Deli Boys is a hilarious and insightful new series that just wrapped its first season on Hulu. It is about two Pakistani-American brothers whose world collapses when their rich dad dies, and they discover his empire was a cover for a criminal enterprise. The only business left is a deli, which they run and become the Deli Boys – they still get wrapped up in the crime part, and they are clueless, which makes for great comedy. With a classic comedy set-up, you need experience, which the production had with Michelle Nader, veteran comedy writer/producer of shows like Shifting Gears, Dollface, King Of Queens, Spin City, and my personal favorite, 2 Broke Girls. Nader recently caught up with Immersive via Zoom.
[This conversation has been edited for clarity and length]
How did you first get involved in this project?
I’ve always wanted to work with Jenni, and when I heard about this project, they had already shot the pilot. I had read the script by Abdullah (Saeed), and though this is special, this guy’s brilliant. I loved the subject matter—this family, these two guys who realize their dad is a drug kingpin—and it was set in Philly.
I thought I needed to be the showrunner. I met with Jenni (Konner) and Abdullah, and I’m pretty sure we cried in the interview. I was just so passionate about it, and we talked about life, telling stories, and the business, so we were immediately locked in.
Let’s talk about this being a Philly show and the setting being a deli. There aren’t many shows about people working in delis in Philly…
I love Philly; it’s where I’m from. It’s also a place I love to hate because it’s my hometown that I left, but I still have warm nostalgia for it. I grew up in South Philly, in a working-class neighborhood, but nobody I knew worked. They were just criminals. They were scamming, conning, whatever. I wound up dating mobsters.
They all like to tease me because I did a commercial for Gino Steaks when I was a teenager. This was my world that I wanted people to see. There’s stuff about Frank Rizzo, who was a really awful mayor there. Abdullah went to school there. He went to Temple. I went to Penn. Together, we have a lot of richness about living there and loving it, and we also want to show people the underbelly.
Let’s talk about your background. I love 2 Broke Girls. I think that speaks to what I mentioned earlier about having working-class characters on screen.
I’m from a working-class background, and now I live in LA in a different world. I think we all work in and out of all these worlds, and I like seeing that reflected in people’s journeys.
Talk about working with Abdullah. He has such high regard for your work ethic. What was it like showing him the ropes of running a show and nurturing his project to fruition…
I knew he was a genius. I knew that everything we wanted was in the pilot. So we just chased that. I was able to, because of my experience, know how to make those into episodes and hire the right staff with the help of Abdullah, Jenni, and Nora (Silver). Once we were in the room together with the writers, we became one brain. I have to curate all that talent. I think my skill and experience is knowing how to filter this stuff into consumable episodes. You’re only as good as the people around you. We were fortunate with this group.
What were some of the challenges of this series?
The biggest challenge was at the start. It took three years to make the pilot, and after they made it, the showrunner left. Then I came on, and we got the writers. Then there was a writers’ strike. We had been working for about five weeks. When we got back after the strike eight months later, we were able to have some perspective, and I think it made the work better.
Any favorite moments or favorite episodes? Anything that stands out above anything else?
I love everything about the show. The boys are incredible, and Lucky is incredible. But there are some moments, like in episode 3, the confrontation between the Indian family and the Pakistani family, that was amazing. Many shows can’t do that or are bold enough to do those things that not many people will understand, but it’s really satisfying to see onscreen.
You can open people’s eyes. I grew up in Queens in the 1980s, so I was exposed to many different cultures. It is great to see those moments onscreen. What was it like working with the Onyx collective? They were instrumental in making this.
They understood it deeply from the beginning and supported our crazy vision. Even the marketing team understood it. That’s no small feat because they had to communicate these ideas to the public, and they did so beautifully and eloquently.
Marketing people getting it is so important. It cannot be stressed enough because so many times, so many shows, they’re selling you something that they don’t actually have, and people hate that. How gratifying is it to see this out there in the world now?
It was such a long time coming. We wrapped this in April 2024, and now it’s finally out in the world, and I want everyone to see it. Like when you first have a baby, you want everybody to see it, but you’re also really protective. You don’t want anybody to breathe on it. But we have been getting such great reviews and great feedback that I feel like the world is seeing what we saw, and it’s very rewarding.
Deli Boys season one is streaming on Hulu.
