''The Other Two'' is an American sitcom created by Chris Kelly and

Sarah Schneider Sarah Schneider (born September 10, 1983) is an American writer, actress, and comedian. She got her start in entertainment as a writer and actress for the comedy website CollegeHumor before becoming a writer for the television sketch comedy ser ...

. The story follows two floundering millennial siblings who must grapple with their 13-year-old brother's overnight fame. The series premiered on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

on January 24, 2019, and was renewed for a second season shortly after, on February 11, 2019. The second season premiered on August 26, 2021, on

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

. In September 2021, the series was renewed for a third and final season, which premiered on May 4, 2023 and ended on June 29, 2023.

Premise

A gay aspiring actor, Cary, and his sister Brooke, a former professional dancer, try to find their place in the world while wrestling with their feelings about their 13-year-old brother Chase's sudden rise to Internet fame.

Cast and characters

Main

* Heléne Yorke as Brooke Dubek, Cary and Chase's older sister and a former professional dancer, who wants to figure out her career path * Drew Tarver as Cary Dubek, Brooke's younger brother, Chase's older brother, and an aspiring actor, who struggles to find roles * Case Walker as Chase Dubek / ChaseDreams, Cary and Brooke's younger brother, who is thrust into stardom after a viral internet video *

Ken Marino Kenneth Joseph Marino (born December 19, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He was a cast member on MTV's ''The State'' and has starred in shows such as '' Party Down'', '' Marry Me'', '' Burning Love'', and ''Child ...

as Streeter Peter Peters, ChaseDreams' newly hired manager *

Molly Shannon Molly Shannon (born September 16, 1964) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1995 to 2001. In 2017, she won the Film Independent Spirit Award for playing Joanne ...

as Pat Dubek, the three siblings' Hollywood-ready mother (seasons 2–3; recurring season 1) *

Brandon Scott Jones Brandon Scott Jones (born June 6, 1984) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his role as Captain Isaac Higgintoot in the CBS series ''Ghosts'' and as Donny in the Warner Bros./Netflix film ''Isn't It Romantic''. Life ...

as Curtis Paltrow, Cary's co-worker and confidant (season 3; recurring seasons 1–2) *

Josh Segarra Josh Segarra (born June 3, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for his roles on the television series ''The Electric Company'', '' Sirens'', and ''Arrow'' as well as for originating the role of Emilio Estefan in the musical '' On Your Feet!' ...

as Lance Arroyo, Brooke's upbeat, sweet, and seemingly simple-minded ex who specializes in novelty footwear (season 3; recurring seasons 1–2)

Recurring

Wanda Sykes Wanda Yvette Sykes (born March 7, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She was first recognized for her work as a writer on ''The Chris Rock Show'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999. In 2004, ''Entertainme ...

as Shuli Kucerac, an executive from ChaseDreams' record label * Andy Ridings as Matt, Cary's roommate, who swears he is straight but makes moves on Cary (season 1) *

Richard Kind Richard Bruce Kind (born November 22, 1956) is an American actor and comedian. His television roles include '' Carol & Company'' (1990–1991), Dr. Mark Devanow in '' Mad About You'' (1992–1999, 2019), Paul Lassiter in '' Spin City'' (1996–20 ...

as Skip Schamplin, Cary's agent who also has multiple odd jobs (season 1; guest season 3) * Alison Rich as Melanie, a producer on Pat's show (seasons 2–3) *

Gideon Glick Gideon Glick (born June 6, 1988) is an American actor. His Broadway work includes originating the roles of Ernst in the musical '' Spring Awakening,'' Jimmy-6 in '' Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark'', Jordan Berman in ''Significant Other,'' and Di ...

as Jess, Cary's love interest (season 2) *

Nadia Dajani Nadia Dajani (born December 26, 1965) is an American actress. She hosts the baseball comedy web series ''Caught Off Base with Nadia''. Early life and education Attended I.S. 70 junior high school in New York City with fellow actor Liev Schreiber ...

as Mackenzie, Cary's agent (seasons 2–3) *

Fin Argus Steffan Fin Argus (born September 1, 1998) is an American actor, musician, and model. Early life and education Argus is from Des Plaines, Illinois. They have an older sister, Sadie, and a younger sister, Lacey. They were a self-described " theat ...

as Lucas Lambert Moy, an actor whom Cary dates, whose

method acting Method acting, known as the Method, is a range of rehearsal techniques, as formulated by a number of different theatre practitioners, that seeks to encourage sincere and expressive performances through identifying with, understanding, and expe ...

prevents them from sleeping together (season 3)

