Jana Schmieding

Rutherford Falls,” Peacock TV‘s binge-worthy new show, manages to do something few ever have: bring multi-dimensional indigenous characters into an American sitcom. While Native Americans have historically been portrayed as monolithic in American film and TV, “Rutherford Falls” breaks the mold, taking Native Americans out of the box they're so often forced into. But beyond that, the show's just downright brilliant.

As soon as Jana Schmieding name drops Michael Schur, a co-creator on her new comedy series Rutherford Falls, her cat jumps into the frame of her Zoom call and lands on a black mantle directly behind her. “This is my cat Šázi. Does he get a shoutout in the article? Let’s make him famous,” Schmieding quips.

All autumn leaves and red brick, the town of Rutherford Falls is an idealized but embattled Northeastern backdrop for the new Peacock original comedy series bearing the same name. Also fictional are the Minishonka, the Indigenous nation adjacent to the town. Invented tribal people aside, Rutherford Falls star and staff writer Jana Schmieding still feels the dynamics of her Oregon youth resonating throughout the new show, created by Ed Helms, Sierra Teller Ornelas and Mike Schur.

Costume designer Kirston Mann admits she felt like an outsider when it came to working on Peacock’s “Rutherford Falls.” Although she has countless other television credits, including executive producer Mike Schur’s previous comedies “Parks and Recreation” and “The Good Place,” working with traditional Native materials and designs was new for the veteran crew member.

Native representation in television and film has been historically abysmal. When Native characters do pop up, they are typically one-dimensional, and often embody exhausting tropes, like the “drunken Indian” or the picturesque murder victim. But the Peacock sitcom Rutherford Falls offers audiences something entirely different: multidimensional Native characters who defy stereotypes and embody the contradictions that Native people in the U.S. are often faced with in their daily lives.