# It's Not Like That (2026)

> Freshly divorced Lori and widowed minister Malcolm test whether their decades-long friendship could become something more while their teenage friends navigate their own lives.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/1105043

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 8
- Episode runtime: 50 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: drama
- Created by: Ian Deitchman, Kristin Rusk Robinson
- Network: Wonder Project
- Cast: Tyner Rushing, J.R. Ramirez, Cary Christopher, Michaela Russell, Caleb Baumann, Scott Foley, Erinn Hayes
- TMDB rating: 8.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34691775/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: warm, sincere, wistful, gentle, hopeful

## Synopsis

It's Not Like That (2026) is a United States scripted family drama series created by Ian Deitchman and Kristin Rusk Robinson for Wonder Project. Freshly divorced Lori (Erinn Hayes) and recently widowed minister Malcolm (Scott Foley) have been friends for years, and the story turns on whether their longstanding bond hints at a romantic future as each tries to build a single life again. Their teenage friends, including Jenny (Tyner Rushing), David (J.R. Ramirez), Justin Jeffries (Cary Christopher), Dakota (Michaela Russell) and Merritt (Caleb Baumann), give the series a second orbit of school pressures, first crushes and household friction that runs alongside the adults' tentative steps. Each episode is built from ordinary scenes of kitchen conversations, church obligations, custody logistics and nights out that let awkwardness and hope grow slowly. The tone is warm, sincere and gently wistful, with moments of humor and tenderness rather than melodrama. Its suburban American setting is contemporary and grounded, and the series is a single eight-episode season of fifty-minute episodes, with a shape closer to a character-driven drama than a plot-heavy thriller. Fans of Parenthood, This Is Us and Divorce will find resonance in its blend of family warmth, adult romantic uncertainty and generational friendship.

## Shows like It's Not Like That

- [About a Boy (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/46029)
- [Single Parents (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/69463)
- [You Me Her (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/58263)
- [Chesapeake Shores (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/59201)
- [My Life with the Walter Boys (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/124002)
- [Ginny & Georgia (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/97853)
- [Tyler Perry's Divorced Sistas (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/197753)
- [The Millers (2013)](https://ember.film/tv/45965)
- [Love Next Door (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/157786)
- [Wildfire (2005)](https://ember.film/tv/2338)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt