Brian Lucci (2:35)

When we come back, we get into it with Lauren Mackenzie and Andrew Gittins, the husband and wife writing partners who brought last night's Chicago Met episode to life. They're a heck of a pair. And we've got spoilers and tissues ahead, so don't go anywh.

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Brian Lucci (4:42)

hi, I'm Brian Lucci and this is the Official One Chicago Podcast. Today we have two writers from the amazing Wolf World Chicago meds Lauren Mackenzie and Andrew Gittins. Welcome guys.

Lauren McKenzie (4:53)

Thanks for having us.

Andrew Gittins (4:55)

So happy to be here. Big fans of the podcast.

Brian Lucci (4:57)

Oh, awesome. Thank you. So you guys listen, I'm so excited.

Lauren McKenzie (5:00)

Yeah, of course we had to prepare, you know, writers, we're very nerdy. We have to do all our research.

Andrew Gittins (5:06)

Also, you know, we've never seen the show so it's very helpful for us to listen to the podcast and catch up a little bit.

Brian Lucci (5:12)

You know, we're geeking out in an adorkable way if you know what I'm saying. Your guys story alone, being partner writers, you know what I mean? And being partners in life, it's just like oh my God, how do they do that? And you two share the same brain and all the episodes. Do you write separately or are you both. You're writing together?

Lauren McKenzie (5:33)

Yeah, no, we're. Yeah, no, we're a team and like you said in all things in life and writing and I don't think either of us intended to do that actually when we first started writing, in fact we dated first, and we tried really hard not to write together. Everyone would say, definitely don't work together. That'll ruin your relationship. And we said, yes, yes, yes, good advice. We'll never do that. And then it's actually a funny story. So I have a younger brother, and he was gonna be best man in a wedd. And two weeks before the wedding, he called me in a total panic and said, oh, my God, I have to give a speech, and I don't know how to write a speech. And you're a writer. Can you just write this speech for me? And I said, of course. You do this for family. You'll do anything for family. But I was working for David Kelly at the time, and he had me really busy on something I was researching for him. And so I turned to my then boyfriend, Andy, and I said, honey, I'm gonna need you to write this best man speech for my brother to give his friends.

Andrew Gittins (6:27)

I was like, I don't know any of these people.

Lauren McKenzie (6:30)

And I said, don't let that stop you. So he wrot the best man speech and gave it to me. And then I rewrote it. Yeah, I took a pass on it, and it was the first thing we ever collaborated on. And then we sent it to my brother, and he gave the speech at the wedding. And then shortly after that, Andy and I started getting phone calls from people at the wedding who said, oh, my God, your brother had that amazing speech. And he confessed he didn't write it. Listen, my cousin's wedding is coming up in a couple months, and could you just, quote, take a look at what I have? And they would never have more than like three sentences down on a piece of paper. And we. So anyway, Andy and I started ghost writing wedding speeches for people all over

Andrew Gittins (7:06)

the country that we knew, like, less and less over time.

Lauren McKenzie (7:09)

Yeah. For weddings we never attended. But through that process, we learned, like, we love actually writing together. And that's how we started.

Andrew Gittins (7:15)

It was super fun. So then we were like, we should write a script. And then we did that. And that was kind of as soon as we wrote something together, it was kind of the best thing that we had ever done. And just everything took off from there.

Brian Lucci (7:26)

Guys. You went from that to having, like, Alan McDonald, the showrunner saying, these two are my number two, they run the room. You know what I mean? I mean, that's incredible, you know, and every. Every time your guys names come up, there's. It's just. It's just cool to hear, you know what I mean? How it's Going how comfortable it is. So before we get in front of it, let's start at the beginning. How did you both find yourselves in the wolf world on Chicago Med?

Andrew Gittins (7:52)

Well, through Alan, really. I mean, that. That was sort of the entree he, you know, we had. We've been writing for TV for, you know, 10 or 12 years together now and have found ourselves in a lot of different places, but it never found ourselves on a wolf show, even though we're sort of fans of Afar for a long time. And then Alan got the job, and we had actually literally just worked on a show with Alan where we were the number twos on that show. And he was actually sitting in our living room, like, the minute he got the phone call that he had gotten the job to be the new showrunner for Chicago.

Brian Lucci (8:25)

Man.

Lauren McKenzie (8:26)

Yeah. In fact, he was, like, so excited, he just got off the phone call and he was like, oh, my God, I'm gonna be running this show. Do you guys wanna work on it? And we were like, well, wait.

Brian Lucci (8:33)

Get the hell outta here.

Lauren McKenzie (8:35)

Easiest.

Andrew Gittins (8:35)

Easiest job inter.

Lauren McKenzie (8:37)

Well, yeah, I mean, we were like, we're not taking this offer seriously. You don't know what you're saying. You're just, like, you know, drunk with excitement. So we won't hold you at your word. But then he did circle back like a week later and was like, no, no, I was actually serious. You want to come do this with me? And we were like, oh, God, yeah, of course. We're such fans. So sure.

Andrew Gittins (8:53)

And we were definitely, you know, a little nervous, I think, going into it, just knowing that it had such a history and a strong fan base. And also just, you know, we make so much TV as, you know. Right. With all of these Wolf shows, it's like really like a throwback kind of unicorn that we still make 21, 22 of these things every year. And to be, like, running the room on that, you really, really gotta be on your shit, you know, and really pushing the ball forward all the time to make sure that you're, you know, you're hitting your deadlines and getting the material in when it needs to be your show, too.

Brian Lucci (9:26)

Like when I was talking to Alan and Meredith, like, we'll have one crime. We used to have, like, two. We used to have a B store and a store. But we have one crime, and we have a burden, and we have to meet that burden or probable cause. We're investigating it. And whatever that parallel story is with the character who's going through the same thing of the crime is. But you Guys got like five fuckers laying in stories.

