Two of Russo’s books have already been made into movies, but this is the first to be made into a TV series. They said that while “Straight Man” has that element too – set in a depressed railroad town – it can also be seen as a workplace comedy, since everyone involved works at the college. They both are big fans of Russo’s body of work, including his novels that showcase class conflicts in depressed, gritty mill towns, like “Mohawk,” “Nobody’s Fool” and “Empire Falls.”

In a conference call for this story, Zelman and Lieberstein said they had been interested in developing Russo’s book “for a long time,” because of its characters and because of the way it blends hilarious, over-the-top situations with somber and darker human conflicts. Lieberstein was a writer on the NBC comedy “The Office” and played the put-upon human resources manager Toby as well. Zelman’s writing credits include “The Killing” on AMC, “Damages” on FX and “Law & Order” on NBC. He’s said that, since he sold the rights, the story is now in other writers’ hands, and he doesn’t want to take the “spotlight” away from them.īoth Zelman and Lieberstein are used to the spotlight, having worked on major TV shows in the past. Russo, who lives in Portland, is not giving interviews about the show. The show also stars Mireille Enos as Hank’s wife and Suzanne Cryer, Diedrich Bader and Cedric Yarbrough as fellow teachers.

The straight man richard russo