Generations collide in new NBC sitcom 'Crowded'

Many parents are familiar with empty nest syndrome. But what if the nest suddenly fills back up again?

Getting a preview showing Tuesday, March 15 - before its official premiere Sunday, March 20 - the NBC sitcom "Crowded" casts Emmy winner Carrie Preston ("The Good Wife") and Patrick Warburton ("Rules of Engagement") as spouses ready to reclaim their life as a couple on their own. That's thwarted when both of their daughters (played by "iCarly" alum Miranda Cosgrove and Mia Serafino) move back in, along with the decision by the husband's parents (Stacy Keach and Carlease Burke) not to relocate, all keeping family ties tighter than expected.

Created by "Hot in Cleveland" mentor Suzanne Martin, "Crowded" boasts a notable lineup of executive producers - including television-comedy icon James Burrows ("Will & Grace," "Cheers"), recently saluted in an NBC special on the occasion of directing his 1000th sitcom episode, which was a "Crowded" story. Sean Hayes, the Glen Ellyn native who played Jack for Burrows on "Will & Grace," and his longtime professional partner Todd Milliner also are on the new show's production team.

"I think 31 percent of millennials are living at home right now," Martin says, "and the most interesting fact about that for me is that 80 percent of them are fine with it. They are happy to be home. They like their parents. This is somewhat based on my own experience where we were so sad when our girls left, and then so happy about a month after and were having so much fun.

"Then, after college, they both moved back in again. It just seems like everyone is doing that. They'd come back, and they think you are going to be happy that they are back and hang out with them and have fun. It's not just the economy; I think the root cause, which we try to get into in the show a bit, is that this is the first generation where we really made our kids our friends. The whole time we were doing it, everyone was saying, 'Don't do that. You are not supposed to do that.' But we did it anyway."

Cosgrove knows about the experience from the other side. Now in her early 20s, she notes, "I do have my own place, but I live with my parents 99 percent of the time. I only go to my house if I get in an argument with my parents, and I threaten them, 'I'll go to my house.' But, other than that, I really love it there. I just love my parents, and it's nice to get to be around them. I even have my childhood room at the home that they live in, and it's just nice to get to be able to have that."

Also seen on "True Blood" during its run, Preston has gotten particular notice (and her Emmy) for playing scattered but effective lawyer Elsbeth Tascioni on CBS' soon-to-end "The Good Wife." She reports "Crowded" is "fun for me because I'm a theater girl. I got my training doing theater, and then, I started doing all of the single-camera work. And I haven't been in front of an audience in a while, so for me to get back to that is really exciting, just to have that interaction with the audience."