Elsbeth returns for its third season with a cameo from Stephen Colbert — which nearly didn’t occur.
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, star Carrie Preston previewed the premiere, which was filmed shortly after Colbert’s The Late Show was controversially canceled.
“It was really serendipitous because for months and months we had been working to get these actors on the show. [Executive producer] Jonathan Tolins wrote the script specifically for Stephen Colbert,” Preston, 58, recalled. “Then the week before we were about to begin filming, it was announced that his show was done.”
While Colbert, 61, discovered his next steps, the show’s creative time was “very nervous,” with Preston adding, “We were concerned that he was going to be too busy coping with that and he wouldn’t have the opportunity to come back. But he got here and never only did he come but he got here fully prepared. He was fully game and so completely satisfied to be there.”
Preston praised Colbert’s attitude while on set.
“He was such an important actor. He was so fun to play with and it was all the things that you simply wanted it to be and more,” she continued. “I used to be an enormous fan of Amy Sedaris for therefore long. I had only just met her socially a couple of times. So to have her on the show, she was so funny and the crew loved her. I used to be principally begging her to be my friend by the tip. I just think she’s implausible.”
Preston continued: “After which Andy Richter too. He’s playing a sidekick on a chat show but he was the sidekick on the talk show eternally [with Late Night, The Tonight Show and Conan]. But they’re all different characters. I just thought it was really sensible and that the timing worked out so well that they were all available to come back and play with us.”
The season 3 premiere, which airs Sunday, October 12, follows Elsbeth as she investigates tensions on the planet of late-night comedy between a chat show host (Colbert), his head author (Sedaris) and her husband (Richter).
Sunday’s episode also introduces latest officer Grace Hackett (Lindsay Mendez), who’s one in every of several cops Elsbeth will work with after Kaya (Carra Patterson) left for an undercover opportunity.
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“[This season] it really works so well with the detectives. But with every case that Elsbeth goes on, it will not be going to be the identical detective each time. So we already had that arrange with different detectives stepping in and now we’re doing the identical thing with the uniformed officers,” Preston explained. “She’ll click with people in alternative ways.”
Preston enjoyed the shakeup three seasons into the hit CBS show.
“It keeps the show fresh and it keeps Elsbeth on her game more. She’s working with newer people, younger people and folks that she hasn’t met before. So she’s attending to know people,” she noted. “I don’t know if we’ll ever land on only one. Anything can occur. But I actually love the brand new folks that we’re working with now.”
Elsbeth season 3 premieres on CBS Sunday, October 12, at 9:30 p.m. ET. Recent episodes stream the subsequent day on Paramount+.