‘SNL’ Star Abby Elliott’s New Show ‘Indebted’ Has This In Common With Her Famous Family
Abby Elliott is the third generation of the Elliott showbiz family. Her grandfather Bob Elliott was a TV legend beginning with Bob & Ray in the ‘50s. Her father, Chris Elliott, starred on TV’s Get a Life and Schitt’s Creek and in movies like Cabin Boy, Groundhog Day and There’s Something About Mary. Abby’s new show Indebted has a family theme too.
Elliott plays Rebecca, whose husband Dave (Adam Pally)’s parents (Fran Drescher and Steven Weber) come to live with them. Hilarity ensues for the audience, embarrassment for Dave and Rebecca. Elliott spoke with Showbiz Cheat Sheet after the Indebted panel for the Television Critics Association and revealed a few Elliott family connections. Indebted airs Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. on NBC.
NBC runs in Abby Elliott’s family
NBC has been a part of the Elliott family for generations. Bob & Ray ran on NBC. Chris Elliott got his start on Late Night with David Letterman before Letterman left for CBS.
“It feels very special,” Elliott said. “To me, it’s what I grew up watching. It’s what my grandfather was on NBC and my dad started on Letterman when he was on NBC with my mom there.”
Indebted is not Elliott’s first NBC job either. She was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2008 – 2012.
“They call SNL the not ready for prime time players,” Elliott said. “To be on prime time is very exciting.
The plot of ‘Indebted’ sort of reflects Abby Elliott’s family
Elliott may have been the third generation of her family to be in show business, but she never had to live with them. She only bunked with distant relatives before she got her own place in California.
“I lived with my aunt and uncle actually when I first moved to L.A. but [my parents] were in Connecticut,” Elliott said. “My dad and my mom like to hibernate and be in their house in Connecticut and be out of the showbiz thing. I was like gung ho full force so I moved out here and went for it.”
‘Indebted’ is a show all families can relate to
You don’t have to be part of a show business family on NBC to enjoy Indebted. That happens to be Elliott’s legacy, but the show is about the comedy that can occur in any family.
“It really dives into all aspects of what the generational gap is,” Elliott said. “It’s the little things too and the frustration of not being able to work Venmo or something small. Something that seemed trivial at the time like lying about Dave’s age to get him into a gifted program, stuff like that that seems like a big deal to our generation but to her is like nothing and learning from each other.”
Abbie Elliott was an NBC kid too
Long before she was an actor on NBC, Elliot watched the classic NBC shows too. And not just the ones her parents and grandfather were on. She grew up on the same NBC comedies that defined the network in the ‘90s.
“Seinfeld, a lot of Seinfeld,” Elliott said. “I’ve seen every episode of Friends. I watched the end of Friends, the last season in real time but I would say Friends and Seinfeld, and Will & Grace.”
