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LOS ANGELES<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cPonies\u201d is a bit of a unicorn. <\/p>\n The Peacock series that stars Emilia Clarke<\/a> and Haley Lu Richardson<\/a> as widows of CIA operatives who become intelligence assets in the 1970s Soviet Union has real stakes, and real blood. But its tone is comic first and foremost. And it has been submitted for the forthcoming Emmy<\/a> nominations as a comedy, despite its hourlong episodes that on television usually mean drama. <\/p>\n The tone-mashing comes naturally to its showrunners, Susanna Fogel and David Iserson, a couple of veterans of film and TV writing. \u201cPonies\u201d \u2014 intelligence-speak for \u201cpersons of no interest\u201d \u2014 is the first show they have worked on that they created. <\/p>\n \u201cWe understand that we\u2019re not a pure comedy and we\u2019re not a pure drama, which is nothing that we wanted, and we were happy with that. But it was always also part of the calculus that when our characters are in peril, we should feel like they could die,\u201d Iserson told The Associated Press in a joint interview with Fogel. \u201cThese characters are experiencing grief. These characters are experiencing peril and also they\u2019re funny people, and that is just the way that we both see the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Fogel puts it a little more succinctly: \u201cFunny people in serious situation is our thing.\u201d <\/p>\n Their two stars have youthful vibes but mature acting skills and they seamlessly handle the show’s swerves. Clarke’s character, Bea, begins as an innocent in a dangerous world the same way her Daenerys Targaryen began on \u201cGame of Thrones.\u201d Richardson’s Twila starts as the same sort of worldly, savvy character she has played on \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d and elsewhere. <\/p>\n Then both go on major arcs. <\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to give these actresses something new that they hadn\u2019t done, but that didn\u2019t feel like they were fighting some essential part of who they were,\u201d Fogel said. <\/p>\n She and Iserson have what she calls \u201can open creative marriage.\u201d <\/p>\n Separately, Fogel was a writer on the 2019 film \u201cBooksmart\u201d and the HBO series \u201cThe Flight Attendant.\u201d Iserson has written for series including \u201cMad Men\u201d and \u201cMr. Robot.\u201d <\/p>\n Together, their work includes the 2018 film \u201cThe Spy Who Dumped Me,\u201d which stars Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon as women thrust into espionage. In retrospect, it feels like a dress rehearsal for \u201cPonies.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat was more on the comedic side of the spectrum for both of us and we were more excited to do something that was more grounded but had the same friendship story to it,\u201d Iserson said. \u201cSo we took the things we loved about that experience and then used some of our other skills to make something that felt a little bit more in the dramedy sphere.\u201d <\/p>\n The show felt grounded enough to some viewers that if you Google it, a question that pops up on search: \u201cIs the TV series Ponies a true story?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think good comedy is like a high-wire act. In a way it feels like a high-risk, high-reward thing to be able to do anything that\u2019s doing that,\u201d Fogel said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure how you can stand out with things that are just 100% serious.\u201d <\/p>\n The half-hour comedy vs. hourlong drama split, which the overwhelming majority of historic TV series follow, really seems to matter where Emmys are concerned. <\/p>\n