Amy Poehler Plays Marriage Counselor: The SNL Alum Stars in a Hilarious New Podcast
The former SNL and Parks and Rec star shared her creative process behind the funny new project.
Amy Poehler says the doctor is in—kind of.
On September 18, the former Saturday Night Live cast member debuted the first episode of her hilarious new scripted podcast, Say More with Dr? Sheila. In the project, which will air weekly episodes through November 16, Poehler portrays a fictionalized marriage counselor who gives absurd advice to couples (also played by comedians) who are looking to repair their relationships.
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The project is produced by Audacy, partnered with Amy Poehler's Paper Kite Productions. It's executive produced by Liz Cackowski, a former SNL writer who also wrote the 2019 Netflix film Wine Country co-starring Poehler and featuring Tina Fey.
Amy Poehler talks about her new podcast, Say More with Dr? Sheila
As Poehler explained to People, the concept was inspired by the array of podcasts she listens to herself. "If you looked at my phone right now, you'd find health and wellness, and therapy and comedy and interviews and how-tos and true crime and all that stuff… so it came out of just a good old-fashioned spirit of ‘can we get together, be creative, improvise with our friends and make something funny?’”
The Parks and Recreation star also talked developing the podcast's format. “This particular world of therapy, especially couples therapy, is a really fun theme for improvising because you have your person in charge, your character, your therapist," Poehler told People.
In this case, it's Dr? with a question mark, Sheila, who is there to give unqualified advice. And then you get to have two performers come on with a problem or a story or ways they can interact. So just the structure of it is so fun.”
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The first three episodes feature some of your favorite comedians from TV, including fellow SNL cast alums Ana Gasteyer and Chris Parnell. Jessica St. Clair, Jason Mantoukas—who had recurring guest star roles on two NBC sitcoms, Parks and Rec and The Good Place—and real-life married actors June Diane Raphael and Paul Scheer have all voiced characters so far.
Poehler told People that she hopes the Dr? Sheila pod will be a breath of fresh air in today's society.
“I feel like there's just so much real-time processing of the world and its heavy events, and there's so much space and room and need for good hard laughs,” she added.