Andrew Gittins (9:50)

I know.

Brian Lucci (9:50)

You know?

Andrew Gittins (9:50)

I know.

Brian Lucci (9:51)

Oh, my God. What are you taking this out of this person and who's pregnant and all? You know, it's just. I love that. I didn't know that. I didn't know that. He. He got the call. This is your second season, correct?

Andrew Gittins (10:03)

Yes.

Brian Lucci (10:04)

So whose idea was it to say, okay, we're pulling the trigger and we're gonna go work with him?

Andrew Gittins (10:09)

It was both of us. I mean, it was not. It was a super easy decision.

Lauren McKenzie (10:11)

Yeah, it was an easy decision.

Andrew Gittins (10:12)

Yeah. We were so excited to do it. We, you know, years and years and years ago. Our first staff job was on this show called Complications with a guy named Matt Nix, who's the showrunner, who's a wonderful guy. And that was sort of medical adjacent, I think. You know, it had a doctor at the center, and we did a little bit of stuff there, but beyond that, we hadn't really done. We'd done a lot of actually luch. We've done a lot of crime shows, a lot of body drops, a lot of murders. That's definitely was our MO Coming sort of into this process. And we. We hadn't done medical, but we were very excited to. And, you know, we love. We love crime still to this day and all the whodunit and the clues and stuff, but, you know, the fun thing about medicine, you know, is your. Your. Your victim, as it were, is alive.

Brian Lucci (10:55)

And.

Andrew Gittins (10:55)

And, you know, and not to say there aren't crimes with living people at the center of it, but, you know, there's a real emotional and fun element when the people that you're, you know, you're trying to save, like, are sort of right there in front of you. But it is a very difficult balance that we constantly struggle with and are learning how to do better, where, you know, fitting in all of these stories, but also giving them the space and the time to land emotionally, I think, is one of the major challenges of this show with. With so many wonderful actors, you know, to sort of service on an episode to episode basis.

Lauren McKenzie (11:25)

Well, Alan came in with an edict. He was like, I want everyone to laugh and cry in every episode. You know, like, he wanted the audience.

Brian Lucci (11:33)

That's cool.

Lauren McKenzie (11:33)

Yeah. To laugh and cry in every episode. And we've really taken that to heart. And we look at that when we break our stories in the writer's room. Like, what are the stories that touches your heart and what are the stories that entertain?

Brian Lucci (11:42)

Yeah. And putting all those doctors and nurses through hell, you know, I keep bringing up Nurse Casey.

Andrew Gittins (11:48)

Oh, Kim. Yeah.

Brian Lucci (11:49)

Yes.

Lauren McKenzie (11:49)

Oh, I was gonna say she's the absolute best. Yeah. Deanna created her. One of the writers on the show and who's also from. I think the character is from Florida as well. And as soon as Kim came in and had her read on this fabulous character, everyone in the writers room was like, oh, I'm putting that character in my script. And she just took off. Now she's like, you know, I don't know if there's an episode she's not in.

Brian Lucci (12:17)

Jeez, another body. Oh, that room's giving me the heebie jeebies. I think there's a spirit of the

Lauren McKenzie (12:23)

deceased hanging out in there.

Brian Lucci (12:24)

Okay, I'll bite. Why would anybody hang around treatment 5

Andrew Gittins (12:27)

longer than they have to?

Brian Lucci (12:29)

They're looking to take more spirits with them. Obviously, the last three patients we put

Lauren McKenzie (12:33)

in there have died. No, that's not.

Narrator/Advertiser (12:34)

Mm.

Lauren McKenzie (12:36)

Oh, actually, yeah, you're right.

Brian Lucci (12:37)

Yeah.

Lauren McKenzie (12:37)

My gut says it's the spirit of Mr. Crowley. You know, that elderly gentleman who said I looked like a young Goldie Hawn,

Brian Lucci (12:44)

and then he died of mi. Didn't he have cataract in both eyes?

Narrator/Advertiser (12:48)

Okay, that's beside the point.

Lauren McKenzie (12:49)

Dr. Archer. We're all clamoring to work with her. She's fantastic.

Andrew Gittins (12:54)

And I think that gets back to the sort of the humor elements, too, which is one of the. I think the hallmarks of what Alan really wanted to bring to the show and what we try to endeavor to bring in, you know, is a little bit of levity and fun inside the episodes. And she is such a master at that. I believe her. I think her background is actually in, like, maybe Second City, like, some improv work. So she's, like, got a real. Some comedy chops, and we try to utilize that.

Brian Lucci (13:18)

I worked with partner writers back in the day. Tim Walsh and Craig Gore. I don't know if you know them. They were on PD for, like, the first five years. It was funny, these two together. Like, one was. One was about guns and running and, you know, I don't want to say, you know, crazy like that. And the other one was about the heart. Tim Walsh was always the heart. So you guys, as writing partners and married partners in life, can you tell me, like, the challenges or the fun parts, like sharing this, let's say, a brain or an episode together? Like.

Andrew Gittins (13:51)

Yeah. I mean, I always say if I was going to give a TED Talk someday, that it would actually be about how working in a mostly successful creative partnership has kind of, like, influenced our Personal relationship. And you know, like, more specifically, what I mean by that is if you're working with somebody in a successful way, you need to say things like. Or you should be saying things like, hey, you know what? You're right. Or like, yeah, I'm wrong. Like, that's a better idea. And if you just literally transpose those phrases and that kind of attitude of collaboration and humility into your marriage, into your personal life, it is incredibly beneficial. So weirdly, I think learning how to be better creative partners has sort of taught us to be better, like married partners. In a way.

Brian Lucci (14:42)

It puts the word power in power couple. Honest to God, it brings me to this thing that I call. Can I ask you a couple quick couple questions? I love that, but no thinking.

Lauren McKenzie (14:55)

Okay.

