Behind the Desk: Why CBS Made the Dreaded “DMV” Its Next Big Comedy

My name is Yvonne Villarreal. I cover TV for the Los Angeles Times. Thanks so much for being here. I also oversee our Screen Gab newsletter, so we appreciate you coming out so we can continue doing events like this.

But fresh off their shift from the DMV, let’s get everyone out here. Let’s start with showrunner and executive producer Matt Kuhn, Dana Klein, creator, showrunner, and executive producer, Harriet Dyer, Alex Terant, and Gigi Zimbato. Hi.

I wasn’t going to start here, but I did have a boss once do icebreakers with, tell me about your worst day at the DMV or jury duty. Considering the premise of this show, give me your worst DMV story. Dana, let’s start with you.

Okay. Is this on? Well, I’m a mom of three teenagers, so I’ve recently spent a bunch of time at the DMV, and my son was like, we have to go to Winnetka because that’s supposed to be the easy one. And he still failed twice. I went once, but I moved here obviously as an adult and had my Australian license, which doesn’t count for much here. And so it’s kind of a rite of passage that all Australians go. And we’re all adults that can drive, and we all fail. It’s impossible to pass first, but I did. But she didn’t have any joy in telling me that, my instructor, because we pulled up at the end, I went, how did I go? She went, you had 11 errors. And I was like, oh. And she went, you’re allowed 14, get out. And I’m like, okay. It was a big, what’s that word?

What was one of your errors?

What? What was one of your errors? I can’t remember. Being Australian, I don’t know. Does the DMV in Australia feel much different?

Oh, yeah. Ours is quite lovely. Oh, it’s state to state. But there’s like a man at the front who you take a ticket, and it’s like a valet almost. He sits you down, you get a water. It’s lovely. There seems to be more money given to it. And the people, I don’t know, they’re a bit more happy.

Because of the money.

Because of the money, yeah.

Alex, Gigi?

For me, I’m from New Zealand, I’ll be honest. I actually haven’t gone for my American license yet.

Let’s go right now.

Pardon?

I’m so scared. I’m so scared, to be honest. But I need to do it. I need to bite the bullet sometime. So if anybody has any tips, please let me know. My husband hasn’t either. And he failed.

Yeah, you guys can go together.

Yeah, okay.

Oh, I told these kids when I went to get my learner’s permit when I was 15, I made a bet with all the cute boys in school. They were all like, let’s get the ugliest ID pictures. Whoever gets the ugliest one wins. And I’m the earliest birthday. I’m October. And I went, and I got a really bad photo. My dad even helped me with the lady taking the photos because you’re not allowed to make a face. And my dad went up to this poor woman and was like, listen, my daughter really has a terrible smile. It’s her biggest insecurity. Please, when she smiles, just don’t say anything. Don’t look at her. Don’t make a face. Don’t say anything to her when she does her smile. And I did a really bad smile. And then all the guys that I made the bet with did great photos. And so I had a really ugly photo for a year, and they didn’t. That was mine.

Your team play, Ajit.

Matt, I don’t want to leave you out.

Well, I’ve had nothing but great experiences at the DMV. No, sometimes I go there just to relax. I’ll take a jury question, though. I was on a panel, and when it was time to select a four person, somebody was like, let’s just spin a pencil. And it was the slowest spin ever. It landed on me.

Oh.

Sorry. That’s not the best way to pick a four person.

I would love you to be my four person. I would feel really safe with you as my…

That’s the spinoff.

It’s the spinoff, yeah.

I don’t have a horror story, but it belongs to my mom where trying to get the real ID, she discovered, or they’re at least telling her she’s not really married to my father. So the marriage license didn’t work out. That’s a true story, but yeah, it’s weird.

I was someone that wasan avid viewer of shows like Parking Wars and Airplane. Do you know these shows? Reality shows? I don’t. Reality shows that… one of them covered parking officer attendance, or what is Plane, do you know these shows? Reality shows? I don’t. Reality shows… it, parking meter attendance, and staffers at an airline, Southwest I believe was it, and it was so fascinating to see these jobs that are often maligned or sort of they get a lot of flack for how they deal with the public, or they’re not really appreciated, and we don’t really know what goes into everything that they do, and it was such a fascinating portrait of the human condition.

And so Dana, Matt, tell me why the DMV as your backdrop to this comedy. Yeah, it’s exactly that. I love the idea of a place where they’re just trying to do their best and people are annoyed before they even walk through the door, or maybe there’s one person who’s actually psyched to be there, which is even scarier. But yeah, I just think we just thought it was very interesting to kind of go behind the plexiglass, and the show is inspired by a short story written by a wonderful author named Catherine Heine, and I was so moved by the story. It was about finding the beauty in really small moments in the most mundane place, and the most extraordinary moments in the arguably one of the least extraordinary places, and I thought that was so fantastic.

Yeah, and it’s really like for people that work there, they have to work together, you know, and that’s something that I’ve always enjoyed writing about, and it’s been fun with our writing staff to do that, and with the people here, we work together, so there’s kind of a meta thing going on. And for the people that work in these jobs and in airlines too, I think they often find themselves like on the ground floor, we say it’s where the rubber meets the road almost exactly, between regulations that maybe don’t always make the most sense, and people that come in and are sort of like, why do I have to fill out like three forms of identification? The people that work in there are like, I don’t know, but that’s what it says.

Yes, yes. How did you decide on Los Angeles and then specifically a fictional location in Los Angeles? Well, Los Angeles, we wanted a DMV that would have just natural diversity where you get all walks of life, so we wanted a big city. And then just the fun of, in Hollywood specifically, everyone from, you know, someone on Hollywood Boulevard in a Superman outfit to a huge star to a big agent to a fast food worker to everyone. And so I love that natural diversity and I’ve spent time, a lot of time in the Hollywood DMV. We made it fictional. That’s a legal thing. We couldn’t actually have a real one. But we also, because we have this storyline of the downsizing and how one of the four branches is going to become automated. And so we were looking for a city where there were multiple DMVs, which is Hollywood.

How about, tell me how you sort of envisioned the cast of characters and then we’ll go through the line here of like what sort of struck you about the characters that you’re playing. Matt, do you want to talk or Dana? Do you mean like the characters or the… The characters that fill out the office.

Gotcha. Well, three of them, Colette, Vic, and Greg were inspired by characters in the short story. And actually Noah as well in the short story. That character was called Alejandro. That’s right. And then I added Barb and Ceci. Ceci, the character was originally named, I think, was it Jocelyn? Yeah. But then Gigi came in and changed the character. She could speak to that. And then Barb, we wanted like a sort of boss figure or her title is boss. Maybe her personality is not as boss. But yeah, so it just sort of naturally filled out as I was breaking the pilot story and what felt like it needed.

Gigi, tell us about Ceci, how you arrived there. I love Ceci. Ceci was very special. I remembergetting this script before I even got the audition, just about this new really great comedy that, I’m very good friends with the casting associate actually and she’s like, you have an audition coming and she sent me the script. And it was like, it’s my favorite job I’ve worked on. And I was so excited and read the script and she was like, I think you’re perfect for Jocelyn.

And I feel like the prototype for Jocelyn was like an Aubrey Plaza, very like office bitch, mean girl that doesn’t help anybody. And there was just something about her that like, I just, she was great, but it was like too polished for me. I just didn’t see me in her. I could see a lot of other girls. Like I try to think of a casting director like, who would I cast for this? And I wouldn’t have picked me. And so I didn’t think I had a shot at it, but I loved the script. And so I was like, the only way I’ll book this is if it’s believable to me and how I would be at the DMV. And if someone of my Latina descent and what I grew up in in Miami, if I worked at the DMV, I’d be this fucking bitch. And that was Ceci.

And Dana was so nice and called me and was like, Jocelyn’s great, but I feel like what are some Miami names? What feels true to you? And I really appreciated that. I thought that was so special when you let me have any say in the name and the authenticity of Ceci. So I adore Ceci and it’s been so much fun to play her. So thanks guys.

Would Ceci let us retake our photo? Ceci would let anyone that looks bad take a photo because she needs to take credit for it. And so if you look a mess, I look a mess. And we’re not going to have that. I love that. Where are we taking some photos for sure?

Alex and Harriet, wait, Matt, do you want to say something? I was going to say that the photo machine is actually practical on set. It’s real. I’ve taken yours for sure, Harriet. I think I took my sister’s the other day.

