The This Is Us effect: Jim Carrey's Kidding is among new batch of shows dealing with loss and grief

Variety

This Is Us surprised many by becoming a massive hit with its in-depth exploration of death and grief. Its success seems to have inspired a trend this fall of shows that also feature characters struggling to come to terms with the loss of a loved one, including ABC's A Million Little Things, Hulu's The First, Facebook Watch's Sorry for Your Loss and Showtime's Kidding. “There’s a catharsis we all feel to watch a character go through things," says Sorry for Your Loss showrunner Lizzy Weiss. "We want to cry sometimes — we want that to feel human and to feel normal — and to cry with her over her loss, you’re of course crying over your loss." A Million Little Things creator DJ Nash adds: “I think when you lose somebody too soon, their death can be a catalyst to make you start living. While the show starts with the loss of a friend, it’s very much about how it will influence his friends. … We’re going to watch how their lives are different because of this sort of last gift they got from their friend, this gift of life is ‘precious.'” Kidding creator Dave Holstein, who wrote the Showtime series with Jim Carrey in mind, says: “Grief and death are interesting topics, but they’re really hard to write 100 episodes (about), so what struck me was not to write a show about grief and death specifically but this interesting line I think you can draw between grief and loss, and identity crisis.”