It was tough enough saying goodbye to The Fosters back in 2018, but at least then, viewers could follow the further adventures of Callie (Maia Mitchell) and Mariana (Cierra Ramirez). Fans fell in love with them all over again as they played out the next chapter of their lives on spinoff series Good Trouble. Now, after a five-season run, the two sisters, their friends, and adversaries will take a final bow in Good Trouble’s series finale titled “What Now?” airing March 5 on Freeform.
TV Insider chatted with the show’s co-creator/executive producer Joanna Johnson about Good Trouble’s last episode, why it’s ending now, what her plans are for the future (spinoff, maybe?), and what she hopes the legacy of both The Fosters and Good Trouble will be. Plus, as the actress-turned-writer/producer will always be known as Caroline Spencer Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful, we asked about her time on the half-hour CBS soap.
Good Trouble airs on Freeform but is available the next day on Hulu – along with other episodes. Has the show being available on streaming affected how you tell tales?
Joanna Johnson: Not really, because we’re still writing for Freeform, which is a network. We’re still writing commercial breaks and still writing 42-minute episodes. And, yes, we’re on next day on Hulu. What’s wonderful about being on both is that there are so many younger people who don’t watch linear, which is not great for networks, obviously, but they can watch on Hulu. If they end up getting sucked in, we have 188 episodes between The Fosters and Good Trouble. That’s fun. People can binge for weeks. I love that about [streaming]. Personally, I love to binge shows.
Why is the show ending now?
Well, it certainly wasn’t our decision. We wanted to continue to do the show. We thought we were probably going to have a Season 6. With the strikes and everything, the business changed. Some of the [business] models changed. Everybody is cutting back. Unfortunately, we got caught up in that.
How much time did you have between when the decision was made and when you wrote the finale?
We had already shot the Season 5 finale [when we found out we weren’t coming back]. We finished in June. We already had everything done. It was already delivered. We were lucky because Simran Sethi, who is head of Freeform and also over at ABC, is a real fan of the show and so she fought hard for us. We had some savings [in the budget], so I asked her if she would let us use that money to open up the show’s season finale and write some scenes so we could turn it into a series finale. She went to bat for us. I’m really grateful to her and to everyone at ABC and Disney who approved that.
Disney/Mike Taing
We had to wait a little bit on Maia Mitchell’s availability because she was shooting a movie in Europe. We really wanted her to be a part of it. I quickly re-wrote and re-edited some stuff. Just a few weeks ago, we shot for two days. It was really great that everybody could come back together and have those days that we knew were goodbyes and have some sort of series finale. I was so grateful to get that. That doesn’t get to happen often. You don’t always get to wrap things up.
Nothing frustrates viewers of a serialized drama more than not having closure! Can you set up the finale?
People can expect to see a lot of their questions answered. They will see everybody together again, having the last Coterie family dinner as they celebrate their journey together. It’s very emotional. Get your tissues out. We’ve had a 100 percent cry rate from everyone who’s seen it. It’s a lovely, beautiful ending.
How do you find the balance between bringing closure to the show yet leaving viewers with the knowledge that the lives of these characters will be continuing?
We sort of do that during a dinner…people talk about what they’re looking forward to doing next. You get that feeling [there are] good times yet to come. You feel like everybody’s going to move on and they will continue to make great memories.
One of this season’s episodes, “All These Engagements,” was a particular favorite as it had so much going on. So many dynamics were explored – just like they are in real-life big gatherings with family and friends.
That was so much fun. I like writing the parties. We’ve done so many of them on both The Fosters and Good Trouble. I love the comedy. I started in comedy [in prime time with Hope & Faith]. I love people being sort of inappropriate, and I love mistaken identities. Diane’s [Susan Walters] mother Elaine [the late Mary Anne McGarry] was so funny. She talked everyone’s ear off. Everyone knows that person at a party you are trapped talking to and you cannot get away. We enjoy the shenanigans. We do comedic romp episodes. That’s what I love. I do love comedy.
This season, Teri Polo and Sherri Saum reprised their Fosters roles as Stef and Lena. Viewers always love seeing them come on for guest spots.
I never wanted to say goodbye to The Fosters. I love that show as well. I always wanted to bring characters from The Fosters onto Good Trouble. Our moms are so beloved among our fans. They have their own fan base – just the two of them. We always looked for ways to bring them to the Coterie. We wanted them on a few times each season if not more. I love Teri Polo and I love Sherri Saum. They’re so wonderful. They bring an added quality. It was always important to try to find reasons to bring them on.
Good Trouble seamlessly shifts from character-based and fun, big party episodes to stories that are filled with danger, like with Silas (Graham Sibley). Can viewers expect to see Silas’s story be resolved?
We had played [Silas] for over two seasons. It was time to wrap that up. One thing we were allowed to do on Good Trouble and, in some respects, on The Fosters, too, is have different genres within the [same] episode. To me, [the Silas] story was a mystery and a procedural, which I really enjoy. I always like the comedy storylines, too. We had Alice [Sherry Cola] and the three older guys and ‘America’s Favorite Ferrets and Friends.’ We had some political messaging in some ways, too. We would explore all those different tones in one show. That was so much fun as a writer to be able to do that because I like all kinds of genres and when you mix tones up. When I was younger, I saw Terms of Endearment. You think you’re watching a comedy and then, boom! Suddenly, it’s a drama. But the comedy is still there. I don’t think a show has to be one thing.
Could you spin off some Good Trouble characters into a new show – like you did with Callie and Mariana with from The Fosters?
I don’t think so. I’ve certainly been thinking about it for Freeform. But I don’t think at this point [it will happen]. I would love it if someone wanted me to do it. I would do it because I love the characters, but I think it’s time to move onto something new. I’m looking forward to that.
What would you like to do next?
I’m doing some development. I like drama and comedy. I definitely want another television show on the air. That’s my goal – to get another show on the air. I’d love to work with the incredible production team that we’ve had for 10 years [between the two shows], my incredible producing partner Chris Sacani [executive producer, Good Trouble]. I love the costume designer we had…my editorial team…all departments. I have another show in me. I don’t know when that will be. I have a lot of different ideas. I’m out pitching them. I’d love to find a way to work with some of the actors with whom I’ve worked.
© CBS / Courtesy: Everett Collection
Veteran fans of Bold and the Beautiful will always remember you as Caroline, arguably, Ridge’s true love. Do you have any memories of being on the show? A special scene?
I loved my time on Bold and the Beautiful so much. I loved every party scene because we were always together. There were so many laughs. One scene that moved me was when Caroline passed away in Ridge’s arms. Ronn Moss [who played Ridge at that time] was so emotional. We both were. After they said, “Cut,” we just sort of laid there, holding each other, just crying. It was very emotional. He was wonderful to work with. That was definitely a very memorable scene for me.
Both The Fosters and Good Trouble showed viewers that there are different kinds of families, different ways to love. What do you hope is their legacy?
I hope that we have been able to normalize that in some ways – that people have opened their minds and hearts and supported that “love is love,” as they say. Viewers are seeing bisexual characters, and we’ve shown transgender characters. That’s really important. You think you’ve made progress but [then steps backward are taken]…more rights could be taken away. So I think it’s important to have programs where you have people who are thriving, being happy and healthy together so that more people can be accepting.
Good Trouble, 90-Minute Series Finale, Tuesday, March 5, 9:30/8:30c, Freeform
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
