The pipeline from Superstore to NBC’s newest sitcom St. Denis Medical couldn’t be more obvious — but does that open the door for cameos in future episodes?
Before creating St. Denis Medical, Justin Spitzer and Eric Ledgin collaborated on several hit shows, including Superstore and American Auto. This resulted in some cast overlap, which has now made its way to their medical mockumentary.
“[That] can get a little tricky when you think about how Kaliko Kauahi and Josh Lawson appeared on both St. Denis Medical and Superstore,” Spitzer exclusively told Us Weekly about the obstacles that come with working with the same actors on multiple projects. “We used to joke on The Office [where I worked as a writer] that Michael Scott‘s favorite movie would be [Steve Carell‘s movie] The 40-Year-Old Virgin. But then the whole universe would collapse.”
Spitzer admitted that he has yet to figure out how to facilitate a crossover with his past shows, adding, “But we love using the actors from Superstore and American Auto that we’ve worked with before.”
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Ledgin, meanwhile, wanted St. Denis Medical to stand on its own.
“In season 1, it was very important to me in particular — since I was running my first show — to have this exist as its own thing. Yes, we’re using a couple of actors from Superstore that we love for different reasons. They’re playing different roles on this,” he explained. “But at least in season 1, it was very important to be like, ‘What is this world and how do we focus on what differentiates it?’”
St. Denis Medical, which premieres on Tuesday, November 12, follows overworked doctors and nurses trying their best to care for patients at an underfunded Oregon hospital. The upcoming series stars Wendi McLendon-Covey, David Alan Grier, Allison Tolman, Josh Lawson, Mekki Leeper, Kaliko Kauahi and Kahyun Kim.
NBC previously found success with Superstore, which centered around a group of employees working at a fictional big-box chain store in St. Louis, Missouri, called Cloud 9. America Ferrera, Ben Feldman, Lauren Ash, Colton Dunn, Nico Santos, Nichole Sakura and Mark McKinney made up the main cast. Kauahi, 50, Lawson, 43, and Santos, 45, are the first actors to appear on both Superstore and St. Denis Medical.
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“Now that season 1 of St. Denis Medical is in the rear view, going forward I’m like, ‘Let’s get all of our old Superstore favorites on the show,’” Ledgin quipped before Spitzer added, “We were joking at some point about what if the TV in the background of an episode would have the St. Denis Medical characters watching an episode of Superstore?”
Kauahi and Lawson were just as interested in reuniting with more of their Superstore costars.
“You do a job, you meet a group of people and you become very close in a very small amount of time. Then you leave and often you lose touch. So to see a familiar face on a show, it’s great,” Lawson told Us. “It allows you to do your best work because you feel safer. You trust these people.”
Lawson recalled the “love fest” that took place on the St. Denis Medical set, adding, “There were oftentimes at the beginning where David [Alan Grier] would be like, ‘Alright, we get it. You were on Superstore.’ I’m sorry but it’s good to see these people.”
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Kauahi couldn’t agree more about the benefits of crossing paths with members of a past and familiar crew.
“The environment was so welcoming and all the crew is a lot of the same people from Superstore and American Auto. So I couldn’t ask for a better environment to go to work in every single day,” she noted, before showing her support for more Superstore cameos. “I love that. I think it would be so fun and great.”
St. Denis Medical premieres on NBC Tuesday, November 12, at 8 p.m. ET. with back-to-back episodes before streaming the next day on Peacock.
