John Mulaney's one-season sitcom was originally supposed to be about sobriety
Mulaney was originally titled Mulaney Don't Drink, John Mulaney reveals in a new interview
As infamously ill-fated as it was, John Mulaney’s one-season sitcom has become a mere blip on the radar of his successful career. He’s much better known as a blockbuster standup comedian than he ever was as the creator and star of Mulaney, but he’s nevertheless frequently asked about that chapter of his life. (Including in that GQ interview referenced in his new special Baby J.) More than a decade later, the comedian finally reveals that the FOX show was supposed to be much more revealing.
“There was another version at NBC called Mulaney Don’t Drink, which was about me getting sober at 23,” he says in a new Hollywood Reporter roundtable discussion. “It was based on the time in my life when I got sober at 23 and had two roommates and was just trying to figure out: What does a good person do? That was an actual part of my life, or a pointless gauntlet I threw down in front of myself.”