Jamie Lee Curtis Loved ‘New Girl’ but Hated Making It, Here’s Why
Jamie Lee Curtis Loved ‘New Girl’ but Hated Making It, Here’s Why
Maja SenicTue, August 11, 2026 at 11:25 PM UTC
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Image Credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.
Jamie Lee Curtis has no problem with New Girl as a television show. Making it was another matter. The Oscar winner says she enjoyed the comedy itself but strongly disliked the single-camera production style she encountered while playing Jess Day's mother, Joan.
Curtis explained the distinction during NBCUniversal's Summer Backlot Experience. Speaking in a clip shared by Entertainment Weekly, she called New Girl a “great show” and “very funny” but said filming it felt too much like making a movie.
What bothered her was the silence. Curtis said the camera crew did not laugh during filming, leaving her without the immediate response she enjoys when performing comedy. “It's silent, and it's awful. For me, awful,” she said. “Single-camera comedies, for me, not fun.”
Curtis is now returning to the sitcom format she prefers with NBC's Newlyweds, a multi-camera comedy that puts her behind the scenes as an executive producer as well as in front of the camera as a recurring guest star.
The Silence on ‘New Girl’ Was the Real Problem
Curtis' criticism was aimed at the mechanics of production rather than the material. “I did a single camera, which, I mean, great show, New Girl, very funny, it's a good show, but doing it is just like doing a movie,” she said.
“You know, you've got a camera crew, and nobody laughs. It's silent, and it's awful. For me, awful. Single-camera comedies, for me, not fun.”
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The Independent reported that she appeared across multiple seasons, often sharing scenes with Rob Reiner as Jess's father and Joan's ex-husband, Bob.
‘Anything But Love’ Set Her Standard for Sitcom Work
Curtis contrasted the New Girl experience with Anything But Love, the ABC sitcom she made with Richard Lewis from 1989 to 1992. “It was my favorite job I've ever had,” Curtis said while discussing the series at the NBCUniversal event.
She said she has spent years asking her representatives to find her another sitcom that would allow her to return to the multi-camera style she prefers. “Every single year, all I've ever said to my agents is, ‘I want to do a sitcom. All I want to do is a sitcom,’” Curtis said.
What she enjoys is the process of developing comedy in that environment. “I love the whole part of it, every aspect of it, the dance with the cameras, the idea that you actually get to rehearse something and work it and learn a joke and play it,” she said.
‘Newlyweds’ Gives Curtis the Format She Wanted
The official NBC announcement describes the multi-camera comedy as a later-in-life love story starring real-life couple Téa Leoni and Tim Daly as a free-spirited woman and buttoned-up professor who impulsively marry after a whirlwind romance. Curtis serves as an executive producer and recurring guest star, playing the ex-wife of Daly's character.
Gail Lerner writes and executive produces the series, which also stars Emma Meisel, Ignacio Diaz-Silverio and Bill O'Neill. Pam Fryman executive produced and directed the pilot. The network's fall schedule has Newlyweds premiering Friday, October 23 at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
