So Help Me Todd Creator Unpacks Series Finale Cliffhanger, Shares Plans for Cancelled Season 3 (and Beyond)

TVLINE | We have to start with that cliffhanger. Folding! Was the plan to introduce him as the show’s new Big Bad, so to speak? What sort of a presence would he have had in Season 3? Were you already dream casting him in your head?
Yes, Folding was our new Big Bad. He’s been pulling all the strings, and setting Margaret up for disaster (like Song, Barrett and Yamaguchi before her). He would have been a large part of Season 3. Marcia Gay Harden suggested we try to get her friend Joe Pantoliano for the part – and we were never able to imagine anyone else in the role. Folding was a real Howard Hughes type character, with those beat up shoes and uneven pant legs. Every season of the show was meant to end with a man arriving to complicate things. In season 1, it was Harry. In season 2, it was Folding. And so on, and so on — until the final season (Season 7) when the show ended with a very important woman arriving.

TVLINE | Ending a finale on a cliffhanger is always a gamble. Is there any part of you that regrets doing it, or are you glad you stuck to your original plan?
It didn’t seem like a gamble when we started Season 2. And by the time we got the cancellation news, the episode was long finished. There was no going back. We had pitched out the whole arc at the beginning of the season, including the cliffhanger, and at that time we had every reason and assurance to believe we’d someday get a Season 3. One of my favorite CBS execs told me “Yes, do the cliffhanger. You’ve earned it. Embrace the soap.” Alas. That exec was also heartbroken by the cancellation. We’re all disappointed. Season 2 was meant to be our Empire Strikes Back season – when we left things on a very perilous note – for everyone. And then Season 3 was going to be our Return of the Jedi when we discover that our heroes had forged a solid plan in secret. Do I regret the cliffhanger? No. Guest star Lisa Rinna taught me to never regret anything. I’ll “own it” instead.

TVLINE | Would the next season presumably pick up immediately where this left off, or did you foresee some sort of time jump?
The first episode of Season 3 began exactly one week later, then circled back at the end to show us what happened right after Folding got off that elevator. It involved hand sanitizer.

TVLINE | Todd and Judy were really developing into a nice couple, with lots of chemistry. What did you see for the future of their relationship?
Wasn’t Heather Morris marvelous? A true delight! So many plans for Todd and Judy. Judy Maxon was, in part, an homage to Barbra Streisand’s character Judy Maxwell in “What’s Up Doc?” And if you watch that movie you’ll see that Barbra’s father is a Judge. And yes — the crooked Judge Brixton from episode 209 was Judy’s dad. They were estranged. But the fact that Todd basically put him in jail was going to complicate things for him and Judy. They’d work it out, and they’d be together, very happy, extremely happy and in love and in cahoots, for three more seasons. And then — kersplitzo. She’d move to Thailand (too much of a free spirit to stay in any one place) and Todd would marry someone else.

TVLINE | I would never describe Allison as “happy,” but she seemed especially adrift this season. Was she ever going to get her life together? And take us into her head during that last shot of her reading the mystery solving book: Was she considering joining the family business full-time?
The cancellation is probably most unfair to Allison. Our Season 2 headline for her character was “Saturn Returns.” She’d been the “Perfect Princess Doctor Daughter” for all of Season 1, and we wanted her to completely fall apart and hit rock bottom in Season 2. That book was the turning point – it would become her bible – and it would lead her out of her terrible year and on to the life she was meant to lead. She’d take some P.I. classes – which would cause a lot of friction when she second-guessed and one-upped her brother while unravelling cases. And eventually she’d become a Forensic Pathologist and Medical Examiner – and have a spinoff medical mystery series entitled Allison, ME (like Quincy, M.E. without the periods). And, Allison was going to become Susan’s sister-in-law by marrying Peter’s brother Seymour (mentioned in episode 113 ‚ he got bit by a shark. Seymour and Allison would meet at a funeral, under very tragic circumstances). But, to be clear, a relationship would not have solved the mystery of Allison’s life. She would have saved herself, built her life the way she (not her mother or anyone else) wanted it, and become happy on her own terms.

By the way, in a perfect world, Allison, ME would air on Wednesdays at 9 pm, right after Lyle, P.I. at 8:30 (a single-camera comedy about Lyle and his wife Ariel, the FBI agent, who is always besting him. They live with his mother Jacqueline, series regular Jenifer Lewis).

