Andrea Savage's 'I'm Sorry' Is Labor Of Love

If you're a fan of truTV's I'm Sorry, you might remember one of the many times our heroine Andrea Warren has landed in hilariously awkward hot water because of a minor (or major) mistake. There was the time that she accidentally sent a gag pornographic photo to the dean of her daughter Amelia's very prestigious kindergarten. Then there was that time (in the second episode of Season 2) when Andrea left her text window open on her phone, allowing her daughter to read her observation about her dentist's breath "smelling like farts" out loud. But when it comes to the making of I'm Sorry, the show's creator, writer, showrunner, executive producer and star Andrea Savage is determined to stay the course.

“My co-showrunner Joey Slamon and I were so happy with how Season 1 came out, so our main priority for Season 2 was just 'Let’s not f*ck this up,'" she says. "We wanted to keep the same style, tone, and world and not try to do something completely different from the first time around.”

Savage has been spending lots of time in the editing room since Season 2 wrapped in September. She's timing jokes down to the minute, fine-tuning the story, and delving into the many details a showrunner finds herself responsible for, while still maintaining her enthusiasm for the intensely creative process. "I'm so excited for [the season]! It's like birthing 10 tiny babies — but obviously not as big and as painful as that first literal baby."

If you haven't yet binged Savage's almost-autobiographical half-hour comedy airing on truTV, first of all, you should. Secondly, the show follows the life of Savage's Andrea Warren, a comedy writer living in LA who has an earnest and patient husband (played by Tom Everett Scott), a five-year-old daughter who is precocious to a fault (played by Olive Petrucci), parents who are looking to live their best (often least appropriate) lives, and a gang of lovably juvenile comedy writer friends.

Season 2 (airing Wednesdays at 10/9c on truTV) will build on each of these aspects of Andrea's life, all while maintaining the simultaneous raunchiness and playful energy from Season 1. We see Amelia growing up and entering kindergarten, leaving Andrea to do damage control after some unexpectedly mature playground conversations involving pubic hair. Her comedy friends still push the envelope to hilarious and sometimes uncomfortable ends (there's a bit between Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel about a dare gone too far that pops to mind). "That’s a part of the show I love because it reflects navigating the two very different parts of my day," she says. "Half of my day is acting like a dirty, disgusting child and nothing is off limits. Then the other big part of my life is being very normal — doing drop off and pickup, playdates, and parent-teacher conferences."

Then, there's the relationship between Andrea's character and her husband Mike. For Savage, it was a priority to show the happy marriage. "I wanted the main characters of the show to be into each other longer than any couple other you might see on TV. They still like each other after all that time."

Their marital issues are less "issues" and more adventures. To name a few from Season 2: Mike attempts a fashion risk involving a tank top that becomes material for Andrea ("Are you the reason Megan's Law was invented?" she asks him); Andrea's gynecologist happens to be Mike's former camp counselor, which leads to some oddly timed small talk as Andrea has an IUD implanted. Even when they're so busy that it becomes difficult to get back on the same "island" as they say, Andrea and Mike manage to navigate back to one another. Watching them curl up in bed and debrief from the day's events, they're pretty much the definition of #couplegoals.

"It makes me so excited when people tell me, 'Me and my husband/wife watch this show together all the time!'” she tells me. "I love the idea of other couples and people who have positive outlooks on life that see this as entertainment."

Most of the stories in the show happen to be inspired by things that happened in real life, so having this experience was key when she was looking for writing staff. "We try to have the perspective of people who are happily married and enjoy being parents." Out of the six people in her writer's room (four women and two men), four people are married with kids. At the beginning of the season, the writers gather and tell stories for a few weeks. Then, Savage and Slamon break out with their story notes to assemble a larger season arc. This basis in reality is what, in Andrea's words, keeps the show from feeling super sitcom-y and predictable. "We're a really small group of people who know each other intimately," Savage says. "It can even be a little awkward meeting spouses, because in the back of your mind you're like, 'I know everything about you.'"

And when you're in comedy, sharing the intimate details about your life and those in it is all in a day's work. I close our conversation out by asking Andrea to share her advice for young people looking to break into the comedy world. She doesn't disappoint. "Especially in this day and age, you have the ability to create your own material from a very young age. Start and don’t stop," she says. "Today, you can develop material that you have creative control over and have a full reel by the time you're an adult. So don’t get in your way. Keep working, and start writing."

This article is sponsored by I'm Sorry, Wednesdays at 10/9c on truTV.