Creator Dan Fogelman said the pitch for his new NBC series, This Is Us, was that it is “a dramedy version of Lost.†“When we sold the show, we had a whole plan,†Fogelman said of the series, which stars Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore, and features interwoven stories of an extended family at different times of their lives. “You have to understand how everything’s connected and how to explore these people. They’re interconnected; I mean Milo and Mandy’s story line jumps around a lot, and you see there’s different looks we play with. The only way I can describe it is I sometimes think that I have a great-great grandfather out there somewhere whom I’ve never met, nor do I know his name, but in his own way, he’s affecting my own life.â€
The trailer for the series has been received well, and not just because of the strategic placement of Ventimiglia’s naked butt. “We’re showing his ass in every episode,†joked Fogelman.