Varun Patel
‘Workin’ Moms’ is a Canadian comedy series that provides a hilarious look at motherhood. Apart from tickling viewers’ ribs, the show also proves to be extremely relatable. Moreover, this relatability is not just limited to mothers. The series’ multi-faceted nature ensures that there is something in it for everybody.
‘Workin’ Moms’ follows multiple mothers as they attempt to juggle their maternal and professional responsibilities, and still try to find some time for themselves. The characters are portrayed to be in varying situations of motherhood. The result proves to be a mix of laugh-out-loud humor and heartbreaking yet naked truth. Several viewers would have wondered whether the show is based on a true story because of how real it gets. Here is the truth to that..
Is Workin’ Moms Based on a True Story?
Yes, and no. ‘Workin’ Moms’ is one of those fictional television series that is based on somebody’s real-life experiences. However, it is not biographical in any manner. That is, the writers take as much creative liberty as they wish but use their actual experiences as a reference point. The storylines are doctored to fit a television format and made to be more…plot-like. However, they are conceived as a result of some actual events. The person whose real-life experiences the show is based on is Catherine Reitman.
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Fans of ‘Workin’ Moms’ would instantly recognize Reitman as Kate Foster, the character she plays on the show. However, she is also the creator, writer and executive producer for the CBC show. The show is largely based on her real-life experiences. To begin with, she is actually married to her reel-life husband from ‘Workin’ Moms,’ Philip Sternberg.
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Apart from that, she also has two adorable children of her own. Reitman uses her experience of being a working mother for the Canadian series.
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“In the writers’ room, we used my marriage, my struggles during pregnancy, my experience with postpartum depression. But as the show developed, we started to make it more creative fiction. On the show, my husband has an affair with a nanny, for instance—that didn’t really happen. As my kids got older and developed their own personalities, I became more protective of them and began inventing storylines for them, too,” Reitman tells Toronto Life.
Hence, several events that are seen on ‘Workin’ Moms,’ especially in the first season, actually happened in Reitman’s life. She divides her experiences into various characters for creative purposes. For instance, the character of Frankie, and not Kate, is depicted to be the one with postpartum depression. Have a look at the following video where Reitman discusses the show being derived from her experiences:
As you can see, Reitman discusses how the four main characters on the show are “based on highly flawed aspects of myself.” Furthermore, as stated earlier, ‘Workin’ Moms’ has a knack of serving the naked truth unflinchingly from time to time. For instance, a scene on the show sees one of Kate’s coworkers mockingly ask her, “Is the baby calling the nanny Mom yet?” after she returns from her maternity leave. Sadly, a similar thing actually happened to Reitman when a comedian asked her that on set when she returned to work six weeks after her pregnancy. Reitman started crying on the set, similar to her response on the show. “They went completely silent. It was awkward and hilarious and painful all in one,” Reitman told Working Mother. We shall leave you with this cute picture of Reitman’s family:
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Read More: Shows Like Workin’ Moms
