Vijal Patel has worked in the family sitcom genre for many years. Having produced popular family shows like The Middle, Blackish, and The Kids Are Alright, Patel was offered to tell his own story based on his Indian family’s experiences in Pittsburgh. Yet, The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh isn’t your typical family sitcom. 

In the new Prime Video series, the newly immigrated Pradeeps, led by patriarch Mahesh (Naveen Andrews), are introduced from an interrogation room. The reason behind it is a mystery that will keep you guessing throughout the season. 

“I’m very proud of this concept,” says Patel over Zoom to The Nerds of Color. “My favorite shows that I’ve worked on are my favorite shows. I felt so blessed to do it, and when I was given the shot to tell this story, I’m like, ‘I want to do it, but I want to do it in a different way.’”

Patel initially wrote the family aspect first as the story is grounded around an Indian family, consisting of Mahesh, his realist wife Sudha (Sindhu Vee), romantic daughter Bhanu (Sahana Srinivasan), favorite son Kamal (Arjun Sriram) and optimistic son Vinod (Ashwin Sakthivel). He then gave them very white and Christian neighbors: Jimbo (Ethan Suplee), Janice (Megan Hilty), and their daredevil son Stu (Nicholas Hamilton). At first glance, it has all the makings of a typical family trope dealing with the cultural clashes of their ignorant neighbors. But, as the series continues, it dives deeper into the mystery, and the validity of the storyteller also changes. 

Patel understood that everyone in trouble would most likely inaccurately tell a story or exaggerate at times. So, he added that element to the story. 

“I loved every character in the show,” he explains. “I want every character to be able to tell this story. How do we do that? Well, maybe this Rashomon style storytelling where they’re all doing it, I also want them to tell it in a way that’s not always accurate because that’s just funny and real.”

Though the mystery element exists, the series is still a comedy at its core. The family dynamic is universal but also, at times, culturally specific. Almost everyone can relate to a cringe comment from their parents or adult figures. Srinivasan recalls a funny line between daughter and mother, “Bhanu says, ‘We can do whatever we want. They have Megan Thee Stallion here,’ and Sudha says, ‘Well, I’m Sudha Thee Mommy.’ That’s [such a] Classic Brown Mom [thing] to say – combining random words.”

Friendships also play a prominent role in the comedy, especially between the happy-go-lucky Mahesh and the gentle giant Jimbo. Though their wives are displeased with each other, Mahesh and Jimbo can’t help but want to be friends. Even when trading “insults,” it comes off so respectfully. Andrews explains, “They’re like children because they genuinely like each other. It’s never overstated because they don’t have to describe it. It’s just genuine. I’ll use the word gently — attraction.”

Because the series is on a streaming service like Prime Video, Patel was given more freedom to be a little dark with the characters and storyline. The series initially looks like a wholesome story of an immigrant family — which, in some ways, it is. Still, the Pradeeps have to deal with the reality of being one of the only people of color in town and their children becoming more Westernized – and yeah, there’s sex, drugs, and lots of cursing.

“It’s very reflect of the immigrant experience,” says Srinivasan. “It’s a lot darker than we make it seem. [There’s] drugs and sex and whatever. Growing up, my parents thought I was the only Desi person doing those things as a teen or even as a young adult when some of my friends were doing way worse things; you just had no idea. It’s important to have that kind of representation on screen, especially for people like my parents to be like, ‘Oh, okay, so that’s normal. That happens.’”

Even when developing the characters of Mahesh and Sudha, Patel wanted to modernize their ideals and points of view as immigrant parents of today. Vee told Patel that Sudha felt like a modern Indian mom who grew up with the internet and knows YouTube and TikTok. 

“[Sudha] swears in Hindi, and she’s quite upfront about certain things with her spouse and children,” Vee says. “I recognize her. I think a lot of people from the subcontinent will recognize in Sudha who they are today because these people are very Indian in their own way.”

“Modern immigrants aren’t the same immigrants we used to see,” Patel explains. “So we started writing them as an Indian family — a real family. So we were okay with cursing and a little bit of darkness. I’d like to reframe that as reality. It’s not sanitized of anything.”

Drawing from shows like Lost and True Detective, Patel wanted the Pradeeps to be tested and audiences to be surprised at every turn. It’s one of the reasons Andrews wanted to be part of the series. 

“[Andrews] got the script and loved it,” Patel recalls. “[He] loved the character, and [the story] appeals to him as a storyteller. He’s able to be part of the story that takes a fresh way of telling a comedy.”

Andrews, best known for his dramatic work, revelled at the idea of playing a genuinely optimistic person in this Rushamon-format of storytelling. He says, “I’ve never done anything like this before, [comedy], this particular form and discipline. This is the first I’ve done that might be considered loosely as a sitcom. [Mahesh] is relentlessly optimistic; for some reason, he has no rancor or bitterness. It’s almost like a template for how to live or a code of living in a way. Someone who genuinely has strength but is very calm and easy in how he expresses that.”

If the series continues, Patel has more plans for it as a family show grounded in reality and told through a continuous mystery that pulls in more layers. 

“I have a whole many seasons of the show that’s just more unfolding,” Patel reveals. “Because that’s what life is like, right? That’s what a family is like. All of a sudden, there’s this new aspect in your family, or you’re moving to America. There’s all these surprises in your life. I want to keep the storytelling that way, too. The humor and heart are all grounded in reality. It’s just the way we package it, the way we give it, and the way we present it, which is the fun of it. There’s a whole new level of fun that we could laugh with and be like, ‘I can’t wait for the next one.’”

The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh premieres with eight episodes October 17 on Prime Video and Amazon Freevee.