By Ryan A. Berenz
Pivoting showrunner Liz Astrof had a profound moment at age 40 when her childhood friend died of cancer. “At the funeral, I was struck by the realization that not only am I mortal, I am also not 22 anymore! I don’t have my whole life ahead of me!” Astrof says. “Is this where I dreamed I’d be at … 40? Am I happy? Is anyone happy? What is happy? And is it too late to do it all differently? To press the ‘reset’ button?”
Out of that experience, Astrof crafted this new FOX comedy, which premieres Sunday, Jan. 9, before settling into its regular Thursday night time slot on Jan. 13. The series follows three longtime friends — Amy (Eliza Coupe), Jodie (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Sarah (Maggie Q) — who cope with the death of the fourth member of their group by radically changing their lives.
“I did notice that all of my friends were burning their lives down,” Astrof says. “Some were having affairs, getting divorced, having babies — always a mistake — going back to school, usually to be a therapist or yoga teacher, which is great.”
In Pivoting, career-driven Amy pivots toward being a present mom. Stressed-out physician Sarah pivots toward a grocery store job. And neglected housewife Jodie pivots toward her hot personal trainer. Together, the ladies discover that the journey toward happiness can be a sometimes rough, often awkward ride.
And one that’s especially relatable today as the COVID-19 pandemic forced many people to rethink their careers, lifestyles and what’s important to them.
“Because of this whole pandemic thing, I was definitely, like, ‘I don’t know if this is even something I want to do anymore,’” Coupe says. “Like, is acting still a thing? Are we still doing this? Is this something people still want or need? Everything just kind of shifted. The perspective of everything was just different because of this. So, I was just going to move to Mexico. I kind of did.”
Having kids is about one of the biggest pivots one can take, and it often sends people in unexpected directions.
“I thought that I was going to have kids and then take them along on the ride that is my incredible actress life,” Goodwin says. “I realized immediately that they are the ride, and that changed everything about how I live and the choices that I make. It’s changed my career dramatically because what I’m looking for is so different than what I looked for before.”
Maggie Q talked about a pivot in her own life, at a young age, in terms of career and life choices, another pivot that many people can relate to facing.
“I grew up on an island,” says the actress, who was born and raised in Honolulu, “[and] I left the island once when I was growing up. It was just very sort of, I don’t want to be here. Right after I graduated [high school], I moved to Asia and then to Europe for a good chunk of my adult life.
“I know island life. I’m grateful for it. [But] it was very small, [and] I knew that there was more, and so I just took off. I didn’t know what I was doing or where I was really going, and I went to places where I didn’t speak the language. I didn’t understand what the hell was happening around me. [And] I had no money, which was even a bigger issue. So, I had to really work my way up and start in a place where, you know, nobody spoke English and I didn’t know anyone and I had no friends, and I had no job.
“I was young, but the pivot was real because I would have either gotten out into the world like I did, or I would have just stayed living on the island and my life would have been significantly different, I think. I know.”