Guest stars

Beck Bennett Christopher Beck Bennett (born October 1, 1984) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' for eight seasons, joining for its 39th season in 2013 and leaving at the end of its ...

as Jeff, Brooke's one-time lover and flight attendant (season 1) *

Ali Ahn Alison Ahn is an American actress. She has appeared in TV series such as '' Billions'', ''Orange Is the New Black'', '' Raising Dion'', '' The Diplomat, and Agatha All Along.'' Early life and education Ahn grew up in Pasadena, California, grad ...

as Jo, a realtor and friend of Brooke (seasons 1–3) *

Kate Berlant Kate Elizabeth Méndez Berlant (born July 16, 1987) is an American comedian, actress, and writer. She is known for her surrealist and absurdist style. Early life Kate Elizabeth Méndez Berlant was born in Los Angeles on July 16, 1987, the daug ...

as Pitzi Pyle, a talent agent who meets with Cary (seasons 1 & 3) *

Jackie Hoffman Jacqueline Laura Hoffman (born November 29, 1960) is an American actress, singer, and comedian known for her one-woman shows of Jewish-themed original songs and monologues. She is a veteran of Chicago's famed The Second City comedy improv group. ...

as Lorraine, an actor hired as a body double for Chase (season 1) *

Josie Totah Josie Totah (born August 5, 2001), formerly known as J. J. Totah, is an American actress. She is known for her recurring role on the Disney Channel series '' Jessie'' and a supporting role on the 2013 ABC comedy series '' Back in the Game''. Sh ...

as Elijah, a student with a crush on Cary (season 1) * Daniel K. Isaac as Jeremy Delongpre, a teacher and love interest for Cary (season 1) *

Greta Lee Greta Jiehan Lee (born March 7, 1983) is an American actress. She had supporting roles in the Netflix comedy-drama series ''Russian Doll'' (2019–2022) and the Apple TV+ drama series '' The Morning Show'' (2021–present). The latter earned her ...

as Genevieve Kim, a friend of Brooke from her dancing past (season 1) * Jimmy Fowlie as Cameron Colby, an Instagay that befriends Cary (seasons 1–3) *

Heidi Gardner Heidi Lynn Gardner (born July 27, 1983) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She has been a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' since season 43 in 2017, when she debuted as a featured player. She was promo ...

as Mona, a partier who gives Pat

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as ecstasy (tablet form), and molly (crystal form), is an empathogen–entactogenic drug with stimulant and minor Psychedelic drug, psychedelic properties. In studies, it has been used ...

(season 1) *

Tuc Watkins Charles Curtis "Tuc" Watkins III (born September 2, 1966) is an American actor, known for his roles as David Vickers on ''One Life to Live'', Mr. Burns in ''The Mummy (1999 film), The Mummy'', Bob Hunter (Desperate Housewives), Bob Hunter on ''Des ...

and

Noah Galvin Noah Egidi Galvin (born May 6, 1994) is an American actor and singer. He portrayed Kenny O'Neal in the ABC sitcom '' The Real O'Neals'' and was the second person to perform the title role in the Broadway musical ''Dear Evan Hansen''. He also pl ...

as Troy and Eddie, a couple who pose as a father-son duo on Pat's talk show (season 2) *

Dana Delany Dana Delany (born March 13, 1956) is an American actress. After appearing in small roles early in her career, Delany received her breakthrough role as Colleen McMurphy on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television drama ''China Beach'' (1 ...

as Emily Overruled, the star of a legal procedural Cary appears on (season 3) *

Ann Dowd Ann Dowd (born January 30, 1956) is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous films, including '' Green Card'' (1990), ''Lorenzo's Oil'' (1992), ''Philadelphia'' (1993), '' Garden State'' (2004), '' The Manchurian Candidate'' (2004), '' M ...

as Paula Davies, the founder of a safe haven for ex-girlfriends of celebrities (season 3)

Kathie Lee Gifford Kathryn Lee Gifford (Given name, née Epstein; born August 16, 1953) is an American television presenter, singer, songwriter, actress, and author. From 1985 to 2000, she and Regis Philbin hosted the talk show ''Live with Kelly and Mark, Live! wi ...

Hoda Kotb Hoda Kotb ( ; born August 9, 1964) is an American broadcast journalist, television personality, and author. She was the main co-anchor of the NBC News breakfast television, morning show ''Today (American TV program), Today'' from 2018 to 2025, ...

Mario Lopez Mario Lopez (born October 10, 1973) is an American actor and television host. He has appeared on several television series, in films, and on Broadway theatre, Broadway. He is known for his portrayal of A.C. Slater on ''Saved by the Bell'', ''S ...

