‘No Good Nick’ premieres on April 15 on Netflix.
Photo: Netflix
Palisadians Create a New Comedy Series
Local residents David H. Steinberg and Keetgi Kogan have created an original series, “No Good Nick,” that was picked up by Netflix with a 20-episode order. The series will launch on April 15.
The multi-camera comedy stars Melissa Joan Hart, Sean Astin, Siena Agudong, Kalama Epstein and Lauren Lindsey.
Described as an edgy tween sitcom with a twist, Hart and Astin play Liz and Ed, a hyper-competitive career mom and a dorky dad, with two children. A teenage con artist, Nicole (“Nick”), shows up on the family’s doorstep, claiming she’s a distant relative. They welcome her into the family.
The parents don’t know that Nick, 13, feels that they have unknowingly ruined her life and has plans for revenge. But, will she be able to go through with her plan?
Kogan was asked how she and Steinberg came up with the unusual plot. “Dave and I really love writing clever characters who are able to outwit and out-maneuver the people around them,” she said in an email to Circling the News. “So, with ‘No Good Nick’ we wanted to explore the wish fulfillment of a clever character who isn’t afraid to break the rules and the moral ambiguity of how to tell the difference between right and wrong.
“We were also very excited about the idea of creating a serialized story in a multi-cam format, which (as far as we know) has never been done before,” Kogan said. “The end result is a serialized family show which is equal parts comedy, mystery and drama.”
As far as casting, Melissa Cobb, VP Kids and Family at Netflix, said in a September interview in Deadline Hollywood, “Melissa Joan Hart and Sean Astin are beloved by millions of fans around the world, and we are delighted to bring them together as parents for the very first time. We hope to entertain kids and families with heart, mystery and a lot of fun.”
So, “No Good Nick” will look like a sitcom, but unlike a sitcom, the episodes won’t be free-standing. Instead, the main story lines will build from episode to episode.
Kogan grew up in Los Angeles and attended UCLA, before being accepted to USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program.
Steinberg grew up in Connecticut and entered Yale as a 16-year-old. He received his law degree from Duke University, but after four years in entertainment law in Atlanta and New York, he applied to, and was accepted by, the USC producing program.
In 2012, Steinberg told the West Hartford Patch, when he was on a book tour for his novel, “Last Stop This Town,” that when he went to his first class at USC he thought he was supposed to have a script. He was the only student who did.
“All the producing students were passing around my script,” he said. “The smartest person in the class, a girl, knew a lawyer. She got it to him. He got it to an agent. He wanted to rep me right away. I wound up marrying that girl.”
Steinberg and Kogan, who have two children, now tweens, moved to the Palisades in 2001.The couple, who are serving as executive producers on this series, have collaborated on several projects. Most recently they served as writers on Disney XD’s Yo-Kai Watch.
Visit: Netflix.com/nogoodnick.