TVLINE | Congratulations to Susan on her promotion. Did that come with any big plans for her in a potential third season? And were you ever considering exploring her lingering feelings for Todd (or vice versa), or was the book firmly closed on their relationship?
Susan didn’t take the promotion. She took the job offer (on the phone). Susan would leave and go to work at another firm — with Gus. And Francey would have been her assistant there (before going to law school herself). Susan’s career would have taken off and she would have become a powerhouse attorney in Portland – after facing a huge tragedy exactly like the one that kicked off Margaret’s legal career. And when Folding finally succeeded in framing Margaret for his crimes – it would have been Susan, of course, who came to the rescue. Their friendship restored and mentorship healed, Susan would represent Margaret in court and clear her name (with some unexpected help from Veronica). And then, right around the time that Judy left for Thailand, Susan would come back to Lovejoy Tower as new part-owner of the law firm.

TVLINE | Beverly felt somewhat less antagonistic towards the end there, as more about Folding was revealed. Might there have been a future where she and Margaret became… friends?
Not just friends, allies. They had a common enemy. Beverly made a deal with the devil when she went into business with Folding years ago. And all along she had been looking for a partner who would be strong enough to help her take him down. She thought that person was Margaret. But just in case – she was grooming Susan in the wings. We had so many great stories planned for Beverly Crest – her turn towards an alliance with Margaret, and some very big reveals. Leslie Silva is a brilliant actress. And we were going to meet Beverly’s wife Cecily Crest, a chatterbox who would say way too much and jeopardize a big case. We wanted Amy Sedaris for that part.

TVLINE | And how about Margaret and Gus? Would the events of the finale have had any impact on their relationship?
Margaret broke the rules, talked to Harry, won her case and saved her firm. So, Gus would have trust issues, and they would have hit some big bumps (including his ex-wife and evil daughters). It was always going to be bumpy for Gus and Margo. But, their law firms would merge – they would be working together – and they just wouldn’t be able to resist each other. Gus would propose marriage – and although Margaret was fiercely determined to never marry again (Oswald and Harry were enough) – one day she would relent – and propose marriage herself. And Gus and Margaret’s wedding would have been officiated by the new Governor of Oregon, her son Lawrence.

TVLINE | Looking back on these two seasons, what are some of your proudest accomplishments?
The three siblings sitting around the fire talking about who was Mom’s favorite in episode 107. Matthew, Skylar and Maddie knocked that scene out of the park and added a whole new dimension to the show. We were turning more towards the characters and their relationships. And then the layered hug at the end. When we were editing that episode I thought “Well, if nothing else comes from this show, at least we did that.” And the second season premiere – Marcia and Skylar ascend to the heights of screwball comedy glory. That episode is so tight, so quick, so fast paced. Marcia does a gesture with her right hand when she’s going off to talk to Lyle – it’s Rosalind Russell come down from heaven. Skylar raises his eyebrows at “blackmail” like David Addison himself. The two of them rat-a-tat-tat through the dialogue and deliver on every promise of what the show could be. It’s funny, it’s emotional, it’s soapy. I’m proud of the entire show. My real Mom simply wanted me to have health insurance, and I made a whole series about our relationship. Mission accomplished.

(BTW: my real family is relieved that – for the moment – I won’t be writing about them.)

TVLINE | Do you have any message you’d like to leave for the die-hard fans who stuck with the show from the beginning?
We are as disappointed as you are, but the tidal wave of love and support has been wonderful and unexpected – and it is so very appreciated. Thousands (and thousands!) of people reached out to tell us that they watch with their whole family, that they saw their relationships with their own mothers and siblings reflected on our show. We are so very happy to hear that. “So Help Me Todd” was always, at heart, a family show – all about the Wrights. And had we made it to our intended finish at the end of Season 7, the family would have grown by one more. Allison would have delivered Todd and Susan’s baby in a stuck elevator at Crest, Yang & Jones. And then Todd would have introduced Margaret (now a newly appointed – by Lawrence – Judge to the Oregon State Supreme Court) to her third grandchild. And Todd, overwhelmed by the full-circle moment of new parenthood, would have said to his Mom: “I get it now. All those times you were mad at me, criticizing me, judging my choices – you were really just worried about me. You wanted me to be OK, to be safe, to be happy.” And Margaret would smile, her work finally done. Todd had become a parent and at long last would be ready to fly out of the nest. And as he put his own child into his Mother’s hands for the first time, Todd would have said the final 4 words of the series: “Her name is Margaret.”