Adam Pally, Ego Nwodim on Peacock Series

“The only hypothesis I can really give people about this show is that it’s like what Christopher Gast did when he made Uncut Gems,” says Adam Pally, previewing his new series, Mr. Throwback . The mockumentary has a similar format to Josh and Benny Safdie’s classic modern crime film: a deeply sad, corrupt Jewish businessman takes on life-threatening mafia debts and, in a brazen act of survival, tracks down a basketball star and extracts money from him by bombarding him with white lies.

Only in Mr. Throwback does Pally's character, Danny Grossman, a former basketball player, “Jewish Jordan,” once hit 100 points and 100 blocks. Stephen Curry was his replacement in middle school. But Danny's career ended early when his father and alcoholic coach (Tracy Letts) was caught in an elaborate lie. Two decades and a failed marriage later, a debt-ridden Danny is forced to follow in his father's footsteps, heading to San Francisco to make amends with Steve and, more importantly, raise $90,000 to save his life.

Much like how “Uncut Gems” used the intensity of Kevin Garnett himself to heighten tension, “Mr. Throwback” has a clever take on Curry’s character. Sure, he’s determined to achieve his goals, being a four-time NBA champion and locker room leader, but his cheerful smile and perpetual childishness hint at a uniquely tolerant temperament—one that Paley pushes to the limit.

“The show is built around the two of us. It feels good that way,” says Bali.

The series was born out of Paley and his wife, Daniela Leben, appearing on the hit game show “About Last Night,” created by Stephen and Ayesha Curry. The popular couple's series also featured two of Paley's “Happy Endings” collaborators, David Caspi, creator of the now-canceled hit show, and co-star Casey Wilson.

“The six of us really got along,” Bali says. “We were competing with each other and doing a lot of stuff. Sometimes, you just connect with each other easily. The next day, we got a call from Steven and his amazing production partner at Unanimous Media, Eric Peyton: ‘If you have an idea or something, pitch it to us.’ We said, ‘Just give us five minutes.’”

In the end, it took Paley and Caspi two years, but the duo, along with “Happy End” writers Daniel and Matthew Lippman, have come up with a season of television that takes on a more aggressive tone than the sunny ABC sitcom. David Wain, the director behind such flawless comedies as “Wet Hot American Summer” and “They Came Together,” directs the six episodes of “Mr. Throwback.” The series cultivates a loose, absurdist tone that allows Danny’s deception to balloon to bizarre proportions.

“You never have to really tell the truth,” Bali says of his character. “You just keep doubling down until it’s over, until something else happens, and then it’s gone.” “It reflects what we see from our leaders in many ways,” he adds.

The production also recruited “Saturday Night Live” cast member Ego Nwodim to play Kimberly, Steve and Danny’s childhood friend and now the basketball star’s right-hand woman. But while Kimberly lives and breathes basketball, Nwodim has resigned herself to maintaining her blissful ignorance of the sport while filming the series.

“I’m as dumb about basketball as I was when I started,” she says. “I went to Steph Curry’s shooting practice on our last day of shooting, and watching it made my mind break. What’s even happening? The guy’s dribbling two basketballs. There’s cones in front of him. Somebody’s raising their fingers. … Some people aren’t supposed to be basketball fans. I’m one of those people, unfortunately. But I love watching it. I still don’t know what’s going on.”

At that moment, Nwodim was accompanying Curry to one of his training sessions in preparation for competing in the Paris Olympics. And with “Mr. Throwback” premiering as Team USA enters the semifinals, the comedy series looks set to gain traction with Peacock viewers who have already seen Curry on their TVs over the past two weeks.

But hitting that release window requires a quick production. One of the show’s prominent ads for the song “Hawk Tuah” hints at this timeline—a brand-new viral phrase that would have seemed like complete nonsense just over two months ago. Nodim says her eight weeks of filming began as “SNL” reached its final stretch in May.

“We shot all of Steve’s stuff in a very short amount of time. This was the last thing we shot, because he was training for the Olympics and he had just had a baby. Their little one was born a little early,” says Nodim. (Steve and Ayesha Curry welcomed their fourth child, Caius Chai, on May 11.)

As an executive producer, Bali is very cautious about the production schedule. But he does offer guidance on Unanimous Media’s approach to Curry’s availability: “We approach every year as if the Golden State Warriors are going to win the championship. We set the staff accordingly.” (Last season ended 51 days early.)

As such, Curry’s presence in the series is more limited than that of the other characters. But “Mr. Throwback” is less about basketball than it is about the sycophantic economics that grow around it. As Danny lures his ex-wife Samantha (Aiden Mayer) into his plot, the couple finds themselves willing to abandon their principles in order to remain in the orbit of elite professional sports. Curry brings a humble silliness to his performance: he’s so obsessed with his game and so instinctively philanthropic that he can’t see through the thin lies surrounding him.

“Steve’s character is so ignorant and naive. They live in a different world than Danny,” Nodim says, discussing a scene where Curry’s circle gathers for “Rita’s Placenta” — a (fictional!) pre-game drink made from farm animals. “It’s crazy! But it’s not crazy to them because it’s their life now. Danny’s a wild character, but in those moments you can see him playing the straight man and you’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s really weird.’”

“One of the secrets of life is learning how to live without constantly wanting more,” says Bali. “I mean, I don’t have that. It’s pretty crazy to feel like you’ve accomplished something. Ask someone who flew privately for a year to fly commercial. It’s not easy.” amazing “For them, even if they've been in the back seat of an airplane their whole life before. There's a lot of humor here. Despair is funny.”

For Pally, a die-hard New York Knicks fan and radio junkie, the opportunity to collaborate with Curry was a joy in itself. But he seems most grateful to be working with Caspi again. After “Happy Ending” was abruptly canceled after three seasons, rumours of a revival of the series have persisted for nearly a decade now. In May, Casey Wilson confirmed that they were “trying to make it happen.” Pally is also thinking about the series, launching a podcast, Rewatching the Series with Wilson, this summer.

“I’m not involved in this process. Obviously, I’m going to be where they want me to be. I’d like to do more of that,” says Bali. “All I can say is that there are a lot of institutional hands in this. If you remember, at the end of the show, there were a lot of cards. That means there are a lot of people who need to make money off of this. And that can be tough.”

“I would love to work with David every year until I die, because I love him,” he continues. “I love Casey, I love his family, and I think they love our family. We get along on that level. I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t.”

This collaboration could take the form of a “return to the past.” Despite Curry’s commitment to the NBA, Pally insists that there is a possibility of a return, even given the characters’ descent into outright criminality and the dire consequences.

“Steve has a great sense of humor,” says Bali. “We wouldn’t be here if he didn’t like what we did. We’re really excited to push it forward and see what we can do next. The fact that the viewer can say, ‘Can you do more after all this?’ means we can definitely do more.”

All six episodes of “Mr. Throwback” premiere on Peacock on Thursday.