It’s March and it means mid-season replacements are beginning to take over television networks. For NBC, a new show is set to premiere on Tuesday night and it looks to fill the void that This is Us will leave since Season 4 is coming to an end. Council of Dads is a family drama that takes place in Savannah, Georgia. The show centers around Scott Perry’s family and he’s looking to make sure his children are taken care of after learning he has cancer. This leads to him bringing in three men he knows really well to be a “council of dads” which means they will be father figures to Perry’s five children.
Perry is played by Tom Everett Scott and his wife, Robin Perry, is played by Sarah Wayne Callies who said Robin was not about having three more “dads” entering the family. Callies exclusively told Popculture.com, “When he proposes the idea of a council I think it’s preposterous. What Robin learns is that she’s dead wrong. They are a gift and a blessing as well as quite a lot to handle.”
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Based on the book of the same name written by Bruce Feiler, Council of Dads was developed by Joan Rater and her husband Tony Phelan. Both loved the concept of three different “dads” being there for the family who lost the patriarch of the group and they hope viewers fell the same way.
“Hopefully, everyone’s going to find the characters they love, the situations they love and I think that people will feel like this show will speak to them,” Phelan said.
Along with Scott and Callies, the cast includes J. August Richards who plays Dr. Oliver Post, Michael O’Neill who plays Larry Mills, Clive Stranden who plays Anthony Lavelle and Michele Weaver who plays Luly Perry, the oldest daughter of the family. Richards, O’Neill and Standen’s characters make up the “council of dads” and Rater and Phelan were very impressed with how the cast worked together.
“It’s like a dream, we want to pinch ourselves,” Rater said. “We love them. There’s not a weak link. …Each of these actors is a home run.”
Along with the unique family story and a strong cast, Council of Dads also features Savannah as part of the story. Savannah has a long history of TV and films being made in the area, but this one of the few times where Savannah is featured what it really is.
“It’s just so beautiful, we want to move there, it’s just that beautiful,” Rater added. “The people are kind, warm and generous.”
“I heard a lot of great things about Savannah but it was great to experience it for myself,” Weaver said. “It’s very beautiful. Very friendly and small which was interesting because I haven’t lived in a small town in a very long time.”
Council of Dads is facing a lot of pressure as it will air right after This is Us which is one of the most popular shows on TV. But the cast feels confident the show will do well based on what they have seen from the pilot episode.
“To say we were impressed by it would be an understatement,” Richards said. “You do projects sometimes and you never know if they are going to turn out the way you see them in your mind, but this superseded our expectations.