Brian Lucci (14:55)

All right. I want spontaneous. All right. Either one.

Andrew Gittins (14:58)

I'm nervous now. Which your kids do you love most?

Brian Lucci (15:01)

Right. Think of it like Family Feud. Who answers to the first? Right. Ready? Who's smarter? Lauren, he got you the beat. Gotcha. Who's more creative?

Lauren McKenzie (15:13)

I don't know. It's very. Even creative.

Andrew Gittins (15:16)

Very different ways. Very, very different ways. Like, I definitely do might be. Do really weird, random stuff.

Lauren McKenzie (15:24)

It's an interesting question you asked because when we first started out, I had come from a background where I had worked as a writer's assistant for a lot of phenomenal writers and really learned by mentors. And Andy was coming in almost not like an outsider. He had worked as a first AD and had been running sets, but not in the writer's room. And so when we first started working together, I was more traditional in the way I broke story. And Andy would always come in with these amazing out of the box ideas. And over the course of our working together career, I feel like it's sort of swapped. I feel like now I've sort of. I don't know if I've burnt out of all the traditional methods, but now I feel like in our partnership, I come in with like, oh, what if we completely changed everything and did this weird beginning of the story? What if we open it in this different way? And so it's sort of crossed over time?

Andrew Gittins (16:14)

I mean, one of the hardest things about writing over time, particularly if you're working in a TV setting, particularly if you're working in a show that does as many episodes as we do, there's obviously patterns and structures that work well for the show that you can slot into, but it can also be really easy to, when you're tired, when you're getting towards the end of the season, to make Easy choices, right? Cause, you know, they'll work. You know, they'll work well enough, you know, like, oh, this will get us to a B. This is a B. And I think one of the challenges of being a writer in general is just always saying, like, okay, but how do we get to the A? And leaving room for that magic, you know, like, don't just do the first thing, which, you know is going to be the easy thing, that's going to work thing, but just leaving space, leaving time, leaving, you know, a little bit of room to find. I always say, like, leaving room for the magic is what I try to say. So when we're working on a scene or we're working on a story, being like, take an extra moment to be like, can we do this differently? Can we do this better? And that's one of the, I think, perpetual challenges of writing.

Lauren McKenzie (17:10)

You know what's funny, Luch, is when you're working with your romantic partner, your husband. The way we work in writers is we break the episode together, and then we will split up the scenes, and we will each take different scenes and we'll write them, and then we'll combine them, and then we'll go through the script and comb through the whole thing.

Andrew Gittins (17:29)

This is how we do it.

Lauren McKenzie (17:30)

This is how we do it. And we weigh in very heavily on the other person's writing, and that's the lengthiest part of the process. And, you know, listen, you have disagreements, and you're battling for what you want, and they have their opinion, and you will have gone, like, eight rounds on this, right? And maybe you win, and you get this line and script, and then you show up on set and the actor's like, I don't really like this line. And you're like, oh, man, I almost got divorced over this line. You know, like, please say this line for my marriage.

Brian Lucci (17:58)

You know, for me, part of my job is what they call a script consultant. I'll get a script like you guys, and I put my policeman hat on and I read it. Like, I'll throw a couple lines, and sometimes they'll take them. Like, what a copper would really say. Like, a policeman wouldn't say that. But here's something he'd say, you know, and then you think it's cool, but you're afraid it might be cheesy. Blah, blah, blah. And you come to set and you're so proud he kept the line in there. And then you get Jason Begay going, I'd never say that. Shit.

Andrew Gittins (18:30)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're like, God damn it. Yeah.

Brian Lucci (18:33)

Are you killing me? Yeah. Come on, man. Man, I fought. Like you just said, I fought for it. All right, we're gonna jump into 11:14. But I had one quick question before that. When you guys first showed up, you know, like, being this show's been up and rolling. Chicago Med's been up and rolling 10 seasons.

Andrew Gittins (18:51)

Yeah.

Brian Lucci (18:51)

Was it hard to, like, jump into, like, the flow of the stories, or was it almost like, hey, we're starting a lot of this brand new.

Lauren McKenzie (18:57)

Oh, no. I mean, it was incredibly difficult. In fact, we had writers from the previous seasons who really held our hand through all of it, I think still do.

Andrew Gittins (19:08)

Yeah. I mean, Stephen Hootstein and Meredith Freeman love him. Like, Hoot's been on the show since, like, day one. Like, day one, like, so crazy, you know, But Meredith's been there forever, too, and they're so helpful in that. And, you know, I mean, I always say one of the coolest things about our job is, like, every job, you start a new job, you're gonna have to do some prep work and homework. But, like, our prep work, a lot of it is like, watching tv, which is great. So. But this particular one, normally, like, let's say you're going into, like, a show that's been up for a season or something, like, oh, got to spend a day catching up on these six episodes. But, like, Chicago Mad, you're like, I got to watch 178 hours of television to try to catch up on this. So that was a Herculean effort. I was super fun, obviously.

Brian Lucci (19:52)

All right, Here we go. 11:14. The cost of living. This episode brings an end of a really cool four episode arc with two characters that that many have fallen in love with. And you guys may have been the ones who created them. Well, you did create them. Esme and Jeremy, can you please tell us how they came to be and give us a little something on them?

