‘Ordinary Joe’ Season 1 Preview: Plot, Photos, Cast and Air Date

NBC’s new fall series Ordinary Joe, starring James Wolk as the titular character, will premiere on Monday, September 20, 2021 at 10pm ET/PT. The one-hour drama follows Joe’s life as played out in three separate stories. In one story Joe’s decision of what to pursue after college leads him to follow in his family’s footsteps into law enforcement. Another story finds Joe becoming a nurse, while the third story shows Joe’s chosen to embrace his love of music.

Writer/director Matt Reeves, who’s currently hard at work on finishing up The Batman with Robert Pattinson, wrote a script for Ordinary Joe back in 2007. Reeves never moved forward on the project because he was kept busy with Cloverfield instead, and a decade-plus later Russel Friend and Garrett Lerner learned about the script from 20th Television. Friend and Lerner spoke with Reeves, learned of his very personal connection to the story, and then finessed the series into something that incorporated important aspects of their own lives.

Reeves remains involved with Ordinary Joe as an executive producer alongside writers Friend and Lerner. Adam Kassan, Rafi Crohn, and Howard Klein are also involved as executive producers.

In addition to James Wolk (Tell Me a Story, Watchmen), the season one cast includes Charlie Barnett (You) as Eric Payne, Elizabeth Lail (Gossip Girl) as Jenny Banks, and Natalie Martinez (The Fugitive) as Amy Kindelan.

The Plot, Courtesy of NBC:

Life is all about the choices you make – and sometimes what you do in a single moment can change everything. This new heartfelt, life-affirming drama follows Joe Kimbreau, who faces one of these decisions at his college graduation. The three parallel stories that diverge from that night find Joe and the people around him with different careers, relationships and family lives, showing the unexpected ways that things change – and stay the same. But when it comes down to it, there is no “right” choice; no matter what happens, Joe’s life is always messy, exciting, tough, unpredictable … and beautiful.

“Way Leads to Way” Episode One – After his college graduation, Joe Kimbreau is faced with a pivotal decision that steers his life down three drastically different paths.

Ordinary Joe Season 1 Episode 1
Elizabeth Lail as Jenny Banks and James Wolk as Joe Kimbreau ‘Ordinary Joe’ season 1 episode 1 (Photo by: Parrish Lewis/NBC)
Ordinary Joe Season 1 Episode 1
James Wolk as Joe Kimbreau in season 1 episode 1 (Photo by: Parrish Lewis/NBC)
Ordinary Joe Season 1 Episode 1
Natalie Martinez as Amy Kindelán and Adam Rodriguez as Bobby Diaz in season 1 episode 1 (Photo by: Parrish Lewis/NBC)
Ordinary Joe Season 1 Episode 1
Elizabeth Lail as Jenny Banks, John Gluck as Christopher, James Wolk as Joe Kimbreau, and Natalie Martinez as Amy Kindelán in episode 1 (Photo by: Parrish Lewis/NBC)
Ordinary Joe Season 1 Episode 1
James Wolk as Joe Kimbreau and Adam Rodriguez as Bobby Diaz in season 1 episode 1 (Photo by: Sandy Morris/NBC)
Ordinary Joe Season 1 Episode 1
Natalie Martinez as Amy Kindelán and James Wolk as Joe Kimbreau in season 1 episode 1 (Photo by: Parrish Lewis/NBC)
Ordinary Joe Season 1 Episode 1
James Wolk as Joe Kimbreau in season 1 episode 1 (Photo by: Parrish Lewis/NBC)
Ordinary Joe Season 1 Episode 1
James Wolk as Joe Kimbreau and Natalie Martinez as Amy Kindelán in episode 1 (Photo by: Parrish Lewis/NBC)