Yeah, you did. Did you take the ID photos that we see? No, I wish. That would be cool. My head doesn’t photograph well. Oh, I took yours, Matt. I did take yours. I’ve been asked to leave the set many times. You need the Kardashian setup. Didn’t they do an episode where they brought the whole bright light and stuff? Oh, really? Yeah. Harriet sent me Victoria Beckham actually getting hers and it’s the funniest video. It’s from like 2003 or something, so it’s got a real flavor to it. But it is like Victoria Beckham at the DMV getting touches.

Well, can we go then? Like it was so good. It’s so good. Yeah, that is the great equalizer, isn’t it? Everyone needs a driver’s license. Everyone needs a driver’s license, got it.

Well, Alex and Harriet, your characters are sort of on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of, you know, Noah’s sort of new and still bright-eyed and not worn down by the job. And Colette is like trying to not tell everyone how long she’s been there and make it seem like this isn’t like a lifer type of job. Talk about what you enjoyed in terms of digging into these two characters.

Alex? For me, you know, I must say I’ve got to give so much credit to CBS. The fact that I get to represent my Polynesian heritage and culture, not just in one show but two CBS shows, it’s such a dream come true for me to be able to be myself inside such a big world. So it’s such an honor.

So yeah, thank you so much. Noah, what I really enjoy about him, he sees the world through almost like rose-tinted lenses. And I think for me, I feel like I do the same. I like to assume the best. And I think he’s allowing me to find a little bit more joy inside my career because I’ve always considered myself to be quite a serious actor. But yeah, this opportunity to find joy and lightness inside the work has been such a blessing.

Does it feel – in what ways is it challenging – in what ways is it a challenge that’s different from NCIS? Yeah, so I think it’s – the challenge is – you know, this is very – there’s a lot of relationship-based television to do with both NCIS and DMV, but DMV is more concentrated on the relationships inside the workplace. And I think it’s an important part of it too. NCIS, there’s a lot more jargon, like exposition that needs to be explained. Over here, we just get to dive intothese people and who they are and how they operate and what makes them special inside such a mundane, normal, everyday place. Harriet. The question was, what do we like about the characters? How was it to dig into where she’s at in her sort of life or career? Yes. Yeah, the thing about working there a long time is I think she’s a little bit embarrassed by it, but she’d never think to change. I think every day is kind of a gift. She’s a pretty sunny person. And I liken her to when I was auditioning a lot and someone once told me that everyone wants you to get the job. Like all those casting folks and producers, they want you to be it. And that’s Colette in the driving instructor world. She’s there. She’s rooting for these people. She’s the opposite of what I had when I got my license. But she’s really helping people and kind of like, I’ll pretend I didn’t do that. She’s really, she just wants people to be doing well. She’s a real sunny side up kind of gal. And I like it.

I came home the other night rather tired, and I don’t remember what the moment was, but I said to my husband, I was like, I think I really just like being in her head. I really like being Colette. And he’s like, tell me about her. I was like, I don’t think I can right now. I’m very tired, but I feel it when I’m there. And he’s like, oh, good for you, love. But she is coming out more and more to me. I read the short story, which is quite long actually. It’s like 20 pages. It’s not that short. You should still read it. I’m getting through it. But after the pilot, I ran into an acting teacher and she was like, oh, tell me about your character. And I was like, my character? And I didn’t really have anything to say. And now I feel like I know her. Now I feel like I know her rhythm, her flavor, and what makes her tick. And she’s just really a nice, she’s a good chick, but she’s not boring. She’s got so much flavor and she’s very awkward and also proud of her awkwardness.

How is it, because you’ve given us one of my favorite sort of will-they-won’t-they romances with Colin from Accounts, and here there’s a will-they-won’t-they, but it’s obviously different. How did you view the way, or how are you approaching this that interests you? Well, Colin is like, it’s literally a car crash. It’s like star-crossed. And it’s a quick game. And this feels like the long game. Also, there’s other people that find him attractive. And Collette has taken it slow. Who knows how many seasons we got of this, you know? But Colin, it was the opposite. It was just like, do everything at once, and then see what happens after. So very, very different. And just very different styles, too. That’s fun.

