A Love Letter to Outmatched

Outmatched was not renewed for next year.

Ouch. We’ve known for over a month and it still stings to type the words.

As has been said many times, there are two hard rules to this whole acting experience:

1. It’s a waiting game. Always waiting for something. An audition, callback, ratings, booking, will it get picked up? Will it get renewed? Will people watch? Will they replace him? On and on.
2. This business is brutal. Easy come, easy go. Enjoy it while you’ve got it.

I feel like I am always steeling and preparing myself and Jack for bad news. Even so, it still doesn’t get easier. There is a reason people drop out left and right. When it’s good, it is so good. But when it’s bad…yikes, it’s rough.

And Outmatched was good.

So this is my farewell love letter to Outmatched.

We’ve been lucky enough to be involved with all different productions. Some successful, some not. We’ve worked with many directors, crew, actors, producers, etc. Some nice, some not.

But Outmatched? Outmatched was the rare gem in a line of jobs (thank you for that line). Every. Single. Member. of the cast was kind and supportive. I don’t know how to really express that doesn’t often happen. There are people who are sort of nice, fake nice, not nice. Professional (which is good!) but distant. And as a mom, for the most part, I just want you to show up, do your job, be respectful to my kid, and create no drama. And I will make sure my kid does the same. You know, just like any job. But this cast–this cast was the real deal. The very rare gem. Genuine, kind, supportive, positive, talented, unselfish, and for that icing on the cake: no drama. I kept waiting as the weeks went by for the “real” personalities to emerge. I remember at the second or third table read Tisha saying she kept waiting for the high maintenance cast member to reveal themselves. But no one did. The relationships only deepened.

Jason, Maggie, Tisha, Finesse, Ashley, Connor, Oakley. The best.

Whatever you thought of the show, whether it was your cup of tea or not, it was a wonderful production for a little boy to potentially grow up on. The set teacher: amazing. So many of the crew (crafty, wardrobe, etc): the best. The schedule was so family oriented. Being a multi-camera production, for most of the week we got home in time to have dinner as a family. You guys, that’s rare. It’s like the mythical pot of gold at the end of an exhausting rainbow. I didn’t have to worry about Jack being asked to do anything sketch on camera. It was a show my mom could watch.

It was the best.

Whenever you walk off the stage for the last time, pack up your dressing room and haul it out to the car, hand out season finale gifts to cast and crew, unless you are the rare Modern Family you watch the crew begin to disassemble the set and you know in your gut that you may not be back. It is the ever-present shoe ready to drop, the elephant that hangs out in the corner of the room. That’s the hard reality of the business that hangs so heavy. It can be tough (or a relief, depending on the production). Television can be so rewarding but also so brutal. Waiting with a pit in your stomach for those ratings to come out, reading snarky reviews and comments. You can’t please them all, but let’s be honest, there is a teeny tiny part of you that wants to so much. Being on television is an excellent opportunity to practice living mindfully in the present, enjoying every moment. The alternative is to spend your time as a ball of nerves.

Knowing all that, when Jack walked away and gave those last poignant hugs, he cried. We took pictures of the set and our people. And my mama heart squeezed with the knowledge that the waiting game could go either way.

We knew the pros: ratings were slowly coming up, the cast was easy and worked together well, there was no drama, as an in-house multi-camera production it was cheap to make.

We also knew the cons: the ratings were never that great like we hoped. Television nowadays is more brutal than ever. You don’t get a chance to grow a show. In the past you will find a long list of shows that didn’t do well the first season only to become very successful. The first season is a work in progress. The writers and cast are figuring out characters and storylines. It takes time to hit your stride. But time is something productions don’t have anymore, and this can depend even more on your network. With the competition of streaming and cable, you pretty much have to do well right out of the gate or you are done. Reality shows, animation, and sports are easy and cheap. It’s hard to compete.

But entertainment politics aside, it just didn’t make it. We knew logically it was possible, but it takes time for the heart to catch up. Getting that phone call, hearing the phrase “Fox has decided not to pick up Outmatched for another season,” ends up being painful no matter how much you think you’ve prepared for it. And I have tried, trust me — we’ve heard variations of that phrase twice before. I keep fooling myself that I am totally prepared for it. But it still gets me every time. The production members on the phone shared their sorrow with us – it was their baby, too – and thanked Jack sincerely for his work.

I have also realized that the disappointment is also a wonderful thing. If your heart breaks, it means you had a great production and worked with great people. You made memories and relationships. It means you were happy. And we were so happy.

So thank you, Outmatched, for the happy moments and traditions:

• The Friday night speed read and dance party in the make-up room right before the live taping.
• Maggie’s loving hugs and Jason’s “don’t tell anyone, but you’re my favorite” assurances.
• Tisha’s kind heart
• Finesse’s sense of humor when filming the scene went wrong
• Ashley and Jack’s secret handshakes
• Conner’s matching team shirts for the cast
• Ashley and Conner being a real life big brother and sister off set.
• Oakley and Jack having the best time in the school room with the best teacher.
• Hanging out with the amazing, supportive Set Moms. I really love those women.
• Hearing the live audience applaud and laugh. The kind things they would say to Jack after filming was over for the night.

There are too many memories to list here. And I am so grateful for all of them. Like I said, if it wasn’t so great, it wouldn’t be so hard to have it end.

When we got the bad news, Maggie and Jason both reached out to Jack to say good-bye and console him. They didn’t have to do that and it’s not the norm. His set brothers and sisters (Ashley, Connor, and Oakley) all expressed their love. As a mom I am so grateful for this experience and how they all took care of and treated my son. It was a happy, fun, safe environment.

• 

Thank you to the Outmatched Cast, Crew, and Production for a truly amazing season. It was so good.