Disney and ABC Studios for hosting me on this press trip.