SPOILER ALERT! This story contains details from the series finale of Bob ❤️ Deserved on CBS.
The multi-camera comedy about an American businessman who falls in love with a Nigerian nurse ended on May 6 the same way it began 2019 – with plenty of charm and affection performed by affable stars Billy Gardell and Folake Olowofoyeku .
Here, co-creator/EP/co-star Gina Yashere and EP Matt Ross talk about what went into the creation of their sentimental song bob ❤️ Abishola finale, the legacy of the show and whether they regret using a heart emoji in the title.
DEADLINE: Talk about the decision to use a time jump in the finale. Why did you do that?
GINA YASHERE: There were certain stories that we started in previous seasons, for example in Season 4 we ended on a cliffhanger. Will Abishola go to Johns Hopkins? And then we never really broached the subject again in the entire fourth season. So we wanted to come full circle again, close the loose end and show that Abishola actually trained as a doctor and eventually managed to become a doctor.
MATT ROSS: What we got from Chuck was: The big Bang TheoryFor example, Sheldon won the Nobel Prize, and then he and his friends all went back and had lunch together in the apartment. That’s why we wanted some of these characters we love to achieve their dreams, but also find a way to stay connected. Abishola fulfills her dream of becoming a doctor. Kemi [played by Yashere] gets her own business. Goodwin [Bayo Akinfemi] buys the company. But they all still circle around each other because their connection wasn’t a coincidence. It was because they cared about each other.
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DEADLINE: With most of your cast returning, was it a balancing act to make sure your main ensemble was there for the finale?
YASHER: We built the whole story around them and used them to their full potential, rather than just hiring them for two lines and then they’re out. We made sure we used the characters. They have a whole story, a whole arc.
HORSE: See you, you know, Christine [Ebersol]Barry [Henley] or Saidah [Arrika Ekulona] have three or four scenes. That was the silver lining of this gross budget cut and demotion of all our wonderful actors. Having a small window to see where people landed seemed the right size because we wanted to see everyone one last time. But the centerpiece had to be Bob and Abishola.
DEADLINE: Gina, did you have any special plans for your character, Kemi?
YASHER: Kemi has always shown a spark of ambition in business throughout the season. Nigerians are considered to be extremely ambitious, extremely hardworking and extremely ambitious. So there was no question that Kemi would stay in the same job seven years later. At some point she would have wanted to start her own business, even though at the start of the show it seemed like they were just two retirees chilling in their small apartment. At some point we introduced the fact that they owned the entire building they lived in. That’s why we’ve always been happy to push these guys’ stories forward. It was clear that Kemi would eventually have her own business.
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DEADLINE: How was the last day on set? Were you emotional?
YASHERE Very, I cried a lot. After reading the final table, I definitely thought, “I’m not going to cry!” There were lots of hugs and lots of tears. It was very emotional, but there was also joy because we made it to five seasons and the quality of the show never dropped. It kept getting better. In the end we were like one big family.
DEADLINE: What do you hope to achieve from your comedy?
YASHER: It doesn’t matter where the characters come from. A good story is a damn good story. I hope it encourages broadcasters to buy shows from voices they may not have heard before, experiment a little and be more open to different backgrounds. I mean, CBS isn’t exactly the trendiest, youngest, coolest network in the game. It’s mostly old white people watching. And yet this Nigerian family integrated itself into their psyches and won a place in their hearts for five years. Most people who saw our show had never met a Nigerian and perhaps would never have crossed the street if they saw a Nigerian walking towards them on a dark street at night. Many people got to know another culture and laughed at the same time. So I hope we can sell more stories like this in the future. I will be able to tell more stories.
DEADLINE: If there were any misconceptions about your comedy, what do you think they were?
YASHER: Even the name Abishola. There were a lot of concerns about the name, like, “How are these people supposed to pronounce these names?” “Americans can barely pronounce John.” There was a lot of that. People were worried because when you see Africans on TV, we were drug dealers or young soldiers or whatever. There were many concerns about the portrayal of this family. I feel like we addressed all of those concerns when the series came out. We showed that all of these characters were three-dimensional and had real feelings. I stayed very true to the culture and kept it as authentic as possible.
HORSE: We had some pretty candid conversations in the writers’ room at the beginning. I think some people needed to learn about the responsibility of representation. If there are no Nigerian characters on television and then you make a joke based on a Nigerian or, even worse, an African stereotype that you may have in your head… in other situations, there are countless people who are affected by this group that’s on TV, it shouldn’t be such a big deal. But if you give 100% of Nigerian characters on TV that trait just for fun. … If I, as a white male showrunner and producer, want to benefit from being able to market a show saying that it has these diverse voices, that it’s a show about immigrants making America great and all of that, I have to Be careful not to go too far with this portrayal and do everything you can to make it seem as authentic and caring as possible.
YASHER: The joy of working on this show was when I said it [executive producers and co-creators] Chuck Lorre and Eddie Gorodetsky said early on, “When I say something is right, or maybe you don’t realize that it’s racist or stereotypical, you have to listen to me.” You have to do that, or this show will go south Water.’ And they did. That’s why the show was successful.
DEADLINE: What’s next for both of you?
YASHER: Whatever people want to buy! I’m currently working on a few other multicam ideas and a single camera and then of course auditioning for things because I also act and stand. I’ll be out and about when I need money. Whatever happens, I’ll go where the good work is, but I’m currently working on other IPs. That’s why I’m taking a few months to write more scripts and then think of new ideas for the future.
HORSE: I go where Gina tells me. It’s become quite clear to me that Gina Yashere is the person who gives me the best career and life advice. I’m like, “Hey, what would you do if you were me?” And she’s like, “This, not that,” and I’m like, “Okay, great.”
DEADLINE: Now that it’s all over, do you regret that the title of the show required a picture of a heart instead of the word “Loves”?‘?
YASHER: Chuck, Eddie and I had a lot of conversations about this when we were creating the show because he did it Dharma & Greg and he didn’t want to do one “And.” He didn’t want to make love because there was “Everybody Loves Raymond.” So we asked ourselves, “How can we do this without using love symbols and and and?” We came up with the emoji and called it “hearts.” There was a little resistance at first because they couldn’t even understand the heart emoji at first. For example, when the series first came out, they had to spell out “hearts” because they didn’t have the capacity to put the heart emojis on the ticker tape at the bottom of the TV screen. But we stuck to our guns. People still often incorrectly refer to the show as Bob loves Abishola. But I think it looks better on posters.
HORSE: I think everyone except the script coordinators was convinced.