Sharon Horgan on the “Slow Burn” Success of ‘Bad Sisters,’ Plans for Season Two and Why the Writers Strike Is Necessary
During a wide-ranging conversation at the Banff World Media Festival, award-winning multihyphenate Sharon Horgan discussed her lauded series Bad Sisters and the ongoing WGA strike.
Horgan, who was on hand at Banff to receive the Award of Excellence, sat down with The Hollywood Reporter editorial director Nekesa Mumbi Moody to talk about the audience and critical reaction to the Apple TV+ show, which has been ordered for a second season. “You really don’t know,” said Horgan when asked if the response to the show was expected. “In this case, [we’re] making a show about a woman in a domestic abuse situation, but we’re doing really broad comedy around that. You think, ‘Are people going to be really offended, or are we going to be able to strike the right tone?'”
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Bad Sisters follows the Garvey sisters — played by Horgan, Eve Hweson, Sarah Greene, Anne-Marie Duff and Eva Birthistle — who come under suspicion for the murder of their abusive brother-in-law, played by Claes Bang.
Horgan created Bad Sisters after breaking out stateside with the comedy Catastrophe, in which she co-stars with Rob Delaney. “I had gotten used to telling succinct stories over the course of 23 minutes. And then you’re given an hour to fill,” she said of making the jump from the Amazon series to Bad Sisters, which was filmed over an elongated 10-month period.
“There was only ever supposed to be a season one,” said Horgan, explaining the pitch for it was as a limited series. But it was while she was filming the first season, seeing the chemistry between the stars, that Horgan and the other creatives found themselves thinking, “What’s next?” And when the show came out, a second season didn’t initially seem likely. “It was a bit of a slow burner,” she added. “It’s a U.K.-Irish show and yes, it’s on Apple, but it wasn’t like Severance or Ted Lasso.”
She admitted that the show’s lack of success early on was a source of stress. “In the beginning, I was gutted. I was like looking on Twitter and going, ‘Why isn’t it trending?'” But the show did eventually find its audience and now is in serious contention in this year’s Emmys race.
Asked about the ongoing WGA strike, Horgan emphasized the importance of writers rooms and their place as a breeding ground for new talent. “What’s going to happen down the line, in three or five years from now, is you’re just not going to have younger talent that’s learned what it is to run a show or to co-EP a show.” Because Bad Sisters is a U.K. production, Horgan is able to continue working on the second season despite the strike. “It does feel strange to be continuing to work on something,” she added.
As for season two, like viewers, Horgan is excited to see where the Garvey sisters end up next. “I definitely want to find out what happened after,” she said, adding: “I mean, let this be a lesson to you — you don’t usually just kill a man and get away with it.”
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