‘Average Joe’: Tammy Townsend and Ashley Olivia Fisher on Show’s ‘Unexpected Loops’ (Exclusive)

Average Joe is currently streaming on BET+ and has received strong reviews from fans. A big reason why has a lot to do with the show being over the top and being original. PopCulture.com spoke to Average Joe stars Tammy Townsend and Ashley Olivia Fisher who explained how the show stands out from other comedy-drama series. 

“Expect the unexpected,” Fisher exclusively told PopCulture. “There’s going to be a lot of themes of love, what family’s willing to do for one another, stretching the boundaries on that sense. A little bit of crime, a little bit of drama. So yeah, unexpected loops for sure.” 

Average Joe is based on the life of creator Robb Cullen and focuses on Joe Washington (Deon Cole) a plumber from Pittsburgh who discovers his late father was living a secret second life and stole millions of dollars from dangerous people. This leads to those people going after Joe who does everything he can to protect his family and friends while finding out the truth about his father. 

Townsend plays Joe’s wife Angela who supports Joe no matter the circumstances. “She’s definitely the spine of the family and she is dedicated to her family,” Townsend said. “She will do anything for her family, as you eventually find out as you watch the show. And she just will do anything for them, loves them, has given up, sacrificed some things, as you find out a little later, for them. But she wouldn’t have it any other way. She recognizes her husband as being a hardworking man and a good dad, and she’s settled into her life, so she’s good until…”

Fisher plays Joe and Angela’s daughter Jennifer who is the “good vessel” between her parents. “She has that fight like her dad and that sensitive side of Tammy’s character, Angela, of her mom,” Fisher explained. “So she goes to both of them in that sense. So she’s in the middle of both of them, I would say, as her character sense. And she’s definitely a rooter for love, that’s all I’m going to say, if I can put it that way. Love is big on Jennifer for sure.”

Average Joe is one of the more intense shows on television now, which is something new for Townsend and Fisher. “I just came off of Queen Sugar, which was very different,” Townsend said. “The pacing is a little slower, no action hardly, not like this. So that was one attraction. But just reading the pilot, I mean, it was amazing. And if something can grab me from it scripted, and it hasn’t even come to life yet, really come to life, that is an excellent sign and that’s why I jumped in.”

“When I read the pilot, I was just like, this is great because there’s these elements of the drama, the comedy, and then the suspense, it’s all in one. Fisher said. “And I was like, is this in the first episode alone? Is this just in the pilot, all of these things are happening? So I felt like if a show just gave me that from episode one, from their pilot, I was like, I have to see what happens in this series. I have to see what’s going to happen next. So I loved the script. It was the script that pulled me in for sure.”

New episodes of Average Joe premiere every Thursday on BET+.