Sitcom HOME ECONOMICS Taxes Siblings As Money Messes With Family Hierarchy, Says Star Topher Grace

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Money changes everything, especially with adult siblings. When brothers and sisters are young, there tends to be a certain pecking order within the family, or at least an unofficial understanding of the various roles. There might be a serious kid, a funny kid, a responsible kid, an irresponsible kid, a troublemaker, a peacemaker, and so on. Some of it is based on personality, but a lot of it is based simply on age. So what happens when that pecking order gets shuffled in adulthood, particularly with regard to monetary success? That’s the premise of HOME ECONOMICS, a new sitcom starring Topher Grace (THAT ’70S SHOW), Caitlin McGee (BLUFF CITY LAW, MODERN LOVE), and Jimmy Tatro (AMERICAN VANDAL, 22 Jump Street), that debuts Wednesday, April 7 at 10 p.m. ET on CTV (before moving to its regular time slot of 9:30 p.m. ET on April 14). “Siblings, man – I mean, siblings are one thing, but adult siblings? That’s its own journey,” said Grace in a phone interview. “I think everyone who has a sibling, who’s at a certain age, knows how interesting a journey that is. But then on top of it, to add real financial differences, it’s just a way to show how siblings all start in the same place, and they all go to very different places, but no matter what, they still always share that bond you’re talking about.” HOME ECONOMICS follows adult siblings Tom (Grace), Sarah (McGee), and Connor (Tatro). Tom, the oldest, has been a successful author, but nobody bought his last book, while Sarah, the middle child, just lost her job and is worse off than Tom. Both are in the uncomfortable position of possibly having to ask for a loan from their baby brother Connor, who has made a bundle in finance and just bought a massive house formerly owned by actor Matt Damon. Each sibling thinks that the other two are doing fine, but they all have issues – some obvious, some to be revealed. “This was written before the pandemic, and I thought, ‘Shows don’t really talk about these taboos, this is really interesting,’ ” Grace recalled. “And then the pandemic hit. So I was thinking, ‘Is the show still going to be relevant?’ But once the pandemic played out – because we started back filming a couple of weeks ago – I was like, ‘Wow, how did they write this beforehand, because it’s way, way more relevant now.’ But there’s also kind of a togetherness element to it, which these days seems like wish fulfillment.” If HOME ECONOMICS were less ambitious, it would be easy to make the Tom character exclusively bitter, or the Sarah character exclusively flaky, or the Connor character exclusively obnoxious. But even in the first episode, the three main characters are shown to have multiple sides, as often revealed through interactions with their own spouses and kids. “One of the things that was so brilliant is that I read the script before Jimmy was cast, and I always say that any real issues you have on a show are solved by an amazing dream team like this,” Grace said. “Jimmy is such a lovely person, you can’t not like him, which is kind of amazing casting, because he makes Connor very sympathetic. Connor has his own problems, but he really wants to share everything he has. Even in the first episode, he’s like, ‘Hey, this is my gym, but it’s your gym, too, come over to the house whenever you want.’ But that doesn’t necessarily make my character feel any better that Connor is being so wonderful about it.” Ultimately, HOME ECONOMICS is a timely comedic study of what happens when financial realities clash with family hierarchy, not to mention expectations and reputations that were cemented decades earlier. “I don’t know if you’ve been to a high school reunion, but I was not a popular guy in high school,” Grace recalled. “Then I went on to be an actor, but it didn’t help me at all at my high school reunion. Because the dynamic was set, it was set in 1993, or whenever I first got into high school. I was a nerd. At the time of the reunion I think I was starring in Spider-Man (specifically Spider-Man 3, from 2007), but it did not matter. I was still a loser. And I feel with family, it’s even more intense. You’re kind of born into a dynamic, and that’s how it is. And you’re right, money just challenges all those dynamics, or sometimes solidifies them.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv