Billy Gardell On What 'Bob Hearts Abishola' Provides To Audiences: 'A Tenderness That Is Missing Right Now'

(CBS)- Bob Hearts Abishola returns with an all-new episode tonight at 8:30PM ET/PT, only on CBS and streaming on CBS All Access.

CBS' Matt Weiss spoke with Bob Hearts Abishola star Billy Gardell about tonight's episode and what audiences have to look forward to.

MW: Billy nice to see you. I know this isn't the first episode of the season but knowing everything that it took to make this season with protocols and quarantines and all that, does it feel any different for you watching these episodes now compared to years past?

BG: Well, I'm really proud. One, I'm proud of the show anyway because it just says a very lovely thing right now and that is that love reaches across everything. I like that, I dig that, I believe that. The idea that we've been able to pull off some quality episodes in the middle of this pandemic and be able to keep 150 people on our stage employed has been really amazing to me.

I have to give a lot of credit to Warner Brothers because they went, and they got a COVID specialist. Nothing is 100% with this thing, but they have done everything they could possibly do to keep us safe and moving forward. There's so many protocols, in the morning you get tested or you can't come on the lot if you don't test negative. Once you know you're negative you can go to the stage. On stage you have to wear a mask. As soon as the scene is over if you're not in the next scene you go outside to your trailer or you go to your dressing room. It keeps people in pods.

There's the actor pod, there's the there's the crew pod, props and then electrician is a pod. We've had a couple cases and knock wood no serious, serious ones. People got sick but didn't have to go to the hospital which was great. The idea of keeping the pods and the contact tracing really works. The science really works because we've had a couple and they were able to isolate those people and then test the other people in their pod and they came back negative, so we were able to continue forward.

Now those people have been able to rejoin us because it's been a month and they're OK. I have to give all the credit to Warner Brothers. They've done everything right, everything carefully, and everything is possible so that we've been able to do this.

MW: Fantastic. It also gives you something to look forward to because once everything goes back to normal, work will seem like a breeze after this.

BG: I keep telling my son that. He's 17, it's his senior year in high school and that's been ripped away from him. I gently remind him that there are other people going through really harsh things right now. That doesn't negate how you're feeling but just try to keep it in perspective and go a day at a time.

I tell him and his buddies when he talks to them online that you can't see it now but when we come through this thing, you're going to be stronger for it. I keep focusing on that, if you can come through this then when you finally go off to college or go out into the world and it's not going to be as daunting as this, I can promise you.

MW: Yeah, everyone is getting a little thicker skin. Moving towards tonight's episode now so also needing some thicker skin are Bob and Abishola as another wrench has been thrown into things. I know you're trying to get married and Abishola's former husband refused to get a divorce, what're we going to see tonight?

BG: That's the beauty of the Chuck Lorre shows. He always says if I don't care about these characters, I'm not watching it. One of the beautiful things about Bob and Abishola is when they finally get together, now they have things they have to overcome together as a team.

The other side of that is when you marry someone you marry their whole family. You have to navigate that. Finding out she was married was what was keeping her from moving further with Bob. Now they got that out, but now you have to deal with her ex-husband. We do that in a very real way because these are conversations when you're going to marry someone else and there's a  child involved you have to be a grown up. You have to be able to have hard talks.

The thing is, I'm not sure if it's just a Nigerian rule or if it's a rule here, I'm not clear on it, but I do understand that if a divorce is not granted you have to stay married. They're trying to figure out an amicable way to get through that. There's nice touches of drama but also a lot of comedy and a lot of heart in there. I'm really proud of the work we're doing right now.

MW: There was also the episode maybe two or three weeks ago when you were working with her son and you're building that relationship as well.

BG: I think it's a tenderness that is missing right now. I think examples of that are way better than preaching. I think our writers do an incredible job with that. Our scripts that we get, there's always a good heartbeat in there. There's always a good tug at the heartstring moments. I think when you have those, the audience laughs a lot harder when the funny stuff comes because they're vested.

MW: Absolutely. Real quick before I let you go here, if you can sum up tonight's episode in three words what would you say?

BG: In three words?

MW: Just three...

BG: Love will win.

MW: Wow that's perfect. It's almost like you knew I was going to ask that. [laughs]

BG: [Laughs] No. That was pretty good.

MW: That was pretty good. Thank you so much, all the best for tonight's episode and moving forward. Stay safe.

BG: Thank you, Matt! Good to talk to you.

Tune in for new episodes of Bob Hearts Abishola on Monday nights at 8:30PM ET/PT, only on CBS and streaming on CBS All Access. Check your local listings for more information.