On the Set of ABC’s American Housewife

The hardest job in the world? Being a mom. You put your heart and soul into raising people and while the rewards are indescribable, the weight of responsibility can be soul crushing. 

Ask any mom and they’d tell you that while all that is true, they wouldn’t trade it for anything.  Motherhood is the perfect dichotomy. Am I right?

Along with this wonderful and terrible job comes the internal expectations we put on ourselves, putting our families first and ignoring our own needs. I should add that Cuban mothers have turned this into an elaborate art form, but that’s not important right now.

I recently got to visit the set of ABC’s newest Tuesday night comedy, American Housewife and meet the cast and crew.

I spoke with Sarah Dunn, TV writer and producer who says she grew extremely tired of putting everyone’s needs before her own and knew that there were probably many women out there who felt the same. 

This is how ABC TV’s American Housewife came to be. I have to tell you that I loved chatting with Sarah. She is the very embodiment of down-to-earth. And as a mother herself she tells it as she has not only observed it, but lived it. The struggle is real, people.

I also got to meet the cast and can I just tell you that I fell in love with Katy Mixon. She welcomed all of us bloggers with (literally) open arms. She punctuates every sentence with “Honey” or “Pumpkin” or “Darlin,” and I could just eat her up.

Katy plays stay-at-home mom, Katie Otto, who is raising her family in an affluent Connecticut town where she is the smartass who is new in town, surrounded by near-perfect, crazy-making moms. She understands you don’t have to be perfect every time. And just accepts her insecurities and doesn’t conform to expectations. Katie tries to be better but fails and fails again.

The foil to Katie’s struggle for perfection is neighbor, played by the adorable Leslie Bibb. In real life, Leslie is nothing like the impossibly perfect, two-Fitbit wearing Viv. Sweet with a sincere smile, Leslie is the best friend you always wish you had.

Ali Wong and Carly Hughes play Katie’s friends and Greek chorus to the unfairness of life in Westport. 

We also got to be present for the shooting of the Christmas episode and I was taken by the camaraderie among the cast and crew. Katy brings all her sassiness and enthusiasm to every scene. Her co-stars have her back and it was a delight to be present for all this. 

Being a mom is work. It’s the best/worst, hardest, wonderful, terrible, most rewarding job anyone can ever do. Be kind to yourselves, mamas. You deserve it. 

AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE – “The Nap” – All Katie wants is a good, long nap after the kids keep her up all night. But when Greg gets the flu, she doesn’t get a minute to herself. Her exhaustion reaches critical mass with a confrontation with the school’s officious crossing guard (guest star Kate Flannery, “The Office”), on “American Housewife,” airing TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18 (8:30-9:00 p.m. EDT), on the ABC Television Network.

American Housewife is part of ABC’s Tuesday night comedy line-up, which includes:

The Middle 8/7c
American Housewife at 8:30/7:30c
Fresh Off the Boat at 9/8c
The Real O’Neals at 9:30/8:30c

I attended the set of American Housewife as part of an all-expense-paid trip courtesy of Disney/ABC. All opinions are my own.