ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What did you want to accomplish with the finale, narratively and tonally?
We wanted to show how much Schmidts grown and how much Cece has helped him grow.
We ended up in a cool place that also felt surprising of having Schmidt miss his own wedding.
Credit: Adam Taylor/FOX
If you think about Schmidt in season 1, thats such a huge growth for his character.
Also part of that is him smashing the douchebag jar as a glass at the end of the ceremony.
We cant do that.
The Nick-Jess storyline is a little sad too.
Is that still the case?
What can we expect from a potential Jess and Nick reunion, and the Nick and Reagan relationship?
The door is definitely not shut, and thats what the finale is about.
Its a big deal to have Jess realize that she still has feelings for Nick.
Its a new dynamic between them, where now shes the one who is really pining after him.
Earlier, in season 2, he was kind of pining after her, so the balance has shifted.
We love Reagan, and shes really funny with Nick.
Nick dating Reagan shows how much he has grown too; he has the confidence to be with her.
Next year, the door is definitely open, and Jess is probably standing in the doorway.
I credit Lamorne [Morris] completely.
Hes grown so much.
As soon as Nasim was on the show, I saw how great they were together.
We started to very slowly move in that direction.
Shes amazing, so funny.
Its a sweet moment, but theres still humor in it.
I would love to.
Its such a natural thing, when he goes back on the show.
It feels so fun and easy.
Even seeing his face in the editing room, its a great thing to have him back.
Coach returns as the loftees are playing True American.
Are there real rules?
You probably wont get them, but I love when they play True American.
Thats also where the idea for True American came from.
So True American has always been a great way to involve the whole cast.
I was so happy to bring it back, and also the First Ladies Edition feels very relevant.
Can you expand on the decision to end their relationship?
Again, we were playing with the idea of Cooler, where Jess betrays Sam by kissing Nick.
We were trying to create a situation where Sam was also in some ways betraying Jess.
Hes kind of giving her a little taste of her own medicine for what she had done to him.
There are obviously parallels between Sam and Diane and Nick and Jess.
Jess says to Nick, He fell in love with his best friend.
We were trying to play with that too.
She makes it look good.
The wedding was really trying to be true to both Ceces Indian heritage and also Schmidts Judaism.
Lastly, the show was recentlyrenewed for a sixth season.
I think theres potentially going to be a lot of comedy in Schmidt and Ceces first year of marriage.
