How Michelle Obamas Later Daters Reinvented a Reality Staple: Were Telling Everyones Story

Eagle-eyed fans of the new reality show Later Daters may have noticed a surprising name in the credits: executive producer Michelle Obama. The eight-episode relationship series, which hit Netflix‘s Top 10 list after it premiered on the streamer Nov. 29, follows six Atlanta-area singles between the ages of 56 and 71 as they navigate the modern dating world. The sweet, funny and occasionally racy show from Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground, reflects the Obamas’ interest in making programming that speaks to a wide audience, one interested in topics well outside the world of potentially starchy or partisan political fare. “It’s no secret that people feel like if it’s coming from the Obamas, that it’s going to be a specific thing and that maybe it’s not for them because of who it’s from,” says Ethan Lewis, Higher Ground’s svp of Nonfiction. “But we’re telling everyone’s story. The strategy is to develop a slate that feels broadly accessible for a really wide audience.” That strategy has included scripted projects like the Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali apocalyptic thriller Leave the World Behind, which became Netflix’s No. 5 most popular movie of all time, generating 121 million views in just over three weeks after premiering last December, and the 2023 Will Forte black comedy series Bodkin, which also broke the streamer’s global top 10 list. Higher Ground also produced the Academy Award-nominated documentary Crip Camp and the Emmy Award-winning Our Great National Parks, and it won the 2019 Academy Award for best documentary feature for its first film, American Factory.  In June, Higher Ground extended the multiyear deal it has with Netflix for its film and TV projects, and the company is also now working outside the streamer. This week it set up its first project with another studio, 20th Century, for Merry Ex-Mas, a David Bernstein-scripted comedy about Santa and Mrs. Claus divorcing.  The area of unscripted felt like a place with room for growth at Higher Ground, and one where Michelle Obama had some strong opinions as a viewer, Lewis says. “We talked about the shows that Mrs. Obama liked, and the things that she was drawn to, and a lot of those fell into the love and relationship space,” Lewis says. One show in particular was Netflix’s Love on the Spectrum, in which people on the autism spectrum navigate relationships. “It was this idea that it took this genre that works – a dating show – but shifted the perspective and allowed people to see love through a different light, in a way they hadn’t thought about before.” Later Daters, like ABC’s The Golden Bachelor, brings some of the conventions of a relationship reality show to a demographic that grew up in the pre-dating apps era. But instead of the highly produced format of a competition show, Later Daters takes its drama from its daters’ daily lives. The show’s cast includes dating coach Logan Ury, a Harvard-trained behavioral scientist who gently guides the sometimes rusty daters on how to up their game. (Focus on being interested rather than being interesting is one tip, for instance.) Crucially, Later Daters enlists the Gen Z and Millennial offspring of the daters as their confidantes. They supply heartfelt and often practical knowledge – like understanding the proper use of the eggplant emoji – and provide the occasional, highly expressive reaction shot.  The intergenerational conceit, Lewis says, sprang from experiences he and Jonathan Hausfater, then an executive at Boardwalk Pictures, had talked with their moms about dating. “A lot of us find ourselves giving our parents advice, and there’s a lot of heart and humor in that,” he explains. “We thought it would be great if we could create a show together about people like our parents getting back out there again who are single.” Casting proved tricky. Producers weren’t allowed to reveal to potential participants that they were making the show for the Obamas and Netflix, and they found Baby Boomers less likely to respond to the social media outreach that is often used for reality TV casting. Instead, they ended up visiting country clubs, community centers and churches, and sometimes finding their cast via the children of the daters. Behind the scenes of the show, Michelle was involved from concept to post-production. “She definitely is hands-on,” Lewis says. “She was giving notes on cuts and wanting us to lean into the humor and the comedy. She was passionate and adamant about highlighting the intergenerational aspect.” Now that Later Daters is out in the world, the former first lady has been part of the promotion as well, appearing on The Jennifer Hudson Show on Dec. 17 to talk about how she had always wanted to make something that was “aspirational for folks of our age.” “I have a lot of girlfriends who have lost spouses, who have divorced,” she said. “They’re in new chapters of their lives. And we talk amongst our group about, ‘How do you date?’” Michelle, appearing together with Ury and one of the show’s daters, Anise Mastin, participated in a game of “red flags,” weighing in on dating behaviors. A man talks politics on the first date? “That’s not a red flag,” Michelle says. “I want to know. Let me not waste any time.” Later Daters is a source of some other conversation-starting topics, like views on sex, money and interracial dating. “There’s a bit of surprise and delight coming from the audiences that Michelle Obama is an executive producer of this because maybe people wouldn’t expect her to be producing a dating show,” Lewis says. “And then you get there, you realize, ‘Oh, this show is funny and racy and edgy,’ but also after you’re done watching it, you feel, hopefully, a little bit better about the world.”