Jill Kargman's Odd Mom Out is Bravo's newest scripted series—and damn, it's good. Funny, down-to-earth Kargman (author of Momzillas) says she grew up with "one foot in and one foot out" of the rarified petri dish that is Manhattan's Upper East Side. The show pokes fun at boarding school culture, the tired stories of jet-setting to Capri, and the stay-at-home moms who hire nannies to stay at home with their kids. "I could do, like, 25 seasons of this shit," says the 40-year-old, who also stars as Jill, a version of her real self. Take the first episode, which has SNL alum Abby Elliott—who plays Brooke, Jill's blond, skinny yet very pregnant sister in-law—hosting an ego-boosting fund-raiser called "NACHO," which stands for "New Yorkers Against ChildHood Obesity." "The Y is silent," says Elliott's character. Glamour caught up with creator and star Kargman to talk the writers' room, how age 40 is the new 22, and her love for New York City.
How did you jump from novelist to TV creator and star?
Jill Kargman: I wanted to make a late-night-type show that happened to be in the morning for moms. Bravo was more interested in a blend of my books Momzillas and Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut, which is a collection of nonfiction essays. It's set in the world of this rarefied, Upper East Side petri dish.
I can't imagine how much material you had to comb through…
JK: I get verbal diarrhea in the writers' room. I just tell everyone a million anecdotes and stories and craziness, and we all double up on the floor laughing. It's kind of comedic fish in a barrel. Our showrunners, Julie [Rottenberg] and Elisa [Zuritsky] of Sex and the City, have been best friends since they were nine years old. They have an amazing female relationship, which is really what this show is about. We also ended up with a writer from Girls and someone from Parks and Recreation. We have four female writers, and two males—one straight man and one gay man. I feel like we have everything covered.
This outside look on privileged New York City life is something you've grappled with your whole life, correct?
JK: Yes, I always did my own thing. I'm not an outsider, but I have one foot in and one foot out. But there is nothing mean-spirited about the show. A lot of people ask, "Do you think you're going to piss off your peers?" Not at all. No one is going to look at Abby's character and say, "Oh, I was anorexic when I was pregnant." But they were…I would never put in stuff that is private. My five best friends, who were my bridesmaids in my wedding, are still my best friends. I just use peppering details, like jet-setting to a lobster lunch in Maine [Laughs]. It's really a love letter to New York.
For those of us who don't live on the Upper East Side, what are some of your favorite, unpretentious watering holes?
JK: Donohue's! It was just written up in The New York Times, actually, because this 94-year-old man passed away and left all the waitresses $50,000 dollars in his will. It's insane, and the coolest place. I love it. I go in there, and it's like a time warp into my childhood. I always have loved the Met—to me, it's the mothership. And I love the park. I love walking down Fifth Avenue. You know, I have a very Woody Allen-y vision of New York, where fabulous music, like Gershwin, is playing.
You're drawing so many comparisons to Tina Fey and Lena Dunham in the press. Someone called you the female Larry David of the East Coast.
JK: That makes me so happy!
It's awesome that at age 40, you're making your acting debut! What were you doing at 20? 30?
JK: I graduated from college at 20. I was writing about beauty in Singapore for Vogue, and I traded in a business-class ticket for an "around the world" ticket, where you go in one direction around the circumference of the Earth. Then, I came back and got my first job at Interview. I was basically a Xerox whore, but that gig turned into a lot of freelance pieces. It's like those tiny pieces of [Xerox] paper were stepping stones. At 30, I was married with two kids and had my first novel out. I felt like an established, trashy novelist [Laughs].
Impressive!
JK: I was very, very overwhelmed. Those were what I would call the "Dark Ages." Motherhood was guilt management, and I couldn't afford the help I have now for my three babies. My mom did everything, and I had a babysitter for four hours so I could work. It was really hard. I would cry at Volvo commercials.
I can't imagine.
JK: I had a friend visiting the other day, our kids were running around, and she was like "Don't you ever just want to start over at 22?" I was like "Fuck no, are you kidding?" I wouldn't do anything differently, but it was a shitload of work.
You're pretty hilarious on social media.
JK: Thanks. I'll be honest, I've been forced to embrace it. Sometimes I'll get a nudge to retweet something. It feels somehow bragger-y to retweet something someone says nice about you.
Just the other day you retweeted[1] a comparison of you and Heather Dubrow and Marilyn Manson.
JK: No one told me to do that one. I wanted to do that one.
Catch Odd Mom Out on Bravo tonight at 10 P.M. ET.
Photos: Bravo
References
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