Dina, Matt, what was the consulting process like? Did you have people come in? Did you guys go as a group to visit places? Talk to me about that. Okay, so after I read the short story and I decided I definitely… The long story. The long story. Long short story. I went to the Hollywood DMV, and I brought my computer, and I was like, I just want to seep in all the creative whatever. And then I wanted to talk to someone to just ask a few questions. And so there was someone, a guy, who looked like he wouldn’t mind breaking the rules. Did he work there? Yeah. And I went up to him, and I was like, this is really weird, but I’m writing a show about the DMV, and I was wondering, could I take you to dinner and ask you some questions? And so we went out to dinner. Oh, my God. And I paid him like $200, and I just asked him. I had like a list of questions. And then, yeah, his name is Tyler, and it’s Colette Tyler. We should have brought him here today. Yeah, and then he came into CBS, hired him as a consultant, and he came into the writer’s room. Let’s go, Tyler. Hey, Tyler. Now he lives in Brentwood. We asked him a ton of questions, and he was there for hours. Yeah, we learned about something called wrong-lining. We won’t tell you what that is. Why? You’ve got to watch the show. Wrong-lining, as you can imagine, is if someone’s a real jerk, they purposely send them to the wrong line. That’s like the only recourse.Yeah, I don’t think it’s like the first move. No, no. That’s if someone’s really, really awful. But on the writing staff, too, you know, like everybody is coming in and telling their stories. And, you know, we had a writer who injured his knee running out trying to get a document. Or his son. He was so stressed out. He was going to lose his place in line. And Sam ran and hurt his knee. Oh, no. Yeah. That’s why he was limping around on set like Captain Ahab. Sure, sure. DMV-related injuries. Yeah.

And then we had another writer who went into a branch and asked about interning to learn more about things. And somebody working at the window was like, you’ve got to take that up with Sacramento. So the learning never ends. I love Gigi’s reaction to everything. I know. I have no poker face. You’ll learn that about me.

But did you as a cast go in? How did you figure out what your role should look like or who to model it after? Were you going and observing on your own time or anything like that? I have not. I, what happened? I probably would have, but I came from Melbourne before we started shooting. And now I would like to, honestly, I need to renew my license. Like I’ve got letters from the DMV and I’ve got no in. It’s so ironic and hilarious that I’m just going to stand there as well. I’ll be like, anyone, anyone? No? Okay. I mean, we’ll see. And it’s like due before the show comes out. So I’ve got no chance. No chance.

Alex, do you? I got pulled over just maybe a couple of weeks before heading to Montreal because my registration was out for maybe six months. And I didn’t know because I’m still getting used to the American systems. But I had to go to DMV and I think I ended up having to pay maybe 3K to get my car back on the road. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yeah. Ouch. It’s really depressing, guys. Method, method.

But did you have like jobs that were sort of the nine to five pre, you know, acting that maybe you helped, that helped you tap into the mindset here? I did, yeah. I worked at an industrial real estate firm. And yeah, that was real workplace comedy stuff. Everyone had their role. It was just, it was weird. It was a weird place. I was kind of obsessed just looking at it all. I was only 18, but I knew that it was a whole zoo. And if I wore like a different skirt, all the guys would be like, it’s like, what’s happening here? This is just work, you freaks. Like there’s some weird people in offices and I’m into it.

Well, the thing with DMV is like you get a different cast of people coming in on each episode, which is not typical with the workplace comedies. Talk a little bit more about like what that allowed for you guys to do. What’s the challenge of that? Break it down for me. Yeah, we are always thinking about customers and what would be a fun customer story and trying to pepper that in as much as possible. We really want to, though it is a workplace comedy, we want to make it very DMV specific so that we’re doing stories that only could be done at the DMV. And so that’s both a challenge and super fun.

Right. Like the access point for everybody is walking in and sighing and looking at the people working behind the plexiglass and going, oh, how long is this going to take? And we found it interesting for Brent in the pilot. You just saw how many people were sort of like connecting with him, despite the fact that we didn’t necessarily write him to be a sympathetic character. I don’t live with him, but. It’s my husband. Really? I love that. Yeah. But yeah, that’s something that we’re very aware of, that that’s how everybody is seeing this. But we also want to know that or look at the ensemble as the family, too, that those are the relatable stories that we’re telling, that even if you don’t work in a government place of business, the stories that we’re telling should be relatable to everybody.

