Writer-director Jacob Tierney sits down to chirp about making Hulu’s cult-hit sitcom.
“Our show has grown at its own pace, which is really nice.
We’re left alone to do our own thing.”
Jared Keeso as Wayne, K. Trevor Wilson as Squirrelly Dan, and Nathan Dales as Dary on ‘Letterkenny’.Lindsay Sarazin/Hulu
Is this not funny?'
Sometimes we’ve definitely looked at each other and been like, ‘Are we gonna do more?
Okay, let’s do more.
Clark Backo, Michelle Mylett, K. Trevor Wilson, and Nathan Dales on ‘Letterkenny’.Amanda Matlovich/Hulu
People seem to want them.'"
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I’d like to dig into the process of makingLetterkenny, starting with the writing.
How does it start when you’re putting a season together in the writers’ room?
Dylan Playfair as Reilly and Andrew Herr as Jonesy on ‘Letterkenny’.Amanda Matlovich/Hulu
JACOB TIERNEY:There’s no writers' room; that’s not something we do.
Often, we’ll give writers assignments like, “Come up with 400 jokes about the following topic.
We’re looking for quantity here.
Let’s get 400 ways to insult somebody like this.”
How do you develop all the wordplay and tongue-twisting riffs on the show?
There’s no real secret to it.
Has the rhythm and speed of the dialogue ever presented problems for the actors?
It can, but we’re really lucky.
Our cast knows what the deal is at this point; they show up very prepared.
But yeah, it’s a lot of dialogue.
It’s a lot of information.
Talk about the process of directing the show.
So all the actors are getting their information from the same sources; it’s me and Jared.
That’s who makes the show, and everybody knows that.
It makes it very easy to go somewhere with a question.
So it’s like, “OK, don’t change their positions at the fruit stand.”
What is that experience of filming like for you?
Yeah, they all get along really well.
[Laughs] Yeah, I mean, we call it summer camp for a reason.
We work outside, we usually work pretty decent hours.
It’s a nice place to go to work, and we do genuinely like each other.
It’s like, “Oh, the McMurrays are here!
Jim Dickens is here!”
There’s enough of them.
I can barely fit them all in a f—ing frame.
[Laughs] I don’t want more actors; I have plenty.
I barely know which one’s Reilly and which one’s Jonesy.
I don’t know which one’s Dax and which one’s Ron.
I’m not sure I know either.
I don’t think they know!
How do you approach that aspect of it?
Well, that’s the fun, is the balance.
It keeps me popping and keeps me thinking, which is great.
And that’s what people expect from the show now, and we’re happy to give it.
And Jared loves to pick songs.
He basically has just been making a mixtape this whole time.
How has it felt to have the show cross over in that way?
[Laughs] I don’t see anybody apart from people I work with.
But we can definitely feel that there’s a bigger audience.
But what I kind of like, too, is that people still think of it as their show.
It’s nice that we don’t feel like something that’s being shoved down people’s throats.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
