Marc Buckland: Last News

Unstable, the Netflix comedy starring Rob Lowe and his son John Owen Lowe, is heading back into production for its second season with a new showrunner.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic The conversation about “nepo babies” has grown tiresome — and not just because “nepo baby” itself is such an unattractive turn of phrase. (Was “nepotism case” too hard to pronounce, somehow?) The general outrage over the idea that children of famous actors find themselves drawn to acting, ginned up by an artfully provocative recent cover story in New York magazine, has tended to elide the simple fact that said children often find themselves acting because they share talents with their parents, who are famous for good reason. So it is with John Owen Lowe, who seems like a slightly altered carbon copy of his father Rob (of “The West Wing” and “Parks and Recreation,” among others), with the smarm ironed out. Together, they’re headlining “Unstable,” a new Netflix comedy that’s infuriatingly better than it needed to be. Lowes père and fils share executive producer credits with Victor Fresco and Marc Buckland, two creatives with long comedy résumés. And what might have been expected to look like a Lowe family vanity project — Rob Lowe has built a sort of performed vanity into his public persona, after all — has ended up as a sharply written comedy with some genuinely great lines.

Even geniuses need help sometimes.

Netflix has released a first look teaser for Unstable, starring Rob and John Owen Lowe, and announced a March 30 release date for the father-son comedy.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterRob Lowe and John Owen Lowe’s Netflix comedy series “Unstable” has added six new cast members, Variety has learned.Sian Clifford, Rachel Marsh, Emma Ferreira and Aaron Branch have all joined the show as series regulars, while Fred Armisen, Tom Allen and JT Parr will appear in recurring guest star roles.“Unstable” was picked up to series at Netflix in April, with the Lowes having created the series along with Victor Fresco. The show follows an introverted son (John Owen Lowe) who goes to work for his very successful, wildly eccentric father (Rob Lowe) in order to save him and his successful biotech company from disaster.