Its morning rush hour in the Pearson household.
Rebecca (Mandy Moore) hustles around the kitchen, managing breakfast for her boisterous children.
And Dad said…GEE!
Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC
Then came…ME!
And Mom said…WEEE!
We cant share the rest of that chant.
Or divulge what one kid is teasing another about.
Or explain why theres a whiff of marital tension.
Or even describe the overbearing-parent dynamic.
But we can tell you that this quotidian breakfast scene will vibrate with significance when you see it.
Theres alotgoing on here, stresses Moore.
The ambitious series follows a disparate group of 36-year-olds who share the same birthday.
Some people have four kids, and other people are unmarried with no kids.
So I thought, Thats a really interesting idea to follow these people who are all the same age.
Then I thought, What if even more directly, metaphorically, they were literally exactly the same age?
(Parenthoodfans in mourning are likely to find safe refuge here.)
Some episodes are going to end with these big surprises, he says.
Some are going to end with a huge sense of completion and emotional fulfillment.
Ventimiglia theHeroesalum whose recent roles have skewed dark (The Whispers) responded to the shows youre-not-alone message.
This one felt hopeful, he says.
Meanwhile, Moore, who knew Fogelman from herTangledrole, was gun-shy from a run of busted pilots.
So that really touches on every level.
Including a level that, as we mentioned, you might not see coming.
My jaw was on the ground, recalls Brown of his reaction when he finished reading the pilot.
Theres this sort of mystical, meant-to-be-ness of it all.
If youre getting a sixth sense that this isnt your ordinary thirtysomething-characters-at-various-crossroads show, you arent alone.
And the shows high-visibility time slot afterThe Voiceonly ramps up the stakes.
All of a sudden youre like, Are they expecting it to launch to Super Bowl numbers?'
quips Fogelman, co-creator of another buzzy fall series, FoxsPitch.
For now theThis Is Usteam is just trying to focus on leaving the right kind of mark.
Moore has a colorful metaphor to describe the vibe of the show.
It makes your heart feel just a little bit bruised, but a good bruise, she says.
Where every now and then you push on it to see to it that it still hurts.
Save some tissues forUsthis fall.