Tinsley Mortimer Tinsley Randolph Mortimer ( née Mercer; born August 11, 1975) is an American actress, socialite and reality television personality. She is known for starring in the reality television series '' High Society'' and '' The Real Housewives of New Yo ...

Michael Che Michael Che Campbell (; born May 19, 1983) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. Che is best known for his work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'', where he has served as co-anchor on '' Weekend Update'' al ...

Andy Cohen Andrew Joseph Cohen (born June 2, 1968) is an American radio and television talk show host, producer, and writer. He is the host and executive producer of ''The Real Housewives'' Multimedia franchise, franchise and Bravo (American TV network), B ...

Patrick Wilson Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor. He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals. He received nominations for two Tony Awards for his roles in ''The Full Monty (musical), The Full Mont ...

Zosia Mamet Zosia Mamet (; born February 2, 1988) is an American actress. She is known for her breakout role as Shoshanna Shapiro in the HBO series '' Girls''. Mamet also starred as Annie Mouradian in the HBO Max original series '' The Flight Attendant'' an ...

Debi Mazar Debi Mazar Corcos (; born August 13, 1964) is an American actress and television personality. She began her career with supporting roles in '' Goodfellas'' (1990), '' Little Man Tate'' (1991), '' Singles'' (1992), and '' Batman Forever'' (1995), ...

Ian Ziering Ian Andrew Ziering (; born March 30, 1964) is an American actor best known for his role as Steve Sanders on the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', which he played from 1990 to 2000. He is also the voice of Vinnie on ''Biker Mice from ...

Tavi Gevinson Tavi Gevinson (born April 21, 1996) is an American actress, writer, and magazine editor. At age twelve, she came to public attention for her fashion blog ''Style Rookie''. By 15, she had shifted her focus to pop culture and feminist discussion. G ...

Jordana Brewster Jordana Brewster (born April 26, 1980) is an American actress. She made her acting debut, three weeks after turning 15, in an episode of ''All My Children'' in 1995 and next took on the recurring role as Nikki Munson in ''As the World Turns'', g ...

Alessia Cara Alessia Caracciolo (born July 11, 1996), known professionally as Alessia Cara (), is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She began posting covers of songs on YouTube at age 13. After uploading acoustic covers of songs such as " Love Yourself" and ...

Bowen Yang Bowen Yang (born November 6, 1990) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, and writer. Yang was hired to join the writing staff of the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' in September 2018, ahead of its 44th season, and a year la ...

Justin Bartha Justin Lee Bartha (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor. In film, Bartha has played Riley Poole in the ''National Treasure'' film series and Doug Billings in ''The Hangover'' trilogy. His television roles include David Sawyer in the NBC c ...

, Leah McSweeney,

Dylan O'Brien Dylan Rhodes O'Brien (born August 26, 1991) is an American actor. His first major role was as Stiles Stilinski in the MTV supernatural series '' Teen Wolf'' (2011–2017). He achieved further prominence for his lead role in the science fictio ...

Kiernan Shipka Kiernan Brennan Shipka (born November 10, 1999) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as List of Mad Men characters#Sally Draper, Sally Draper in the AMC (TV channel), AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), and Sabrina Spe ...

Lukas Gage Lukas Gage (born May 28, 1995) is an American actor. He appeared in the television series ''American Vandal'' (2017), ''Euphoria'' (2019), ''The White Lotus'' (2021), ''You'' (2023), and '' Fargo'' (2023), as well as the films ''Smile 2'' (2024) ...

Simu Liu Simu Liu ( ; ; born 19 April 1989) is a Canadian actor. He rose to prominence by starring as Shang-Chi in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' (2021). Liu was born in Harbin and raised in Ontario. ...

Ben Platt Benjamin Schiff Platt (born September 24, 1993) is an American actor and singer. The son of film and theater producer Marc Platt (producer), Marc Platt and philanthropist Julie Platt, he began his acting career in musical theater as a child and ...

Cameron Kasky Cameron Marley Kasky (born November 11, 2000) is an American activist and advocate against gun violence who co-founded the student-led gun violence prevention advocacy group Never Again MSD. He is notable for helping to organize the March for ...

Edie Falco Edith Falco (born July 5, 1963) is an American actress. A prominent figure in American television, she is known for her roles both on stage and screen and has received numerous accolades including four Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe A ...

, and

Lawrence O'Donnell Lawrence Francis O'Donnell Jr. (born November 7, 1951) is an American television anchor, actor, author, screenwriter, liberal political commentator, and host of '' The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'', an MSNBC opinion and news program that ...

also appear as themselves.

