Tina Fey says the COVID-era talent show scene in Season 2 of Netflix’s “The Four Seasons” was inspired by a real Zoom gathering with her “Saturday Night Live” circle and their children—complete with the inclusion of Alan Alda for a cameo.
By the time the “Little Thanksgiving” episode rolls around in Season 2 of Netflix’s “The Four Seasons. ” Nick and Anne’s world has been shrunk down to something manageable—careful. pandemic-era social distancing and all. In that controlled universe, a talent show becomes the thing everyone can rally around.
Tina Fey, who co-created the series with Tracey Wigfield and Lang Fisher, says the idea didn’t come out of thin air. It was borrowed from a real moment in her own life during lockdown, when she and a group of friends leaned on Zoom to keep their families connected.
In the flashback episode titled “Little Thanksgiving,” Nick (Steve Carell) and Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver) host friends for a small celebration. The guests include couples Kate (Fey) and Jack (Will Forte), plus Danny (Colman Domingo) and Claude (Marco Calvani). It’s a gathering designed for a pandemic world where people are practicing social distancing.
Season 2 also has to solve a problem that started in Season 1: Nick is dead—he perished in a fatal car accident. Fey says the writers wanted a way to bring Steve Carell’s character back because “we all felt so bad about killing Steve.”
The talent show itself becomes one of the episode’s biggest emotional and comic engines. and Fey traced its roots to a Zoom talent show she organized early in COVID. “Pretty early on in COVID. we decided to have a talent show over Zoom with all the kids. ” she said. explaining that Rachel Dratch. Ana Gasteyer. Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph were all in attendance with their children.
Fey described what the kids were doing on that call—skills that sound. in her retelling. like they could’ve come straight out of a sitcom. “All those kids who are now, like, young adults, they were doing card tricks and Michael Jackson imitations,” she said. She added that her daughter was teaching herself contortionism “off YouTube,” calling the whole thing “a really crazy talent show.”.
The episode also folds in the way grandparents watched from afar, mirroring what Fey envisioned for the show’s family dynamic. And it’s in that remote, online setting that Fey says she thought Alan Alda could join.
Alda plays Anne’s dad Don on “The Four Seasons.” He is 90 years old, and he wrote, starred in and directed the 1981 feature that inspired Fey’s Netflix series. Fey said she thought Alda might be able to attend virtually, in the same manner.
Alda’s real-life health has shaped how audiences understand him beyond the comedy. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2015. In the first season of the series, Alda appeared as a guest at Nick and Anne’s disastrous vow renewal. Don emphasized the importance of communication in marriage for Kate and Danny. and he relayed his excitement about his wife surprising him with “a sex day.”.
Season 2 gives Don a technology moment of his own during the talent show. He marvels at the “amazing” technology connecting him with his family, while Nick is convinced he’ll win—though Don punctures the confidence with a playful warning: “Cool your jets, big guy.”
When it comes time for the performances, Nick does win the trophy. His talent is an Irish step dance in which he hides his legs behind a curtain. He beats Jack’s singing. Anne’s dancing. and Kate and Danny’s performance of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” Don. meanwhile. critiques “Much Ado About Nothing” as a “boring play they did in college. ” apparently unaware that people can hear his thoughts.
That remote setup—built on the mechanics of technology. distance. and presence through a screen—turns into something more when Alda ultimately appears on set. Fey said the cameo became another standout moment from Season 2. “We’re so grateful that [Alda] was able to come back and just do a little cameo. ” she said. speaking alongside Forte.
Forte responded that Alda “scores [with his delivery,” and Fey added, “That is one of my favorite jokes.” She closed with a personal note about what it meant to work with him again: “Thank you, Alan, for continuing to show up for us. He’s just the loveliest man in the world.”
What Fey describes as a Zoom talent show with the “Saturday Night Live” community becomes. in “The Four Seasons. ” a scripted answer to a real-world problem—how to keep families and friends connected while everything else is restricted. And the episode doesn’t just use technology as a plot device. It treats presence. even from a distance. like something worth staging—then rewards that idea with the reality of Alan Alda showing up in person.
Tina Fey The Four Seasons Netflix Alan Alda Steve Carell Kerri Kenney-Silver Will Forte Colman Domingo Marco Calvani COVID-19 talent show Zoom SNL Parkinson's disease Little Thanksgiving