Have you gotten any feedback from officials with the DMV in any way? No, but on Saturday, we’re having a screening at the DMV. How does that work? Like, where is the screen?Good question. I’m interested. I don’t know. We’ll be there. We’ll be there. It’s outside. I just feel like I have to give the DMV some credit here because I feel like it’s our fault at this point. Everybody that is relating to Brent in this pilot, don’t we know at this point we need to bring our birth certificate and everything? It’s not their fault. It’s basically plastered all over the world. So we’re the idiots, okay? And these poor people put up with us, all of us. So that’s my nice points to the DMV. Thank you guys. Sorry.

We agree. The last time I went, my husband had to get his real ID. And we were in and out. It’s true. If you follow the instructions and make an appointment, it can be a very pleasant experience.

Tell them about your appointment on Tuesday. That appointment that you booked.

Oh yeah, my daughter is going to take her written test, which she failed once. My kids don’t have a good track record. But she’s going again on Tuesday. And we don’t have an appointment and we’re going to get there at 7am.

Oh my gosh. Which is good for the back seven. Yeah. Right? Exactly. It’s all for the story. It’s all for the story.

Do you see somebody like Brent? Is there potential for recurring characters in a way? Because they keep forgetting the document or they did something wrong. Or how do you see that working?

Yes, I mean he did not get his real ID. So maybe he will be back. I would love him to come back. He’s so funny. He’s so awesome. He was amazing.

Do you expect a lot of Hollywood types having appointments at this DMV? That would be great. We are hoping any actor who wants to come in and play themselves. Me and Tony were saying Steve-O. How do we get Steve-O to come in? That would be fun, right? For some reason I would love to see LL Cool J lining up. I like that.

But we see the downsizing storyline take place. What other topics or issues or themes do you want to explore within this comedy?

Matt? Yeah, I mean we’re just working on one now that kind of involves automation. So we’re diving a little bit more into the kiosk piece. Yeah, I mean you see like talking about the consultants where Greg, the Tim Meadows character, is discussing like doesn’t it seem ridiculous to be having consultants come in when that’s money that could be spent. So that’s I feel like something that is relatable in any walk of life. Mismanagement or different management of money. So that’s something that’s a continual factor. We kind of play that out throughout in a storyline involving Greg’s character and his sort of battle to get his office chair replaced. So that’s something we kind of track red tape, which maybe doesn’t sound that interesting, but hopefully it is. It is. With Tim Meadows it is.

Can we talk about Tim Meadows please? Give me your on-set anecdotes because that man just, he brings so much light to a scene. Harriet, what was it like sharing or having him as a scene partner?

I mean, we didn’t get SNL over the pond, but I’m a big Mean Girls kid. Like I have to stop myself quoting it around him. But I made him laugh in a scene yesterday. Like he broke last night and I was like, yes. I got Tim. I just love him. And he’s just, he’s a pro. He’s just, I don’t know. He’s a great guy and he’s great in the show and he’s a perfect flavor. And I don’t know. I feel like we got very lucky to get Mr. Meadows.

Yeah, when you hear Tim laugh at a joke, you just know you’re like on the right track. It’s quite nice.

He’s never laughed at one of my jokes. He has. Stop. I’m waiting for it. But it’s okay. We go to hot yoga together every weekend, so it’s fine.

Yeah, you’ve got your own thing. We do hot yoga together. It’s very cute.

Did you take his picture? No, I didn’t take anybody’s, I didn’t take the real pictures. I just took Matt’s and my sister’s. Sorry. This is your missed opportunity, Gigi. He doesn’t come to my section of the DMV very often. That’s why he hasn’t laughed at my jokes.

Seven by seven. Well, we’re very excited to see where the season heads and maybe we’ll see you guys at the DMV for this screening. Maybe, I don’t know. I don’t know where they’re showing. Maybe in the parking lot? Because Harriet wants to know.

Yeah, I want to know. Shoes, what

shoes do I wear? Parking lot is scary. None of us made appointments. But thank you so much for taking the time and thank you all for coming.

None of us made appointments. But thank you so much for taking the time and thank you all for coming out here.

by Staff Writer

From our in-house editorial team.