It doesn’t take long for anyone sitting down to watch Leanne Morgan‘s new sitcom, Leanne, to understand why Chuck Lorre and Netflix wanted to give her a show. Co-creator and EP Susan McMartin says that’s the whole point.

Chatting with DECIDER about the newest series in a line of collaborations with Lorre — including major wins like Mom and Two and a Half Men — McMartin shared that her own love affair with the Southern standup comedian began the moment she first sat down to watch her Netflix special, I’m Every Woman.

“I had never heard of her and then I watched her and I did not stop laughing, start to finish,” McMartin explained of her first time watching the funny lady. “Between my sister, myself, my mom, and my 23-year-old daughter, we related to every aspect, you know? And so I jumped in and I was like, ‘Oh, this is going to be great.’”

From there, things took off as McMartin and Lorre set up their first meeting to pitch Leanne their idea for a sitcom. Instantly, McMartin says, she felt that the relatable mom of three could and should be the next star of a semi-autobiographical sitcom. According to the longtime TV producer, it’s hard not to feel drawn to Leanne as she is a magnetic force of nature… and funny, too.

“The way I’ve described Leanne is, she’s like a warm fireplace that you want to sit by all day and just be next to. She’s so the real deal,” McMartin told DECIDER.

She added, “She’s exactly what you expect. So funny, but so smart, paying attention to everything. Nothing is by accident. I fell in love with her.”

Check out DECIDER’s full interview with the Leanne EP and co-creator below.

DECIDER: I have six sisters and this show’s sister dynamic really got to me. When you first started looking at the series and breaking out the sister element, how did you decide what it would look like?

SUSAN MCMARTIN: I love that question because I have a sister too, and we’re very close and we’re very different. And when Chuck [Lorre] asked me to check out Leanne Morgan, [he said, “What do you think? You know, she just came on my radar.” And so I watched her special and was blown away. I was like, “Oh my God, I love her. I relate to her.” And he said, “Well, do you want to do this?” And I said yes. He’s like, “I don’t know what we’re doing.” And I said, “Well, all I know is Kristen Johnston needs to be her sister, we have to create a sister, and it’s Kristen Johnson.” And that kind of was the first decision we actually made, because first we had both worked with Kristen on Mom, so we were huge fans. I could just see these two women who were so opposite, but you totally see they’re sisters.

I love the idea that this sister bond is the one that’s going to help her get through this chapter of her life. My sister and I are extremely close, and we’ve walked through a lot together, and we’re walking through stuff right now with our aging mom who’s in hospice, and we’re changing diapers and bathing her and doing all this stuff. And Leanne and Kristen are going to be doing things like that with Celia. The sister aspect was honestly to me the key that unlocked the show.

I do want to step back really quick. How long ago was this? When did Chuck first come to you about this budding comedian?

I had been working on Bookie and Judi Marmel, who represents Leanne, told Chuck, “I’d love you to check out this woman.” This was about — guess it’s like been a year and a half now — but anyway, he watched it and he had met with Leanne and really loved her. And then he called me. It was like right after the [WGA] strike ended, I think. That’s when he called me and said, “Would you watch her?” I had never heard of her and then I watched her and I did not stop laughing, start to finish. Between my sister, myself, my mom, and my 23-year-old daughter, we related to every aspect, you know? And so I jumped in and I was like, “Oh, this is going to be great.” And we have the best time. And then, you know, working with Leanne and seeing her become an actor before our eyes was amazing.

Do you remember your first interaction with Leanne?

Oh yeah. She came to Los Angeles to meet, to hear our take, to hear Chuck and I give her our official pitch. And I remember her coming, and the way I’ve described Leanne is, she’s like a warm fireplace that you want to sit by all day and just be next to. She’s so the real deal. Like she’s exactly what you expect. So funny, but so smart, paying attention to everything. Nothing is by accident. I fell in love with her. And then when we told her our idea of having the show, the premise of the show be the breakup of her marriage, it really surprised her because I think initially she was anticipating, we’re just going to take your life and put it on a stage on a camera and shoot some cameras at you. And so she loved the idea that we were putting her in peril, and we were giving her a conflict, and we were giving her a journey to have to go on. There are things we draw on, of course, from her life, but it’s a made-up show.

100 percent accurate. She hit me with a “oh, my darlin’” during my interview last week and I just felt that warmth. How did you separate her from the character, though?

There were times when we’d have something in the script and she would say, “I don’t know if I would do that.” And I’m like, “Well, you wouldn’t, but Leanne Murphy would,” you know? We had to kind of find that balance. And she would be like, “Oh yes, you’re right, my real husband did not do this to me.” But I think we drew [inspiration]. Look, she became this huge success because everyone is in love with her. So you also don’t want to move so far away from that that people are like, “Why would you take this incredible talent, this person that we’ve all fallen in love with and, and turn her into something else?” So, you know, it was finding that delicate balance of bringing all of what everyone loves about Leanne, but creating stories that were different from her life.

I do a lot of book adaptations and movies and I’m always like, “Why would I change it so much when an audience has fallen in love with a book?” I don’t need to come in and show off my skills as a writer and turn it into something completely different, and then have an audience go, “But we love this book, why are you working so hard to move away from it?” So we found that delicate balance of making sure we were incorporating everything that everyone loves about Lianne. And when they tune in, they’re going to recognize the person that they love. But give her, you know, her daughter in the show is not like her daughter in real life. You know, her son is not like her son. And really, we gave her other things so that there were enough changes for it to feel. Not autobiographical.

Are we back for Season 2? Would you want to return?

Oh my God, I hope we are, because there are so many stories to tell. And you know, more than anything, it’s like we all found love. [We have] The most amazing crew. I’m not good with goodbyes, so I will say we’ll see you later.

Leanne Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.