Having recently wrapped a four-year stint living in Los Angeles, Josh Thomas is still trying to get comfortable in the colorful Melbourne home that he returned to.

The 33-year-old Australian is the creator and star of family dramedy, Everything’s Gonna Be OK–season two premieres April 8 on Freeform and Hulu.

Thomas’ latest effort is the follow-up to Please Like Me.  The gay coming-of-age comedy, a critical darling that aired stateside on since-defunct Pivot, had multiple platforms vying for his second act. And while Disney’s Gen Z cable network may seem like an odd place for his frequently caustic humor and preoccupation with sexuality, Thomas suggests everyone might just be too scared to tell him to tone it down.

What inspired the move home?

Because everything is more under control in Australia right now, I flew back after we finished filming season two. I’m doing postproduction here. Everything is open and there’s no COVID here, but I’m working American hours — so I’m too tired to leave the house. I’m single and I’m gay, so I’m always working around other people’s children.

Everything’s Gonna Be Okay as first fully produced US series. 

Australian executives are a lot more direct. They’ll just be like, “This isn’t good yet.” Americans will give you a lot of compliments. Then you’ll get off of the phone, think about what they said and realize they hated it. It’s like all this praise and then the last two words are “delete it.”

Gay sex at a Disney-owned basic cable network

They like it being gay, and they’re pretty sex positive.  I don’t get a lot of notes about the gay stuff. You don’t want to be on the other end of a Zoom call with me noting intimacy scenes. No one wants to ruin their day like that. I don’t have kids. I have nowhere to be. So I’ll stay on the phone. I’ll send emails. I’ll call around the network. If you want to change a gay sex scene, you’re going to have a bad weekend.

Kayla Cromer has autism. 

We don’t want to tell safe stories. If you’re telling a new story, you don’t know how people are going to react. It’s a constant state of not really knowing. So I don’t give a fuck. People are going to react how they’re going to react.

“straight-wash” a character.

Accusing me of straight-washing is the craziest thing. How queer do you want these shows to be?  That’s such a good example of how you cannot live your life worrying about what people are going to think.

I was already on this panel show [Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation] that’s really popular over here. But that was really wacky stuff. Once, they poured a bucket of sour cream on my grandma’s head. It was my manager who got me to think of a pitch for a scripted sitcom, but I really just didn’t think anyone would let us make it.

Netflix special?

I started when I was 17, and I really loved it. But I had taken six years off before this last tour. In my 20s, I just really wanted people to look at me, but now I’m not really desperate for that kind of attention. I’ll probably never do it again.

Going back to it after so long was so hard. It’s like putting on wet swimwear. There’s something unsettling about it. I really prefer the control I have in TV. Also, I’m just not interested in having to be in a good mood at 8 p.m. every night.