Episodes

Season 1 (2019)

Season 2 (2021)

Season 3 (2023)

Production

Development

A few months prior to being named co-head writers for ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

''s 42nd season, Chris Kelly and

spent a week in early 2016 developing the premise of ''The Other Two''. They wanted the show to depict the introspection and self-doubt that twenty-somethings face, while incorporating elements of pop culture. Kelly said they wanted to include depictions of the characters' sex lives. Speaking to ''Vulture'', Schneider said they intentionally wrote the character of Chase to be kind and innocent because it would subvert expectations of the story. The pilot was sold to

in late 2016. Schneider and Kelly hired Charlie Gruet, who was the director of photography of the television series ''

High Maintenance ''High Maintenance'' is an American anthology comedy-drama television and web series created by ex-husband and wife team Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld. The show follows The Guy, a cannabis courier (played by Sinclair), as he delivers his p ...

''. In October 2017, ''The Other Two'' received a full series order. The series was produced through executive producer Lorne Michaels' entertainment studio,

Broadway Video Broadway Video is an American multimedia entertainment studio founded by Lorne Michaels, creator of the sketch comedy TV series ''Saturday Night Live'' and producer of other television programs and movies. Broadway Video also held the rights to m ...

. The first season began streaming on

in 2021, where the second season streams exclusively, making the series a "Max Original". The second season premiered on August 26, 2021, on HBO Max with a two-episode release. On September 24, 2021, HBO Max renewed the series for a third season. In an article by ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' in June 2023, it was confirmed that the series would be ending with the third season.

Casting

In October 2017, it was announced that Drew Tarver, Heléne Yorke, Case Walker,

, and

had joined the cast. Kelly and Schneider discovered Walker on social media: Walker was popular on the platform

Musical.ly Musical.ly (pronounced "Musically", styled as musical.ly) was a social media service headquartered in Shanghai with an American office in Santa Monica, California, on which platform users created and shared short lip-sync videos. The first prot ...

and had over 400,000 followers on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

. Tarver was brought in based on his comedic work at

Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Amy Poehler, Matthew Walsh, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Ad ...

, while Yorke was cast after Kelly and Schneider had seen her work on ''High Maintenance''. It was announced in February 2020 that

would have a recurring role in the second season as Cary's new love interest, Jess. Shannon was promoted to the main cast in season two.

Filming

Filming for the second season initially began in early 2020 but abruptly halted in March due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Filming for the second season resumed on February 22, 2021, in New York and Los Angeles and concluded on May 9.

Complaints against Kelly and Schneider

The show's creators Chris Kelly and

were reportedly the subject of complaints to human resources over their behavior on set and in the writers' room. The allegations, which became known to the public just before the series finale in June 2023, include Kelly verbally abusing writers and overworking the crew and claims that Schneider enabled his behavior. A formal investigation was conducted during which Kelly and Schneider were not allowed to be on set for a period, although they were formally cleared of wrongdoing and allowed to return. The toxic workplace environment was reported to have been an "open secret," with

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. Known for her comedic roles in sketch comedy, television and film, Fey has received List of awards and nominations received by Tina Fe ...

joking at an awards ceremony, "Nobody indulges writers like

Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian and American television writer and film producer. He created and produced ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and produced the ''Late Night (franchise) ...

. Lorne, you have unleashed an army of monsters into the world. You know it, I know it, and the crew of ''The Other Two'' knows it."

Reception

''The Other Two'' was met with critical acclaim with its third season being the most acclaimed. The series has an overall approval rating of 97% based on 77 reviews on the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

assigned the series a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 based on 35 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". The first season has an approval rating of 94% based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 8.52 out of 10, on the

website

. The website's critical consensus reads: "With game leads and a wickedly witty sense of humor, ''The Other Two'' skewers and celebrates pop culture with equal aplomb."

assigned the series a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The second season has an approval rating of 96% based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 8.50 out of 10, on the

website

. The website's critical consensus reads: "More mature, but still hilarious, ''The Other Two'''s superb second season solidifies its place as one of TVs best comedies."

Accolades

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Other Two, The 2010s American LGBTQ-related sitcoms 2020s American LGBTQ-related sitcoms 2010s American single-camera sitcoms 2020s American single-camera sitcoms 2019 American television series debuts 2023 American television series endings Comedy Central sitcoms HBO Max original programming American English-language television shows Gay-related television shows Television series about actors Television series about families Television series about show business Television series about social media Television series about siblings Television series set in 2020 Television series set in 2023 Television shows set in New York City Television series by Broadway Video