Rutherford Falls: New Peacock series finds Ed Helms in a wacky small town

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Peacock has debuted a trailer and key art for Rutherford Falls, an upcoming comedy series from co-creators and executive producers of Parks and Recreation and The Good Place.

Set to premiere on Thursday, April 22, Rutherford Falls is a comedy about two lifelong best friends, Nathan Rutherford (Ed Helms) and Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding), who find themselves at a crossroads – quite literally – when their sleepy town gets an unexpected wakeup call.

The series stars Ed Helms (The Office, Tag, The Hangover), Jana Schmieding, Michael Greyeyes (I Know This Much Is True), Jesse Leigh (Heathers), and Dustin Milligan (Schitt's Creek). The original comedy series hails from co-creators and executive producers Michael Schur (Parks and Recreation, The Good Place), Ed Helms, and Sierra Teller Ornelas (Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Superstore). Mike Falbo, David Miner, and Morgan Sackett also serve as executive producers.

Rutherford Falls represents a milestone moment in Native representation in comedy television both in front of and behind the camera. Jana Schmieding (Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux) and Michael Greyeyes (Nêhiyaw from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation) star in the series. There are five Native writers staffed on Rutherford Falls, one of the largest Indigenous writer’s rooms on television. These writers include co-creator and executive producer Sierra Teller Ornelas (Navajo), Bobby Wilson (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota), Tai Leclaire (Kanien’kehá:ka [Mohawk Nation]/Mi’kmaq), Jana Schmieding (Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux), and Tazbah Chavez (Nüümü [Bishop Paiute Tribe], Diné [Navajo], San Carlos Apache).

We still have a long way to go, but it's nice to see film and television making significant strides for representation. Personally, I like experiencing content from different perspectives and can definitely see myself enjoying Rutherford Falls. Plus, with creatives from shows like Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and The Good Place at the helm, who's to say Peacock doesn't have a smash-hit on their hands with this one?