Andrew Gittins (20:13)

Yeah, I mean, I think the first thing, like I said, we're, like, constantly kind of learning how to do the show better. And one of the goals that Alan and us and the other writers had this season, you know, you talked about it earlier. Luch. One of the hard parts about our show and any show, but our show in particular is you have all these different stories in a given episode, Right. You might have three medical stories that you're trying to service. And what can be really challenging about that is you want to earn your emotional moments, and that means you need to get to know the characters, and that's really hard to do in a really short amount of time on these episodes. And so one of the things that we wanted to try to do this year was. And they've done this in the past, too. It's not like we're reinventing the wheel, but we, you know, wanted to try to create a few stories that carried through multiple episodes so that when you're gonna land the plane for an emotional moment, you've been with these people a little longer, you know, their story, you feel. And so that was a goal of ours. And, you know, Lauren and I had sort of come up with this storyline we wanted to do about a guy whose wife is pregnant, and he finds out that he has cancer and then battles that cancer over several episodes, ultimately realizing it's gonna be terminal, but desperately is trying to stay alive to meet his baby daughter at least one time before he dies. And just. I mean, I, like, tear up even saying it for the 50th time right now. And so we had had that idea just sort of coming into the season in between seasons. It was something we had sort of thought about, thought of. And, I mean, you know, I don't know if you want to speak a little bit to our sort of.

Lauren McKenzie (21:44)

We had a friend who passed away shortly after having her baby, and that obviously really affected us. And it's a story that you read about also in the news. She's not alone in that. And, you know, we have kids. We have three kids. And I think as soon as they're born, you start doing the math of, oh, wow, they're gonna be, you know, when they're 18, I'm gonna be this old. And, you know, am I gonna see them marry? Am I gonna. You start to kind of project forward and you. And you realize you're never gonna see their whole story. You always get cut off partway into the story of your children's life. I mean, you don't wanna see. Obviously, you don't wanna see their whole story. You don't wanna outlive your kids. But their.

Andrew Gittins (22:28)

There's a tragedy to it.

Lauren McKenzie (22:28)

There's a tragedy to that. There's a grief in that. And so in this case with Jeremy and Esme, he only gets one moment, really, with his daughter. But no matter how much time you have with them, it's never enough. And Archer, who's gonna be having a baby later in his life, would be battling the same conflict. And to us, that felt so inherently universal. Any parent really, really understands that on such a guttural level. And that was a story we wanted to bring into the season.

Brian Lucci (22:58)

Yeah. I'll tell you, I love it. And I remember when they first came in, she was a little sick. And he said, oh, I'm sick too. And it was something like, oh, he always gets sick when I'm sick. And then you discovered he had this cancer. Like, I got teary up too, because, you know, when I read the episode and we'll talk about the ending, like, I hate you guys so much. You know, I'm a father of four. Oh, wow. So, yeah, I have three boys, and they're all older now, 30, 29, 25. But my daughter's 18. She was also my 40th birthday gift. So I said, oh, shit, when she's 20, like, I'm 60, am I ever gonna see the baby that she makes? And I'm waiting to be a grandpa. And you guys killed me with that. Not just with those two. And being able to see him in an arch. I love an arch. I love when you stay with it. I love when you're like, you get committed to a story and we get to see him again and. But to surprise you at the end. And he's just fighting for that moment.

Lauren McKenzie (24:02)

Yeah. And also, like, you talked about Luch. Like, we liked this idea of this couple who comes in sort of bickering and this very universal idea of, you know, a complaint women often have of, like, anytime they feel sick, their husbands are always seem to be sicker. And actually, when we had our first kid, right before I gave birth, I was like nine months pregnant. And Andy, what did you. You had, like, gallstones?

Andrew Gittins (24:26)

I had my gallbladder rem.

Brian Lucci (24:28)

Yeah. Oh, God.

Lauren McKenzie (24:29)

But we showed up at the hospital and I was nine months pregnant, pushing Andy in a wheelchair. And everyone kept saying, is this right? This seems wrong.

Andrew Gittins (24:38)

This is backwards.

Lauren McKenzie (24:39)

Yeah, he should be pushing you.

Andrew Gittins (24:41)

Not my favorite moment of manhood. Probably being pushed into the ER by my very, very pregnant wife.

Brian Lucci (24:47)

Yeah.

Lauren McKenzie (24:48)

But we joke about, you know, we joked about how he's just a big complainer and I'm the one really going through it. And so we brought that sort of energy into these two characters, and you meet them in a place that feels very familiar.

Narrator/Advertiser (24:59)

It's like something is rotting in my stomach.

Lauren McKenzie (25:01)

Oh, I'm sorry to hear.

Brian Lucci (25:05)

Sorry.

Narrator/Advertiser (25:07)

Anxious about this sympathy indigestion.

Lauren McKenzie (25:10)

Anytime I have something, Jeremy gets it.

Narrator/Advertiser (25:12)

Ten minutes later, two times worse.

Lauren McKenzie (25:14)

My back is achy. He slips a disc. I catch a cold.

Narrator/Advertiser (25:18)

He has man flu.

Andrew Gittins (25:19)

The fever was real. The thermometer was broken.

Lauren McKenzie (25:22)

Okay, all right. And then, like, you Said you quickly realize he actually does have a serious condition, and everything kind of changes for them. And then we watch as their kind of relationship evolves over the course of the season until, you know, where we get to. And his goodbye, which when he holds his baby and gets to speak to her, it starts out him. He's been. We do this thing where he's been recording videos for his daughter to see at a later date.

Andrew Gittins (25:53)

And pivotal moments of her life, her first day of school. I would imagine this is a similar thing you guys have on PD as well, is it's very easy to want to tie every crime, every case, every medical case into some emotional journey for our main characters. But that's not really realistic. Right? You're a cop. Not every single case you're taking is this deep emotional tie into what you're experiencing in your life. And I think the audience can feel that at some point. And so we really want to, like, try to pick our shots when we feel like those things are gonna really affect. And this felt like a perfect one for Archer to sort of map onto. But I think the actors, you know, Titana, who played Esme, and Zack, who played Jeremy, were both so wonderful. And it's funny. It's an interesting thing that happened, which was, you know, we had written an episode earlier in the season that had this storyline that was about a guy who had secretly gotten leg lengthening surgery. I don't know if you had the opportunity.

