TCA: ‘Master of None’ Creatives Praise Netflix for Freedom

Related: Complete Coverage of TCA Summer Press Tour

Beverly Hills, Calif. — The Netflix love fest continued Tuesday afternoon at the TCA summer press tour with the executive producers of Master of None.

“One of the great things about being on Netflix, there’s kind of a freedom of both structure and form,” said executive producer Alan Yang.

Yang added that they were able to explore a variety of topics and characters. But Master of None does have an arc across the season, said Yang.

Also on the panel stage were Aziz Ansari, who also stars in the show, and Mike Schur.

The trio all worked together on NBC’s Parks and Recreation and Schur was asked to comment on the differences between Netflix and network TV.

“My experience with Netflix has been nothing but joyful…But I also really enjoy network TV,” said Schur.

The 10-episode series, which debuts on Netflix Nov. 6, centers on Dev, a 30-year-old actor played by Ansari, and for Ansari, Master of None is much more like stand-up than his other roles.

“This is the first thing I’ve done acting-wise that’s felt as personal to me as stand-up,” Ansari said. “On Parks, I played a character named Tom and I worked in the parks department. It’s not related to me and my life. This is really like dumping my head and my heart out onto the show.”

Other highlights from the panel included:

—Ansari’s dad, Shoukath Ansari, appears in three episodes of Master of None. Shoukath also wanted to appear in Parks and Recreation.

—The show did not have a title until Tuesday. Ansari said they shot all of the episodes without one.

—Guest stars include Noah Emmerich, H. Jon Benjamin and Claire Danes.

Master of None is not a relationship show, said Ansari. But it is a show that deals with relationships.

Maria Elena Fernandez contributed to this post.

Jessika Walsten

Jessika is an analyst for TVREV and Fabric Media. She previously served in various roles at Broadcasting + Cable, Multichannel News and NextTV, working with the brands since 2013. A graduate of USC Annenberg, Jessika has edited and reported on a variety of subjects in the media and entertainment space, including profiles on industry leaders and breaking news.