The often-maligned Department of Motor Vehicles gets the sitcom treatment it really deserves in ‘DMV.’
In CBS’s new workplace comedy, DMV, it’s hard to tell who is having a rougher time: patrons of the East Hollywood branch of the Department of Motor Vehicles or its motley crew of employees faced with overwhelming problems. Whether it’s very senior seniors reapplying for a license, serial lunch stealers, or inspectors evaluating your usefulness, this sitcom is covering a lot of ground…. Or rather, road.
What inspired series showrunners Dana Klein (Friends and Fresh Off The Boat) and Matt Kuhn (Frasier) to center a workplace comedy in such a place as the DMV? The series is based on the short story Chicken-Flavored and Lemon-Scented, by Katherine Heiny, and Klein shares, “I loved the idea of setting a show in the most mundane, unextraordinary place, and arguably the DMV is one of the most dreaded places people have to go.” And she points out the other side of the story, adding the perspective of the employees. “You never think about it from the people who are working there [dealing] with people being annoyed before they even walk through the door.”
And trust that there are plenty of annoyed customers for the frazzled workers to contend with. “From the DMV employee side, they’re doing the best that they can,” Kuhn shares, and as they deal with the red tape of low-level bureaucracy, he points out, “the show is also about the relationships between the characters.”
One of the strongest bonds viewers will encounter is between driving examiners Colette (Colin From Accounts‘ Harriet Dyer), Gregg (Tim Meadows), and Vic (Tony Cavalero). While Colette approaches her work with a big heart, she struggles with boundaries, and in Klein’s eyes, jaded former English teacher Gregg and former bouncer Vic are like Colette’s older brothers in the varied DMV family.
“They really wish her well, but there’s a lot of ribbing,” teases Klein. “But they’ve all been working together for a long time, and there’s definitely a closeness and a love there underneath the snarkiness and the irritations.”
In the hierarchy of the DMV, Klein shares that Colette, Gregg, and Vic — as the only driving examiners — hold “a very coveted job” because they get to come in and out of the building as opposed to desk workers like new guy Noa (Alex Tarrant) and free speaker Ceci (Gigi Zumbado).
Bertrand Calmeau / CBS
Rallying everyone together is passionate and well-intentioned Barbara (Molly Kearney) who, despite trying their best as a newly-promoted manager, often falls short. Meanwhile, the Hollywood setting of the series — which actually films in Montreal — delivers a treasure trove of eclectic customers. “You get the agent, you get the person who is on Hollywood Boulevard in the superhero costume, you get absolutely every cross section of life,” Klein teases of the people viewers will see walk through the East Hollywood branch.
Part of the beauty of the setting, as Klein points out, is “it’s the great equalizer being at the DMV. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, everyone still has to go through it, and that brings out the truth of a person.”
A season-long arc is the threat that the East Hollywood branch — one of four in the area — is in jeopardy of being shut down. “And so that was helpful in crafting a story to put pressure on Barb as a new manager,” Kuhn points out.
“Yes, they’re fighting for survival,” Klein echoes. And the pair promise some crossover with the other DMVs in Hollywood, teasing some shenanigans loom on the horizon.
But while work plays an important role in these DMV employees’ lives, viewers can anticipate some other fun storylines, which includes some romantic tension between Colette and Noa.
“We want it to be a slow burn,” teases Klein, who says Dyer and Tarrant “have amazing chemistry… and it has been just delightful to watch them in every scene that they’re in together.” Viewers will have to tune in to see how that relationship might develop between Colette and Noa, though, as Klein and Kuhn remain fairly tight lipped on the topic.
One thing’s for certain, while most DMVs may be an utter nightmare, CBS’s series is shaping up to be the comedy escape we’ll all surely need this fall. We couldn’t be more thrilled to stand by and wait for the right time to tune in and take the show for a spin.
DMV, Series Premiere, Monday, October 13, 8:30/7:30c, CBS