Brian Lucci (26:47)

Oh, I love it. I love it. And they were knocking his legs in and trying to take him up, and he wouldn't tell his girlfriend. Oh, yeah, that was awesome. All right, Mr. Weller,

Andrew Gittins (26:59)

you definitely picked

Brian Lucci (27:00)

up a soft tissue infection from your dip in the lake. I'm both tibias. Okay, so antibiotics then.

Andrew Gittins (27:07)

It's not quite that simple. This is Dr. Archer.

Brian Lucci (27:10)

I asked him to consult after seeing your X ray. You didn't have a car accident. You had leg lengthening surgery.

Andrew Gittins (27:22)

Please don't. Don't tell my fiance, okay? She doesn't know. We won't. So Zack actually read for that part, you know, months and months and months ago, and we just really responded to him. He wasn't quite right for that part. Cause he didn't feel like a short king to us. He had a little too much swag for that. But he was.

Lauren McKenzie (27:40)

There was just, like a sparkle about him. And so we cast him. Cause we introduced those characters in that episode, and we cast him as Jeremy, and we took a risk, and it really paid off. He was phenomenal.

Brian Lucci (27:53)

Yeah.

Lauren McKenzie (27:53)

But I was gonna say, when we go back to. You were saying, you know, at the end there, when Jeremy's been recording these videos because he wants to. He wants his daughter to be able to be with. To be with him.

Andrew Gittins (28:05)

He wants to be with her for her, for the course of her life.

Lauren McKenzie (28:07)

Yes. Thank you. And he records this last one, which is their first dance, and he wants it to be played at her wedding. And if you. If you pay attention to the words that we wrote in that he's speaking to his daughter, but at some point, you really realize he's speaking to his wife. I'm gonna, like, tear up when I talk about this. And it gets to him, really, saying, like, I hope you find someone that is basically like your mother is sort of where you're getting to and that you have this relationship the way we had. So we introduce these characters that they come in sort of bickering. And over the course of the season, in this goodbye, he's not only saying really goodbye to his daughter and hello and goodbye to his daughter, but he's also saying goodbye to his wife in that moment.

Andrew Gittins (28:52)

And fun fact, in this episode, Esme tells the story of meeting Jeremy. And that story is actually pretty closely mirrors how Lauren and I actually met.

Lauren McKenzie (29:04)

We put a lot of ourselves in the writing.

Andrew Gittins (29:07)

Yeah, so she talks about, you know, I mean, her version, I think, is that she was a temp at his office. In reality, for Lauren and I, I was working as an ad, and she was sort of in between seasons on Boston Legal. Boss Legal, I think, and picked up a couple days as a pa. And so she was on the set that I was there, and I was like, instantly like, oh, and marry this girl. That's not something I did a lot. It wasn't like I was, like, saying that all the time about people. I specifically just. There was just this moment. I don't believe necessarily in a lot of those things, but I am pretty romantic. And I was like, oh, I'm gonna marry this girl. And so because I was the AD, I was able to assign PAs to do basically whatever I wanted and so assigned Lauren to lock down, to guard a door that was on the opposite side of the set, basically from everybody. And Locked, as I said. So she was basically by herself so that I could.

Lauren McKenzie (29:59)

He isolated me. Like a serial killer.

Andrew Gittins (30:01)

Yeah, exactly. That's right. And so. So I. But I was able to just go talk to her whatever I wanted, you know? And I remember I would be like, you know, we got an audio issue. We need to hold a second, you know, and go talk to. And sound would be like, what the fuck is this guy talking about? You know, like there's a plane. And I would go talk to her and I started writing her notes on old call sheets. And I was like, you know, you're doing a great job guarding that door. I think I wrote on one of them. And then I wrote, and by that I mean, can I have your phone number?

Lauren McKenzie (30:30)

And then I wrote back, I'm really sorry, I have a boyfriend. Which was true. I did have a boyfriend at the time.

Andrew Gittins (30:35)

And I wrote back, oh, man, that's really in the way of us dating.

Brian Lucci (30:40)

I love that line. I love that line. And that's exactly what's in there.

Andrew Gittins (30:43)

Exactly.

Lauren McKenzie (30:44)

Right, that's it.

Brian Lucci (30:48)

We gotta take a quick break. But when we come back, Lauren and Andy break down more of their brilliant writing process. Trust me, you don't wanna miss it.

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Brian Lucci (32:32)

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Andrew Gittins (32:34)

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Brian Lucci (32:39)

our new protein lattes or Matcha. Try it today at Starbucks. And we're back talking with Chicago med writers Lauren McKenzie and Andrew Gittins. All right, back to this. What was one of the challenges of writing the Jeremy Esme that got stuck that you got stuck in or came across a problem that you guys had to troubleshoot? And were there any joys in it? Like, was there anything that was like, oh, shit, we're stuck here?

Lauren McKenzie (33:15)

Well, I think it goes back to what Andy was saying earlier, where Ashley and Eli, like, where the room came up with adding them to our fall finale with the blackout episode, because we knew we wanted to invest more time in them and have them come back several times. And the room really came up with this idea. We knew we wanted to do a blackout. We knew we wanted to bring these characters back. And they were like, let's put all of these together and make this one. And it was fantastic. And that was troubleshooting. And that ended up being way better than we could have imagined for that story.

Andrew Gittins (33:49)

Cause that was sort of the last piece. I mean, initially just very top line was we thought this was gonna be a three episode arc in a sense. You know, we were gonna meet them, learn about the cancer. We're gonna have a middle episode that the story progressed and then this finale. That was really what we knew we were building towards. But the middle piece was like the last piece we really didn't have, you know, in a sense. And so that was sort of what we were banging our heads against. How do we bring these characters back without eating too much from the ending and feeling like, you know, something's really happening and there's drama to it. And so, as Lauren said, like, we did not come up with that at all. The room, you know, did collectively to bring Jeremy and Esme into this blackout and to tie that into this, you know, this surgery. And it turned out to be so wonderful and, you know, dramatic and awesome and tie into all these other stories and work great. And so that was definitely a piece that we were struggling to try and figure out what it was gonna be. And then ultimately ended up being better than we had hoped.

