“When I wrote the show, it was mainly because I had missed these kind of shows on TV,” explained Wild Cards executive producer Michael Konyves during a TCA press conference for the new series, which premiered last month on The CW. A new episode airs tonight at 8/7c, with past episodes available to stream on demand and through The CW app. The mismatched buddy cop dynamic pairs a down-on-his-luck detective with a con artist, forcing them to work together to solve crimes. “I missed Moonlighting, I missed Castle. They just seemed to disappear. There was no lack of procedurals, but all the procedurals went very dark, all the big broadcasts.”
(Chris Frawley/The CW)
Wild Cards instantly sets itself apart from other buddy cop procedurals by virtue of Detective Ellis’ police pet. “We got the actor who was best for the role,” joked Giacomo Gianniotti, who stars as Cole Ellis. One of his frequent scene partners is Jonesy, a Devon Rex cat who plays Marc, a cat that belonged to Ellis’ dead brother. “It's tough sometimes to tell a cat exactly what to do and where to go. It was a really good lesson in just being more present and being more malleable because I couldn't just rely on him to do it exactly. I had to shift my performance to what he was doing. And if he was supposed to be here, but he was here, or he jumped up on my lap, well, then now that's what we're doing and now I'm petting you or whatever. I worked it into what I was doing.”
Giacomo Gianniotti is a familiar face for fans of Grey’s Anatomy, and Vanessa Morgan will be recognizable to fans of Riverdale. “Both characters are tough female characters,” Vanessa Morgan compared her new role as con artist Vanessa Morgan to Tony from Riverdale. “I feel like Tony will always be a part of me, playing her for six years. But Max is a bit more fun because there's so much more depth to her character. I have a father. I didn't have parents on Riverdale. There's a whole backstory that we're slowly starting to see. For me, it's so beautiful to be able to dive into something that has so much more depth and is so fun as a character. I feel like people, if they love Tony, would become so much more attached to the likeability of Max.”
Speaking of Max’s father, he’s played by 90210 hunk Jason Priestley, who is a recurring guest star. “We've been sort of slow-rolling the back story out to the audience as the season goes on,” Priestly explained. “What we've discovered so far is that George is in prison because of a con that he and Max were running together that went sideways. And Max is determined to get her father out of prison. George has never met a con man that I didn't like. George is super well-connected in prison, has access to a lot of things that other prisoners don't because he is just such a charming, affable character. And I think as the season goes on, we're gonna get to see more of George, which I think people will find quite compelling.”
“We got unbelievably lucky with [Giacamo and Vanessa],” Michael Conyves concluded. “They just work magically together. Part of it is, I think, because they're both genuinely really great people to work with. They're really lovely, kind, respectful people. We worked like crazy on this show to get it done. It was incredibly hard to do on our schedule, and never a moody day, never a bad word from either of them. That chemistry really comes across on the screen in terms of the two of them really blending. And then, you bring Jason into the mix, completing this family, and it just felt perfect. We really wanted to create that kind of world where it's fun TV that you have no problem telling anyone, ‘Watch the show. Give it an episode, give it a chance,’ because it's enjoyable. And the main thing we always told everyone is we're making something here to evoke the sense of joy. I want you to watch it for an hour and just feel joyful throughout.”
You can feel the joy of Wild Cards with a new episode tonight at 8/7c.