November 14, 2013 (2013-11-14) – February 10, 2015 (2015-02-10)
Ground Floor is an American sitcom created by Bill Lawrence and Greg Malins, that aired on TBS for two seasons, from November 14, 2013, through February 10, 2015.[1] The series stars Skylar Astin, Briga Heelan, Rory Scovel and John C. McGinley and followed Brody, a successful banker who falls for Jenny, an intelligent maintenance supervisor who works in the same building.
Following earlier reports, the show was cancelled on February 13, 2015,[2] despite positive reviews.
Synopsis
Ground Floor follows Brody (Skylar Astin), a young and successful banker at Remington Trust, who after a one-night stand with Jenny (Briga Heelan) discovers that she works in maintenance for his building. From there, they deal with their growing feelings for each other, much to the annoyance of their co-workers, while trying to find a balance between their vastly different work environments.
TBS ordered a pilot for Ground Floor on February 21, 2013. The series was created by Bill Lawrence and Greg Malins, with Lawrence serving as executive producer alongside Jeff Astrof and Jeff Ingold, and the production companies Warner Bros. Television and Doozer.[4]
Casting began in February 2013, with John C. McGinley cast as Mr. Mansfield, the boss.[5]Skylar Astin and Briga Heelan then joined the cast in the two lead roles, with Astin playing Brody, a Harvard graduate and money manager who falls for Heelan's Jennifer, an intelligent maintenance worker.[6] The next to be cast were Rene Gube and James Earl, with Gube in the role of Threepeat, a money manager, and Earl playing Derrick, a laid-back guy who works with Jennifer on the ground floor.[7]Rory Scovel joined the series as "Harvard", a classic know-it-all who harbors an overt crush on his ground-floor co-worker Jennifer.[8]Alexis Knapp was the final actor cast, appearing in the first season as Tori, a sexy co-worker of Jennifer's who hits the clubs at night and catches up on her sleep at work.[9] Knapp and Astin had previously worked together in the comedy Pitch Perfect.
On May 10, 2013, TBS placed a series order on Ground Floor, which premiered on November 14, 2013.[1][10]
On March 6, 2014, Ground Floor was renewed for a second season, which premiered December 9, 2014 and consisted of ten episodes.[11]
Brody and Jenny, employees who respectively work on the top and ground floor of a skyscraper, meet and begin to see each other, against the advice of their coworkers.
Brody attempts to alter his relationship with Jenny, while she prefers things as they are. Harvard takes Mansfield's chair to use in a race against Derrick.
When Jenny and Mansfield each invite Brody to the same baseball game on his day off, Brody has to make a choice: to sit with Mansfield or his girlfriend. Meanwhile Threepeat jockeys for position with Mansfield, and Harvard ends up out of his element in the wonderland that is the company luxury suite.
Brody and Threepeat are tasked with delivering bad news to clients. Jenny convinces Harvard, Tori, and Derrick to invest their money. John McEnroe guest starred.
When Mansfield's assistant falls ill, Jenny fills in only to end up nursing Mansfield when he falls ill, leaving Brody to handle a big client meeting solo. Meanwhile, Harvard takes over for Jenny and ends up fending off Threepeat and the other execs while issuing new phones.
Jenny plans to go on a trip to Paris without Brody. Brody's attempts to profess his love to Jenny are repeatedly interrupted by others doing the same. Lies catch up with Threepeat as the skills on his application are tested.
Brody and Jenny return from Paris, with both of them dealing with the consequences. Brody meets his replacement, Lindsay, as he tries to get his job back.
Brody tries to impress Mansfeld to get his job back by working on the ground floor. With him now working on the ground floor, Harvard and Derrick notice his work ethic. Jenny learns she went to high school with Lindsay.
When Brody gets his first ground floor paycheck he gets the sticker shock of his life. In an effort to downsize, he gives up his apartment and crashes with Jenny. But when crashing feels a lot like living together, Jenny freaks out. Normally Brody would turn to Mansfield for advice, but his boss has made it clear that this time he is on his own. Harvard and Derrick bet they know how to stretch their modest ground floor pay further than Brody.
When a rival starts poaching Mansfield's top guys, Brody thinks Mansfield will finally give him his job back, but when Mansfield makes it clear things can never be what they were, Brody has to make a big change. At Derrick's urging, Jenny has to 'break-up' with Harvard - who she's never dated - so he'll finally move on and pursue other women, like the clearly interested Lindsay. Meanwhile Threepeat has a hard time accepting the fact that this rival has tried to poach everyone but him.
After one too many problems, Brody begins his new job at Mansfield's rival. However he is upset to learn that his first assignment is to take down Mansfield's company. Jenny and Derrick introduce Harvard to online dating which backfires.
To get Jenny interested in marriage, he takes her multiple times to see Wicked. Threepeat helps Mrs. Mansfield plan their daughter's wedding. Derrick convinces Harvard that he is acting crazy by taking things too fast with Lindsay.
After Mansfield helps pay for Jenny to go to college, she wants to thank him by inviting him to her apartment for dinner. Lindsay and Harvard have a fight as Threepeat is put in charge of being a financial correspondent in Mansfield's place. To stop his nerves, Derrick helps him out.
Heather returns around the time of Brody's birthday and ruins Jenny's gift. Lindsay is put in charge of helping Mansfield and his daughter's wedding so they all go to Las Vegas. Mansfield asks Brody to hold onto his daughter's wedding ring which Jenny later finds in his suitcase.
After Jenny finds Mr. Mansfield's daughter's wedding ring in Brody's luggage, she assumes he was going to propose and freaks out. Meanwhile Lindsay and Harvard spend all their winnings and Threepeat sleeps with Heather.
Ratings
Prior to its second season renewal, the first season averaged 1.8 million viewers in Live + 7 delivery, including 1.1 million adults 18-49 and 575,000 adults 18–34.[31]