Brian Lucci (34:40)

All the interviews that were going around in one episode where, you know, from the Fall finale or whatever you call it, then Archer was answering the questions

Andrew Gittins (34:50)

why they did the searcher triple threat about Hootsin's episode.

Brian Lucci (34:53)

So, dude, it was so good, you know, like, you got the book of this and the book of that. That one was, like. Didn't feel like med. But I loved it in a way that we're answering questions for the things that we did and the decisions that we made. And the decision that they made was like. It was being questioned by the hospital in Goodwin, correct?

Lauren McKenzie (35:11)

Yes.

Brian Lucci (35:11)

And it was like, so you did this only to give him this much amount of time? And it was being torn, like, couldn't the baby be born earlier? You know? And you started learning all these things about the hospital and the process and humanity. You know what I mean? Like, all you were trying to do is extend his life. Who cares what that cost? All he wanted to do was hold this little girl. And then. I hated you guys, too. So sorry, but I have a whole list of hate here where I didn't think the baby was gonna make it. I was like, they can't be this. Are they this cruel? Yeah, the baby come out blue. I was. I wanted to hear a cry so bad. Like, I thought there was gonna be a moment where he hears his baby cry, you know? And they're recording it. I'm like, oh, my God, they're killing the baby. Oh, yeah, you got us. Yeah, yeah, you got us so bad.

Andrew Gittins (36:03)

Yep, yep. We definitely, you know.

Lauren McKenzie (36:06)

Well, that was the intention, so.

Andrew Gittins (36:07)

Yes, exactly. Put in as much drama as we could into it, so I'm glad it worked.

Lauren McKenzie (36:13)

Yeah. You know, it's interesting. You know, we had to pick a song for that first dance, right? And so that was a big discussion of what song would he choose and what song. And so we had actually asked the writers, like, you know, everyone, send us your songs, you think? And we had a whole list of songs. And then Andy and I sat in our. In our office, and we would just play. You know, we had sort of written the scene, and then we would play the song to each other, and then we would try to make each other cry is really what was happening. And then Andy is the one that found the luckiest Ben Folds luckiest. And as soon as it started playing, Andy and I were bawling, and we were like, okay, well, that's the one we have to write into the script. And then, you know, you really keep your fingers crossed. Like, oh, man, how much is this gonna cost? Because songs can be very Very expensive. Right. And it's a balancing act of budget. And so, you know, you're crossing your fin and sending it off to the, you know, to the gods of the budget. And they made it happen. And it was beautiful.

Andrew Gittins (37:15)

Yeah. And also just. I should, you know, I really want to give also a shout out to Andy Baring, who directed this episode. She, you know, has directed a few episodes of Men Now. She is wonderful and brilliant and did a magnificent job, you know, really taking care of the story and bringing out elements that, you know, even we hadn't sort of anticipated. She did a really, really wonderful job. So big piece of why it works so well, I think, is also her vision and her additive elements to that as well.

Brian Lucci (37:42)

Oh, that's wonderful. Yeah, she mined that. Yeah. You know, I just gotta give a shout out too, to the whack job lady with the eight ball. Oh, my God. About her.

Lauren McKenzie (37:53)

I know.

Brian Lucci (37:53)

Come on, man. Can we.

Andrew Gittins (37:55)

I tell you, like, go ahead.

Lauren McKenzie (37:58)

So we wrote that character and we sort of envisioned the lines in a different sort of way. And Nicole came in, Nicole Sullivan, who plays the charact, and did it in sort of like, not exactly the way we had pictured it, and it was thousand times better. That turned out so well.

Andrew Gittins (38:16)

I think she really grounded the character. She hit the humor. She's obviously a brilliant comedic actress. Also, she was on MADtv for years, and she's wonderful and she hit those moments, but she really managed to also, I think, really ground it. And a nice little tidbit, too, is another reason that we picked the song the Luckiest is because the theme of the episode, there's a lot about fate and luck, and she's a lottery winner who's dying. So this idea of what makes you lucky and what makes you. And at different points in your life, what you might feel lucky, and then that those might change over time. Like, that was sort of thematically something that we also felt was kind of cool to sort of hit with that song a little bit also.

Brian Lucci (38:50)

But. But you. You pulled in like. Like, you can't go wrong with Oliver Platt, you know, and then. What's the other Doctor's name? His name always screws me up.

Andrew Gittins (38:58)

Dr. Theo Gabari. And Manish is the. The actor who plays him.

Brian Lucci (39:03)

Yeah, that. That Doctor. I love them two together because at first I didn't trust him. In another episode, I thought he was worried about his research and shit. I thought, you know, and seeing that Oliver's not so sharp, like, he missed it and this and that and I don't know where you guys are going there. But I'm so vested in that. Cause, I mean, I remember that fucker from back in the Three Musketeers.

Andrew Gittins (39:24)

Yeah, that's right. That's right.

Lauren McKenzie (39:27)

Working with Oliver is fantastic. Oliver cares so much, and, I mean, I really credit someone. You're on a show this many seasons, and you care with your whole heart about every moment and line and what it means. And he feels a tremendous responsibility to the audience and to the character. And he calls us, and he's such a professional. Like, you know, he calls us ahead of time to really go through it. And we go through the script several times, and then, you know, he'll have little adjustments day of. But all of it is done with just such a. I don't know, such heart and such professionalism. We love. Yes. And we love collaborating with him.

Andrew Gittins (40:05)

And also, just like, he's just so fucking good.

Lauren McKenzie (40:07)

Yeah, I mean.

