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NBC Sitcom 'Newlyweds' Fires Its Showrunner Three Weeks Before Premiere
Gail Lerner, who co-created the Téa Leoni–Tim Daly comedy with Jamie Lee Curtis, says she was let go over "creative differences" just as the show's Oct. 23 launch campaign kicks into gear.
NBC's next big swing at must-see multi-cam comedy is off to a rocky start. Gail Lerner, the writer-producer who co-created the network's upcoming sitcom "Newlyweds" with Jamie Lee Curtis, announced Friday that she has been fired as the show's showrunner — just over two weeks before its Oct. 23 premiere.
Lerner broke the news herself, posting on Instagram that she'd been told the split came down to "creative differences." According to Deadline, which first reported the firing, Lerner wrote: "I'm so sad to be separated from the most joyous TV experience of my life. The cast, crew, and writers are unparalleled."
"The first six episodes were made under my leadership, and I wouldn't change a thing." — Gail Lerner, in her Instagram statement
"Newlyweds" stars Téa Leoni and her real-life husband Tim Daly as a late-in-life couple — a free spirit and a buttoned-up professor — who marry on a whim, with Curtis featured as a recurring presence and executive producer. Lerner wrote the pilot and executive-produced alongside Curtis, Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum, Scott Schwartz and Lionsgate Television, with Leoni also producing and Universal Television serving as studio, Variety confirmed in its own report on the shakeup.
Per Deadline, the series is currently filming Episode 8 of its 13-episode order and is about to go on a pre-planned production hiatus — time that NBC and Universal Television are expected to use to install a new showrunner before cameras roll again.
A Pandemic-Era Passion Project
The show has a long road behind it. Lerner has said Curtis first brought her the idea during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the project sat dormant for years before NBC revived it in November 2025. At the network's August fall-preview event, Lerner credited the network for "reinvesting in multi-cam and bringing back must-see TV" — remarks that read differently in light of Friday's news.
Neither NBC nor Universal Television has issued a public statement on the firing or named Lerner's replacement. Lerner, for her part, struck an upbeat tone despite the exit, urging fans to tune in: "I predict this show's gonna be a barn burner," she wrote.
"Newlyweds" is still set to premiere Oct. 23 on NBC.