Greg Daniels first came up with the idea for his Amazon Upload series while he was a writer on SNL from 1987 to 1990.
“I was actually trying to come up with an outline for SNL, and it was so long ago that people were touting CDs as the next big thing—all your music is digitized,” Daniels, 58, told The Post. “I thought, ‘What else can be digitized, what if we could digitize ourselves?’ It would be a way for humans to create our own form of heaven. And I thought, “Well, if we did it ourselves, we’d ruin everything.” It would be like releasing any other product. And I thought, “This is a really fun idea, but this is more than a sketch, I’ll put it in my pocket.”
Now in its second season (premiering Friday, March 11th on Prime Video), Upload is a sci-fi comedy set in the near future in which people can “download” their consciousness into a virtual afterlife after their of death. There, they can still communicate with living loved ones via phone and video calls, and the perks and luxuries of their afterlife vary depending on how much they pay for it.
The plot follows computer programmer Nathan (Robbie Amell) who, after his untimely death, finds himself in a lavish Lake View afterlife thanks to his rich and insipid girlfriend Ingrid (Allegra Edwards). As he explores his new surroundings and develops feelings for Nora (Andy Allo), his living customer service rep, he also realizes that he has been murdered. Season 2 begins with Nathan and Nora breaking up after a misunderstanding and Ingrid “booting” herself to cling to Nathan forever, much to his dismay.
Nathan (Robbie Amell) and Ingrid (Allegra Edwards) in their virtual afterlife together in Lian Hentscher’s Upload
“I pitched it as a romantic comedy, a satirical sci-fi philosophical murder mystery,” Daniels said. “It was kind of a joke on the field that I was going to try to combine all of these genres. But as a viewer… I thought I would enjoy it. Overall, it’s very romantic and it’s funny, but you’re off balance a little with these weird moments of sci-fi horror scattered around.”
Nora (Andy Allo) and her colleague Alisha (Zaynab Johnson) in Upload. Liana Hencher
Daniels, who is also known for The Simpsons and The Office, said he was inspired by the latter to talk about Nathan and Nora’s relationship in Upload.
“I really enjoyed doing Jim and Pam’s romance for several seasons. [on ‘The Office’], and obstacles are the key. So, when I started thinking, “What could be the biggest obstacle?” the fact that Nathan is dead and doesn’t have a physical body but is just uploaded and living in a cloud hosted by a tech company and Nora is alive and living in Queens… that’s a pretty big hurdle to overcome. And it can have that poignant feeling that you get when you don’t see a way for them to get together.”
Greg Daniels at the “Upload” season 2 premiere. Sipa USA
Despite Loading being a quirky sci-fi comedy, Daniels said he and the writers draw inspiration from the real world.
“Because the show takes place only 15 years from now, we do a lot of research in terms of what inventions will come in the future. We’ll add something that might be a bit of an exaggeration – for example, we had on the show that you don’t eat real food, you eat printed food. We thought it would be funny, futuristic, and a little nasty. And as soon as the show went live, people started sending me news about fake 3D printed steaks that are now real. Every month I get another message that says, “Remember that joke you guys made… They’re doing it now.”
“That’s a pretty weird part. The action takes place in the future, but the future is catching up with the series.”