TV writer Ashley Skidmore came to Los Angeles to become a director. TV powerhouse Darren Starr had other plans for Ashley and invited her to join the writing staff of the TV series Younger, based on the novel by Pamela Redmond Satran. Younger is built on the premise of a forty-year old, recently-divorced woman battling ageism, pretending to be twenty-six years old to land a menial assistant’s gig at a book publishing house.

The writer confessed that she didn’t even know what a TV writers’ room was at the time. She’s come a long way since then and shared her fulfilling journey with Creative Screenwriting Magazine.

“I was twenty-four years old at the time and was called in to do a punch up of the pilot. Darren [Starr] was looking for young voices to round out the world so it didn’t look like old people writing for young people.” The foundation for Skidmore’s writing career was set. Starr had obtained the rights to the book, the pilot was already written and the show was cast. “He wanted people to bounce ideas off like a mini-writers’ room.” Her writing voice shone as she pitched hip jokes from Twitter, DMs and other sources to bring a relevant voice to the show.

I wanted to bring a modern edge to old school TV writing

Ashley Skidmore

How Long Can The Lie Go?

Younger is currently in its seventh season and the conceit of Liz Miller (Sutton Foster) hiding her real age had a limited lifespan. “The hook of the show can last so long. Liza couldn’t be forever young. At some point, she had to age.” The truth about Liza would be revealed and the show would organically end. Or so they thought. Skidmore initially pitched the show’s ending during season one when Diana Trout (Miriam Shor) discovered Liza’s secret.

Skidmore confessed that they didn’t expect the show to extend beyond a few seasons after they exhausted their jokes about ageism centered around an older woman living in a girl’s world. The secret to prolonging the series was to look beyond the hook and investing in the relationships. “The hook fueled the first few seasons before it gently transitioned into a relationship show.” After several near misses, Liza’s secret was finally revealed in season six.

Younger was no longer a show about ageism. It was Liza’s story and her relationships. This decision was organic because the writers believed it could survive beyond the hook. “We wanted to make a huge centerpiece out of it, but we also agreed that audiences didn’t really believe that Liza stopped aging at twenty-six any more.”

“We created a centerpiece about relationships rather than a plot device.“

The writing team invested substantial story energy in Charles Brooks (Peter Hermann) and Liza’s relationship, that the stakes of the original conceit were no longer as high. “We had grown Charles and Brooks to a point where they were really in love with each other and age was becoming irrelevant.”

As a relationship comedy, Charles and Liza love was only relationship. Skidmore indicated that it may be a secondary one, since Liza’s friendship with Kelsey (Hillary Duff) was more intense. “The biggest stakes for the age reveal was coming out to Kelsey rather than Charles.” It was heartbreaking for Kelsey to find out that her best friend was lying to her for so long. “This was the make or break moment.” Skidmore claimed that these episodes were particularly difficult to write because the centerpiece of the show is the Liza-Kelsey friendship which is in jeopardy.

Charles Brooks (Peter Hermann)

Of course, it was difficult for the writers to know how the audience would react to the great unveiling. Would they take Diana’s or Kelsey’s side?

Ashley Skidmore personally believes that Younger “is a romance between Liza and Kelsey. This is the heartbeat of the show.” This view is reinforced when Liza came out to Kelsey. “Kelsey was heartbroken and the stakes were raised.”

The bond between the two characters is planted in the first season when Liza starts working at Millennium as a naïve and awkward assistant. Kelsey always reassured her from day one, “I’ve got your back girl.” This is the central message of Younger. Even after a huge betrayal, their friendship could survive any attack.

Liza lying about her age was more than comedy fuel. Her character grew uniquely both as a twenty-six year old and as a forty year old during her double life. She also had time to reflect on her first marriage to David (Paul Fitzgerald). “Forty-year old Liza is way more advanced than she ever thought she would be at this age without the experience.”

Younger means so much to Ashley because there are so few current TV shows focusing on the female lead and co-leads’ friendship. “Broad City is the only other modern touchstone I can think of.” Skidmore enjoys the honest feminism of the show by not making it just about women dating and their careers. “It was about their relationships with each other, work and their age in the world, without holding back.”

Relationships aside, Millennial/Empirical Publishing needs a constant stream of new authors and stories to keep the show moving. “We bring in articles or discuss current affairs, but we’re a family, and most of the stories are about us. They’re hilarious personal stories.”

It’s a challenge to flesh out characters like Molly Bernard (Lauren Heller) who are mainly comic relief on the show. Molly made the most absurd comments, so it was tough giving her a dramatic narrative. To that end, Molly moved in with Kelsey and Josh (Nico Tortorella) to give her more of a reason to be on the show than simply being a work buddy. The writers gave her a dramatic storyline of her relationship with her parents and moving out to flesh out her character. However, Molly and Diana were needed as comic relief to lighten the tone of the show following various dramatic breakups. Curiously, Skidmore claims that Molly’s character most closely resembles hers.

Several years in a TV writers’ room has taught Ashley Skidmore a lot about being a successful writer. “You have to be compliant with the tone of the show and morph your voice to fit it. On the other hand, you still need to hang on to your original voice. You can hear a great writer’s voice throughout the show regardless.” She describes her voice as ironic, bold, and outrageous.

Although Ashley Skidmore isn’t getting any younger, she grew up in this writers’ room both as a writer and as an adult. “I’m sure the characters on the show informed my personal journey. I don’t recognize the girl I used to be.“