A funny thing happens on the way to wedded bliss in FX’s new comedy “Married.”
In the series (Thursdays at 10 p.m.) Nat Faxon (“Ben & Kate”) and Judy Greer (“Arrested Development”) play a “miserably in love” married couple trying to keep their relationship together while dealing with three kids, debt and the entrapment of surburbia.
The honest depiction of the hard work involved in marriage means there’s almost as much drama as humor in this comedy, a balance that was attractive to star Faxon, who’s struck a similar tone as the screenwriter of movies like “The Descendants” and “The Way, Way Back.”
“The circumstances or situations that we get in may be humorous, but they’re also probably toeing the line of being sad and pathetic, which to me feels honest, because I think life is like that,” he tells The Post.
“You’re not always witty and hilarious and having time of your life. You’re in the s–t, as it were. I think the show does a great job of living in the s–t.”
In the July 17 series premiere, Russ (Faxon) complains to his harried wife Lina (Greer) about their declining sex life, only to have her suggest that he have an affair — an idea endorsed by his friends (played by Brett Gelman and Jenny Slate). But it turns out Russ isn’t a very good philanderer — he buys his would-be mistress a $400 puppy but can’t bring himself to sleep with her.
Creator Andrew Gurland based the series on his experience raising three daughters with his wife, and Faxon, who is married with three kids (ages 6, 4 and 1), said it was easy to draw on his personal life for the role.
“It feels very much like my life,” he says. “It’s everything that you deal with in a marriage in that you’re best friends but you’re also sparring partners, you’re in love but you can’t help but feel like you’re trapped at times. It’s a lot of work.”
But though Faxon brought real-life experience to the show and is an accomplished screenwriter (he won an Oscar for 2011’s “The Descendants,” which co-starred Greer), he chose not to write any episodes of “Married,” preferring to focus on getting his husband character right.
“There was something very relaxing about being just an actor on this show and not having to worry if there were problems,” he says. “Maybe in subsequent seasons, if we ever are blessed to get that far, that conversation certainly will happen again.”