Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, and Chris Sullivan are teaming up for That Was Us, a rewatch podcast dedicated to looking back at This Is Us and sharing memories from the production of the show. The series, which ran for six seasons ending in 2022, centered on the Pearsons, a fairly average American family, and the often heartbreaking courses their lives took over the course of decades. Moore, Brown, and Sullivan starred in the series alongside a talented cast that also included Milo Ventimiglia, Chrissy Metz, Ron Cephas Jones, and Justin Hartley.
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While there have been fan-hosted rewatch shows for basically as long as there have been podcasts, the phenomenon of blending the genre with a cast reunion is fairly new. It has been popularized by Office Ladies (with The Office‘s Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer) or Fake Doctors, Real Friends (with Scrubs stars Zach Braff and Donald Faison), both of which became immediate, huge hits, and as a result there are now rewatch podcasts hosted by stars from Suits, Boy Meets World, Psych, Smallville, and more.
If you somehow missed the massive hype around This Is Us, here’s how press materials described it at the time: “The Pearson family’s generational story unfolds in this emotional drama. In moments of love, joy, triumph and heartbreak, revelations emerge from parents Jack and Rebecca’s past, while triplets Kate, Randall and Kevin discover deeper meaning in their present day lives. Successful businessman and father Randall searches for information about his biological parents. Kate finds love and self-acceptance while battling obesity. Kevin pursues a more meaningful career, which brings some difficult choices.”
This is Us might mark the fastest turnaround between when a series said goodbye and when the rewatch podcast got off the ground. The show will premiere on May 14, which is less than two full years after its May 24, 2022 finale.
“Just before [a press event], I was like, ‘To not see you guys regularly in my life makes me a little sad,’” Brown related to his costars during a 2022 press event. “I’ve still got your phone numbers. Like, I can still call Mandy Moore, which gives me some credibility. But to not be able to see you every day, I’ll miss you. I’ll miss the story that we’ve had a chance to tell with one another. And I can’t wait for 20 years to do an E! True Hollywood Story. It’s going to be awesome.”
Turns out, that True Hollywood Story prediction was just a network and 18 years off.