Andrew Gittins (40:07)

You know what I mean? Like, he's just fucking good. He's just. Just good. And we're super lucky to have.

Brian Lucci (40:12)

That's a T shirt. Just so fucking good.

Andrew Gittins (40:15)

You know what I mean?

Brian Lucci (40:16)

You have to listen to him. It happens a lot on our show where. Come on, man. You had the script. You've been prepping it. You're waiting right now. You want to change the line. Batshit crazy. Like, I'm holding up cameras. Like, it doesn't make sense. So there. There are those respectful ones. Like, you know, Marina on our show, Burgess will call our showrunner all the time or go right to the writer. Yeah, and Jason Begay, too. And. And love is that the writer goes, oh, my God. They had great ideas, you know, like, Gavin Harrison, Edgar. Edgar, who's writing the crossover, is like, oh, Jesse called me. I didn't even think of this. And you're like, you know, they give the credit to each other when you're so into it. I just think it elevates it, you know, in a respectful way. And if you're servicing the story and if the story's one of the characters and, like, if you're doing it to help, like, oh, my God. And it's no ego, and there's no ego with the writer or anyone else. It's like, how can we not? It's like grandma coming and put a little more salt on the fucking sauce. You know, she knows.

Lauren McKenzie (41:21)

We always say, like, yeah, we'll take a great idea from anywhere, you know? And also, television is so collaborative. And Andy and I are. Obviously, we work as writing partners. I mean, we are used to Collaboration. We like collaboration. We love people that are super invested in it. Makes the whole thing better.

Andrew Gittins (41:37)

And, you know, it's funny, you talked about Luch. You're like, oh, I'm not a writer. And, I mean, there's elements of writing that people might be better or worse at, and the actual part of it where you have to sit down and type on your computer and hear someone's voice in your head, like, those are specific skills. But I think when it comes to storytelling, right, like, you're a storyteller. You're a natural storyteller. It's very.

Brian Lucci (41:56)

I know. Yeah. I could tell a story.

Andrew Gittins (41:57)

Yeah. And that's writing. That is writing. Right. And I also think everyone. All of us are storytellers. We all hear stories all the time. We watch a million shows and. And movies, and we just live in a world where we're constantly telling stories. And so I think the average person coming to anything can have a pretty high level of critique that is helpful. Anybody can come and hear the story or read the script and listen to it and tell me that something's not working in a very useful way or come to it with a specific idea.

Brian Lucci (42:35)

I just found out that one of your first Chicago Met episodes from last season, Trust Fall, won a Norman Lear Award, and it was inspired by some of your own experiences. Will you tell us a little bit about that one?

Andrew Gittins (42:47)

Sure.

Lauren McKenzie (42:47)

Yeah, sure. So with our first born, Gray, I developed preeclampsia while I was in labor, and I had to have an emergency C section. And I was raced in, and Gray came out, and it all seemed fine. And I was in the recovery room, and I was holding, and I just. I wasn't feeling well. But I had never had a baby before, so I didn't know. And at some point, I looked over at Andy, and I said, you have to take him. I'm gonna drop him. And Andy took Gray and alerted the nurse and said, I think there's something really wrong here. And they turned me to the side. They kind of checked to see if, you know, if you're. If you're hemorrhaging. And they didn't see that I was. And then they turned my body, and there was just blood all pooling under my back. I had sort of bled, but they couldn't because the way the blood had fallen. And immediately doctors were coming in and nurses and trying to figure out how to stop the bleeding. And I was raced back into a second emergency surgery to try to save my life, basically. And it was incredibly scary. And now Andy's outside and holding our newborn, and I'm in this surgery that, you know, we're just crossing our fingers that they can. They can figure out how to stop the bleeding. And they did. And it was a very long. It was a very long surgery and had complications after it, but I survived. And because of the incredible medical care I received from my doctor and those nurses. And so when we came in, that was. You know, Andy and I had been hired to write on Chicago Med. And when we came in, you know, everyone starts to tell their personal traumas, I guess, their personal medical traumas. And we were talking about that,

Brian Lucci (44:37)

and

Lauren McKenzie (44:38)

Alan was like, would you be comfortable kind of putting this story on the show? And we said, of course. And so we started to craft this story, and in our story, we, you know, look, I was very lucky in that I survived, but not everyone is so lucky, and especially women of color are at more of a disadvantage in this area and pass away more frequently. And so that was a story we wanted to tell and shine a light on. And so. So that was really the basis for Trust Fall.

Brian Lucci (45:07)

That's a whole podcast. I couldn't even imagine being the husband or being the wife. And this baby just came out.

Andrew Gittins (45:12)

Yeah. I mean, think about my situation, Luch.

Brian Lucci (45:14)

How scary that was for me.

Lauren McKenzie (45:17)

Fuck her. But I'll say. And, like, you know, in putting that episode together, you know, that was a real team effort we had with our writers room and consultants and really trying to get it right. And even with our actors, I mean, there was a lot of pressure on that episode because it's such a sensitive topic and an emotional topic, and we worked really hard, and I'm very proud of that episode. And it was such a thrill to be. To win a Norman Lear award for it.

Brian Lucci (45:47)

And then, yeah, the producers voted on it. You know what I mean?

Lauren McKenzie (45:50)

It's very cool.

Brian Lucci (45:51)

I mean, come on. People recognized how that was a big surprise.

Andrew Gittins (45:54)

I know.

Brian Lucci (45:55)

Extraordinary television. That's what it's for. Like, I looked it up, and I'm like, oh, my God. You know what I mean? What I have learned working on the Wolf World is that people are humble and they don't want to brag about themselves. It goes back to, like, the God made the body perfect. It's hard to kick yourself in the ass, and it's hard to pat yourself on the back. So if you were to give anybody a nice shout out in the whole world or if there was ever a moment where you think one of each other's geniuses deserves to be Honored. Is there anything or any scene from each one of you that you can.

