Talk about learning on the fly.

“New Amsterdam” creator David Schulner found out his NBC hospital drama had earned a rare three-season renewal only after a cross-country flight from New York to LA.

“NBC kept it pretty close to the vest,” says Schulner. “The night before the renewal, I got a call from [Universal Television president] Pearlena Igbokwe, telling me the show was going to be renewed for Season 3 and it was possible NBC would also make a multi-year renewal.

“I was traveling back to LA so I didn’t get the announcement [about the three-season renewal] until I landed, which was a wonderful surprise,” he says. “My initial reaction was just complete bliss. I’m thrilled for the crew and the writers and the actors. The security and peace of mind it affords everyone on a purely practical and personal level is … really important to everyone’s mental health.”


“New Amsterdam,” set in the titular progressive Manhattan hospital, is in its second season on NBC. The three-year renewal will take the series — starring Ryan Eggold, Anupam Kher, Freema Agyeman, Janet Montgomery, Tyler Labine and Jocko Sims — through the 2022-23 TV season.


Schulner says one of the main reasons for NBC’s vote of confidence is how the series performs via delayed viewing, measured in Live+3, Live+7 and Live+35. “Those ratings put us in a completely different stratosphere than our overnight ratings,” he says. “Our international sales [‘New Amsterdam’ is dubbed for overseas markets] are huge and, ultimately and most importantly, we’re an optimistic, positive show that really does address social issues going on today. This kind of show — from ‘ER’ to ‘The West Wing’ — has been NBC’s brand for 30 years and we’re trying to continue that.”

Schulner says there are no “New Amsterdam” spinoff plans, at present — but then adds a caveat. “Right now we only have joke titles for spinoffs,” he says. “But just because we’re not talking about spinoffs now doesn’t mean that, in some secret compartment in the back of our heads, the wheels aren’t spinning.”


Anupam Kher as Dr. Vijay Kapoor, Ryan Eggold as Dr. Max Goodwin in “New Amsterdam.”Virginia Sherwood/NBC
Meanwhile, Eggold, who plays New Amsterdam’s kindly medical director, Dr. Max Goodwin, makes his episodic television directing debut in Tuesday night’s episode, “Sabbath,” airing at 10 p.m.

“For a while now I’ve wanted to make my way into writing and directing. I think that will be my next mountain to climb,” says Eggold, who’s directed several short films and one feature film. Moving behind the camera for the episode — while also appearing in several scenes as Max — was, Eggold says, both tricky and comfortable.

“Both are true, in the sense that you’re sort of conditioned to being a co-star with the cast so it’s not your place to give notes about adjustments or be critical of anyone’s performance as an actor,” he says. “When you’re directing, suddenly your role is to be cognizant of [the actors’] performances — not necessarily to be critical, but to give adjustments, like ‘You can use a little more of this’ or ‘Less of that,’ so it’s kind of a funny transition.

“At the same time, I’m so close to all the cast members [and] they gave me a lot of trust and faith,” he says. “They understand their characters better than anyone. It’s simply [the director’s] job to be outside of that, to maybe say, ‘You know what? That works better if you go a little this way’ or ‘Why not try this?’ The goal is always to be helpful — and never get in the way or control anyone’s performance. That can be a hindrance.

“The director’s first job is to be supportive of everyone else around you and flow within that giant ensemble working together, not to dictate or control or tell people what to do — but to flow with everybody to help it all come together.”

Ref;nypost.com