goofball

Miller’s Liz probably gets the shortest stick of all the regular players, but a subplot fleshing out her character’s relationship dynamic with McGinley’s Derek transforms his character from an eternally smiling goofball into something lovelier and more fragile than the background figure barely introduced last year.

“For one thing, the man's a goofball,” she says.

“Yes, she’s brilliant. Yes, she’s smart. Yes, she’s in theory the boss of Alan and Frasier. But she’s also a goofball and a nerd.”

“Yes, she’s in theory the boss of Alan and Frasier. But she’s also a goofball and a nerd,” says series co-creator Chris Harris of Olivia.

“It’s director Colin Trevorrow taught me something called the third rail, which is the rail on a subway system that will shock you. He told me, ‘Goofball is your third rail.