Mirza Aaqib Beg
Created by Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider — the former head writers of ‘Saturday Night Live’ — ‘The Other Two’ looks at fame in the contemporary context and gives viewers a hilarious take on the struggle for acceptance that follows Cary and Brooke. Cary Dubek is an aspiring actor who is desperately looking for his big break and is frustrated by embarrassing auditions that he has to go through regularly. However, his consistent efforts haven’t amounted to anything significant as of now. His sister, Brooke, has her own problems, and the millennial siblings have barely made sense of their struggles when out of the blue, their 13-year-old brother becomes an overnight success.
The unique premise of the dramedy delves deeper into the friction of grappling with one’s failures while making peace with the success of someone who one perceives as not worthy of it. The realistic narrative has been praised by viewers and critics alike, and it has also led to speculations that there must be some truth to the story. In case you have been wondering the same, then you don’t have to look any further. Here’s everything you need to know about the show’s origins.
Is The Other Two Based on a True Story?
No, ‘The Other Two’ is not based on a true story. The rise of online platforms that cater to people of all age groups and varied tastes has given creators of all backgrounds a shot at stardom. Over the years, the dominance of various content-creating apps has been rooted in countless overnight success stories, which have become all too common these days. Fans of the dramedy series may have inadvertently presumed that ‘The Other Two’ may have taken inspiration or is based on one such story of success.
But such an assumption would be entirely misleading as the creators, Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, were unaware of the biggest content-creating platform, Musical.ly (now TikTok), when the show was in the early stages of development. In fact, they only got to know about the app when they were looking for someone to play Chase Dubek, and it stands to reason that they may be unaware of the plethora of other content-creating platforms that have become commonplace these days.
However, it would be a mistake to deduce that the show is therefore not grounded in reality at all. ‘The Other Two’ pokes fun at the absurdity of the modern-day rise of viral fame and manages to remain respectful while criticizing the celebrity culture. Even in their attempt to pick holes in the overnight success stories, the creators made sure that the characters and different scenarios remained as realistic as possible. They not only looked at their own lives but even used their own experiences for several plotlines.
Chris Kelly told Vulture, “We wanted a grounded show with characters we related to or were loosely based on us or things we’d been through. At SNL we also liked writing pop-cultural or topical stuff, and we wrote a lot of music videos for the girls, so this was sort of our way to meld the two things we wanted to write.” He explained further that in creative fields, it’s natural for people to constantly compare themselves with someone else’s success or achievements.
So, he and Sarah brainstormed the worst possible scenario of the toxic self-reflection that can transpire into real life. The idea of the little brother finding fame and the accompanying layers of introspection and roughness that would follow appealed most to them, and it led to the birth of the now-beloved comedy series. In the same interview, Sarah even confessed that a lot of things about the two floundering millennial siblings were inspired directly by Chris and other writers on the team. Therefore, it can be said that despite having roots in the real-life experiences of the talented creators, the premise is entirely a result of their artistic imagination and is not based on a true story.
Read More: Where is The Other Two Filmed?
