pickles

The origins of the Seth Rogen-starring comedy, An American Pickle, trace back to 2013 when writer Simon Rich asked himself one crucial question: How would he fare in a bare knuckle brawl against his great-grandfather? A humorous, exaggerated query, to be sure, but Rich’s amusing hypothetical arose from examining ideas of family, generations, and progress—or the seeming lack thereof. Modern life had become quite comfortable for Rich, a successful novelist, short story crafter, and TV writer (Miracle Workers, Man Seeking Woman). How would his ancestors, whose lives were anything but, feel about that? “I’ve always been interested in my ancestors’…