Paul Reiser is returning to the small screen in big ways.
The star of the newly-revived 1990s hit “Mad About You” — which is slated to return later this year — is also playing theater producer Cy Feuer in “Fosse/Verdon,” which debuts Tuesday on FX.
The revival of “Mad About You” will reunite Reiser with his on-screen spouse Helen Hunt as Paul and Jamie Buchman, but “so far, we have a lot more questions [than] we have answers,” Reiser explained.
The Manhattan native admitted the pair “had avoided talking about it for years and years and never really wanted to do it. And when all these other shows started coming back, we thought well, we kind of jokingly said, ‘Wait, maybe we should do that.'”
The prospect of reviving that working relationship cemented the idea in their heads.
“We had a very compatible rhythm, and … similar mindset,” Reiser said. “The same things make us laugh, the same things make us cringe, the same things move us.”
The show’s seven-season run saw the Buchmans transition from newlyweds to parents – of a daughter, Mabel – and everything in-between.
The main question for Reiser and Hunt though, was: why now?
“As my youngest son just left for college in the fall, I started realizing all the things that people talk about,” Reiser recalled. “When your kids leave the nest and it’s just the two of you, it’s a huge shift. It’s a ground shift. And it’s very similar to that moment when you first get married and you realize, ‘Oh, the world is outside and it’s just us two.’
“And so that was really the only creative kickoff that we had. We realized it makes sense to start there, because we’re really just jumping into a new frontier again. It’s a new part of our relationship and a lot of discovery, because you’re 25 years into it,” he chuckled.
“It’s another point of view, another point of life,” he added. “When you take two characters that know each other so well, and you put them in this very high-friction moment of their lives, it’s a really fun and rich place to start a show.”
The two-part series finale depicted a flash forward, wherein an adult Mabel (Janeane Garafalo) chronicles the family’s future.
Will the revival – predicted to drop later this year – delve into those 20 years Mabel skimmed? What about Paul and Jamie’s separation? Will the revival end with the “happily ever after” Mabel alluded to, or will it go beyond that?
While we await those answers – and a confirmed release date – the hotly anticipated “Fosse/Verdon” is on the immediate horizon.
The limited series, which premieres April 9 on FX, jumps back and forth throughout the lives of the eponymous Tony winners director-choreographer Bob Fosse (Sam Rockwell) and his third wife – dancer and frequent collaborator Gwen Verdon (Michelle Williams).
Reiser said his time on the show was “an absolute time trip,” calling life on set “kind of a love fest.”
The real set of “Cabaret” – depicted in the first episode – he pointed out, was a bit different.
“The producer is often a very antagonistic presence on a set,” Reiser explained. “The friction between my character … and Sam’s character, it was a very contentious relationship that ended up in success. But … There were a lot of games going on trying to outsmart each other and sneak around each other. So it was fun to have that kind of heat behind it. … It had a lot of just organic tension in it, which is fun to play.”
In terms of Reiser’s other recent notable TV appearance — playing Dr. Sam Owens on “Stranger Things 2” — he remains tight-lipped on whether he’ll return for the upcoming third season.
“Maybe yes, maybe no,” Reiser said. “I’m not being a jerk, but we’re not allowed to talk about anything. They’re very secretive. So the answer is definitely perhaps.”
“Fosse/Verdon” premieres Tuesday, April 9 at 10 p.m. ET on FX. “Stranger Things 3” drops on Netflix on July 4.