The Other Two is an American comedy television series created by Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider. The story follows two floundering millennial siblings who must grapple with their 13-year-old brother's overnight fame. The series premiered on Comedy Central on January 24, 2019, and was renewed for a second season on February 11.
Premise
A gay aspiring actor, Cary, and his sister, Brooke, a former professional dancer, try to find their place in the world while wrestling with their feelings about their 13-year-old brother Chase's sudden rise to internet fame.
Cast and characters
Main cast
Heléne Yorke as Brooke Dubek, Cary and Chase's older sister and former professional dancer, who wants to figure out what she wants to do for her future
Drew Tarver as Cary Dubek, Brooke's younger brother, Chase's older brother, and aspiring actor, who struggles to find roles
Case Walker as Chase Dubek / ChaseDreams, Cary and Brooke's younger brother, who is thrust into stardom after an internetviral video
Ken Marino as Streeter Peters, ChaseDreams' newly hired manager
Recurring
Molly Shannon as Pat Dubek, the three siblings' Hollywood-ready mother
A few months prior to being named co-head writers for Saturday Night Lives 42nd season, Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider spent a week in early 2016 developing the premise of The Other Two. They wanted the show to express the introspection and self-doubt that can happen in your 20s while incorporating elements of pop culture. Kelly said they were intentional about including depictions of the characters' sex lives. Speaking to Vulture, Schneider said they intentionally wrote Chase as a kind person because it would subvert expectations of the story. The pilot was sold to Comedy Central in late 2016. Schneider and Kelly hired Charlie Gruet, who was the director of photography of the television series High Maintenance. In October 2017, The Other Two received a full series order. The series was produced through executive producer Lorne Michaels’ entertainment studio, Broadway Video.
Casting
In October 2017, it was announced that Drew Tarver, Heléne Yorke, Case Walker, Ken Marino, and Molly Shannon had joined the cast for the series. Kelly and Schneider discovered Walker through social media, where he was known as a top user on the platform Musical.ly and as having over 400,000 Instagram followers. Tarver was brought in based on his comedic work at Upright Citizens Bridge Theatre, while Yorke was cast after Kelly and Schneider became familiar with her work on High Maintenance. It was announced in February 2020 that Gideon Glick would recur during the second season as Cary's new love interest named Jess.
Reception
The first season of the series holds an approval rating of 94% based on 34 reviews, with an average rating of 8.52 out of 10, on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. The website's critical consensus reads: "With game leads and a wickedly witty sense of humor, The Other Two skewers and celebrates pop culture with equal aplomb." Metacritic assigned the series a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
