"Rutherford Falls" Renewed for Season 2 at Peacock
by Peter White
July 8, 2021


Peacock has handed comedy "Rutherford Falls" a second season. The comedy, which premiered in April, comes from Sierra Teller Ornelas, Ed Helms and Mike Schur.

“We are beyond ecstatic for Season two. I’m probably slightly biased, but Rutherford Falls is made by the best writers, cast, and crew, on earth. Not to mention Ed Helms and Mike Schur, two of the nicest guys in the business. We are very grateful to the folks at Universal Television and Peacock for continuing to champion Indigenous comedies,” said Co-Creator, Executive Producer and Showrunner Sierra Teller Ornelas.

https://deadline.com/2021/07/rutherford-falls-renewed-season-2-peacock-1234788335/

New Season of "Rutherford Falls" is streaming June 16th on Peacock


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Rutherford Falls is even better in Season 2, but it doesn't know what to do with Ed Helms' character (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/rutherford-falls-season-2-tv-review-1235162886/)

"As ever, Rutherford Falls' humor runs more wry than gut-busting, this time with even less emotionally explosive drama to tip it off course," says Angie Han. "And the show hasn’t lost its knack for balancing big-hearted comedy with incisive cultural commentary. One of this season’s sharpest installments sends Terry and Reagan to serve as cultural consultants on a Yellowstone-esque hit called 'Adirondack,' to the former’s excitement and the latter’s skepticism." Meanwhile, there is Helm' Nathan Rutherford character. "The new and improved Nathan makes for a far more likable character than the clueless, self-absorbed son of privilege we met last year," says Han. "But having allowed the character to evolve, Rutherford Falls seems at a loss with what to <i>do with him anymore. His main arc, which involves a rekindling of his relationship with former mayor Deirdre (Dana L. Wilson), looks generic in comparison to arcs unfolding around him, as if it could have been dropped in from any other Mike Schur show about likable nerds. Meanwhile, it pushes him further than ever from the true heart of the series, which still lies with the concerns, both petty and profound, of the town’s Minishonka community."

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Rutherford Falls writers exceed the expectations set by Season 1, treading the same delicate line of packing in jokes and addressing serious issues (https://www.pastemagazine.com/comedy/rutherford-falls-season-2-review/): "The first episode alone kills it as Sally (Julia Jones) and Wayne (Bobby Wilson) go hunting for a white ghost, attempting to trap it with items sacred to white people (a Cheers DVD, white wine, and Malcolm Gladwell books)," says Clare Martin. "Overachieving high schooler Bobbie (Jesse Leigh) gets some of the best lines, just as they did last season ('I can be very persuasive, like when I convinced Sarah G. to go down into that well to fetch my bracelet. I didn’t even lose my bracelet.'). The level of continuity is satisfying, like the fact that Reagan and Nathan still give each other fruit bouquets to commemorate special occasions. And in between these hilarious and touching moments, this season properly explores (rather than simply pays lip service to) bureaucracy, appropriation, corporate wrongdoing (Rutherford Inc. changing its name to Züvis has big Meta vibes), and how single and childless people are often left behind in community planning. It’s an impressive feat, but the writers make it look effortless."
Rutherford Falls star Jana Schmieding helped find new ways of championing indigenous style (https://www.vogue.com/article/rutherford-falls-season-two-indigenous-style): “I made a lot of pairs for background actors or guest stars,” says Schmiedling. “But a lot of Native people would bring their own jewelry [to set]. I was like, ‘God, we’re so f*cking cool.’ We roll deep with our damn beadwork.” But, she adds, sourcing all the new jewelry pieces for the show turned out to be a whole adventure. "First, I made a big spreadsheet of all the designers and beaders that I thought we should purchase work from, making sure we had artists from all regions,” says Schmieding. Then, she cross-checked it with co-creator and showrunner Sierra Teller Ornelas, and the costume department began reaching out directly to the artists.
Schmiedling infuses Reagan's wardrobe with vibrant prints, maxi dresses, beaded accessories and graphic tees from Native designers (https://fashionista.com/2022/06/rutherford-falls-jana-schmieding-costumes-outfits): "Because I'm a Native woman existing in modern times, I already buy from a lot of Native designers," says Schmieding. "That's true in our communities: We want to buy each other's designs, we want to buy each other's fashion. We support each other very actively, and we already exist as an artistic design community."
Ed Helms discusses the similarities between him and Nathan Rutherford (https://collider.com/rutherford-falls-season-2-ed-helms-interview/): "Well, I think that our common ground is that we both mean well, and we stumble a lot," he says. "I think Nathan’s maybe a little bit more clueless than me. At least, I hope he is. But I often feel quite clueless, moving through the world. In that way, Nathan allows me to exorcise those demons and try to figure out how to move through this world, as a flawed human being."
Why Rutherford Falls created the Yellowstone-spoofing show-within-a-show "Adirondack" (https://www.etonline.com/how-rutherford-falls-skewers-yellowstone-with-fake-adirondack-show-within-a-show-exclusive-185814): “During season 1, we did a lot of press and kept getting asked about Native representation. And one of the things we kept echoing was when Native people are at the helm of these Native stories, they’re just better and they’re funnier and they bring more humanity to the Native characters,” says co-creator and showrunner Sierra Teller Ornelas. “And, in our trying to so hard to do our due diligences as storytellers, we were like, ‘How easy must it be to not have to do all these things and to not have to think this way?’” she continues, revealing the idea for "Adirondack" came out of the juxtaposition of that. “We created this fake show where they’re not asking any deep questions and they’re not asking anything to make sure that it is accurate.”
Sierra Teller Ornelas says with Season 2, we felt the confidence to tell stories we really want to tell (https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/rutherford-falls-season-2-sierra-ornelas-teller-native-art-1235296760/): “In Season 1, we felt this real responsibility to make something that was the first of its kind," says the Rutherford Falls co-creator and showrunner. "But with such love that we got from viewers, (by Season 2) we felt the confidence to tell stories we really want to tell. Like, how do Native people do Halloween?” Ornelas wanted to tackle Halloween -- which is called “the Super Bowl of cultural appropriation” in Episode 7 -- because so many people where offensive Native American-inspired costumes.
Ornelas says there's a lot of lightness in Season 2 (https://uproxx.com/tv/sierra-teller-ornelas-rutherford-falls-interview/): "We talked about a lot of heavy stuff and we talk about heavy stuff in season two, but I feel we put in the work of setting this groundwork in season one and that this is the fruits of our labor, getting to watch these actors and these characters interact with each other," says Ornelas. "They’re all carving out their own legacies this season. With COVID and everything, things have been so rough, I think the ability to just sit and laugh and be in on the joke is such a gift in a lot of ways. At least I hope it is. And so that’s what we were chasing this year. 'What do we never get? What are the things you never get to see us do?' We really leaned into romance this year. So there’s a huge rom-com storyline between Jana’s character and Dallas Goldtooth. And then Nathan, Ed Helms’ character, tries to ingratiate himself into it. He finds himself in a little bit of romance and I’m just so proud of both Jana and Ed. I think they’re the actors of my rom-com dreams."