Lauren McKenzie (46:29)

Well, mine. Yeah. Mine would be easy because it's Nick of time. So Dr. Frost's whole backstory about being on this TV show, Nick of Time, you know, originated with Alan, but then the whole real concept of the show came from the writers room. And Andy one day just came into the writers room and said, I've recorded. I know the Nick of Time theme song. I mean, no one had asked him to do this. He just came in, having been inspired, and we was like, nick of Time, let me tell you. And he just started singing to the whole room. I mean, I'll let him take it. But then we basically. He got to.

Andrew Gittins (47:06)

Yeah, that was. I mean, that was. You know, I've had many.

Brian Lucci (47:10)

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Before you get into it, just listen to this real quick. Luch. I just realized what you should ask Andy about. You know, how I wanted Dr. John

Andrew Gittins (47:20)

Frost to be a former child star

Brian Lucci (47:22)

when I came onto Chicago? Well, Andy went crazy with that idea and came up with the show Nick of Time that Frost used to be on. He came up with the time travel premise, he came up with the characters, he wrote scenes, he scripted the entire opening credits sequence shot by shot.

Andrew Gittins (47:38)

And although he'd never written a song in his life, he wrote the music and lyrics for the entire theme song.

Brian Lucci (47:44)

So for all intents and purposes, Andy is the creator of our show within

Andrew Gittins (47:48)

a show, Nick of Time.

Lauren McKenzie (47:52)

Yeah, Alan's so great. He loves to say he's the showrunner of Chicago Med, and then we're the showrunners of Nick of Time, the show within the show.

Andrew Gittins (47:59)

That's right. We. We actually lobbied for. For. You know, we. In episode three of last year, you know, it's revealed that Frost is this child star, and part of that is seeing the opening credits to this song that was. I. I wrote in an abandoned parking garage in Koreatown and sung into my phone and then.

Brian Lucci (48:15)

Music. You wrote the music you wrote?

Andrew Gittins (48:16)

Yeah, I wrote the music and lyrics. Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Brian Lucci (48:19)

Don't make this little.

Andrew Gittins (48:20)

No, no. I mean, I. To be fair. To be fair, I wrote. So I had, like, the whole melody and kind of the song in my head, and I wrote the lyrics and I recorded. I. I have it on my. My phone. The original voice memo that I recorded, but obviously then worked with, you know, a composer who is a professional musician and turned it into what it. What it ended up being, which was wonderful. And. And, you know, we sort of wanted it to feel like that kind of 90s sitcom vibe of you know, the, the step by steps and the, you know, like when, when back when show, you know, real kind of cheesy fun theme songs. And I think, you know, we have written a lot of things that have been very meaningful and great but just from a pure fun standpoint, getting to create that the show within the show and the details of all that and watching, you know, our fantastic crew, I think had a lot of fun. Cause it's very outside of the norms that we do on this show right where we're usually kind of just in the hospital and getting different cord or getting to shoot, you know, these two teen kids with a magic backpack, you know, fighting dinosaurs. I think was real kind of fun, fun thing. So that was. Yeah, I secretly my secret wish, you know, if I had a second life to live would have been to have been a musician and songwriter. And so this I got to like both Lauren and I got to join the songwriters union and we get like, you know, 11 cents I think or something every time, you know, the song plays. So that was like a huge, huge thrill.

Brian Lucci (49:53)

Life can be hard with these plates always spinning? It feels like you're down, never feels like you're winning? You're always a day late, a dollar short? You wonder just how you'll survive? What if the answer was right there before you? What if your troubles could stop on a dime? Do you believe in second chances? Do you believe in the nick of time? So when you don't know which way you're going? Dangers approach from death and behind. Just gather a friend and your magic backpack. And you'll escape in the nick of time. And you'll escape in the nick of time. And you'll escape in the nick of time. Hey guys. I can't tell you how thankful I am that you came on today. We gotta do another one. I mean, there's so many interesting stories. You two are a frickin story. Are you kidding me? Listen, scream Hollywood.

Lauren McKenzie (51:01)

We'll come spill all the tea. We'll come give you all the hot goss anytime you want.

Andrew Gittins (51:05)

Want.

Brian Lucci (51:05)

Luch, thank you so, so much. And I hope people listen. And once they do, they're going to see a fantastic story that you two are the power couple from la. Thank you very much. Talk to you guys later.

Narrator/Advertiser (51:17)

Thanks.

Andrew Gittins (51:17)

Thank you, Luch.

Brian Lucci (51:22)

Let's hear it for the amazing writing partners, Lauren McKenzie and Andrew Gettens. I wish I could spend all day with them, but we'll try. Just have to settle for a little peek inside their beautiful minds. Every week on Chicago Med and make sure you check out all the One Chicago shows. We've got some incredible stuff coming up and as always, we'll take you behind the scenes a little BTS on the One Chicago Podcast. You don't want to miss a thing once Chicago Air starts on Wednesday night at 87 Central on NBC and you could stream it on Peacock The One Chicago Podcast is a production of Wolf Entertainment and USG Audio. The series is hosted by me, Brian Lucci. It's executive produced by Dick Wolf, Elliot Wolf and Steven Michael at Wolf Entertainment, Josh Block at USG Audio and John Yale Kastner at spokmedia. Our showrunner is Derek John, our producer is Maggie Dubrizzi and our audio producer is Jason Mark. Video production by Bo Delmore Coordinating production by Tess Ryan. Our production assistant is Montserrat Rodriguez with engineering and mix by Evan Arnett and original music by John o'. Hara. This series is produced by Spoke Media and distributed by Realm. Production support for USG Audio by Josh Lalongi I'm Brian Luch. Thanks for listening and we'll see you all soon. Cut Monster Energy Everybody knows White Monster Zero Ultra.

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