‘DTF St. Louis’ Star Richard Jenkins Says He Didn’t Know What ‘DTF’ Meant Until He Read the Show’s Script

By Hope Sloop

DTF St. Louis‘ name may have been a mystery to all of us at home at the start of Episode 1, but for star Richard Jenkins, it was even more of a puzzle than for most.

Sitting down with DECIDER to discuss the new HBO dark comedy, Jenkins — who stars as Homer, a seasoned homicide detective investigating the death of Floyd Smernitch (David Harbour) — explained that when he first got the scripts for the show from writer-director Steven Conrad, he had to learn some internet slang and fast.

“I got all seven episodes and I was — I didn’t know what ‘DTF Saint Louis’ meant until I started reading,” the Step Brothers star explained. “I didn’t, I know I talked to Steve on the phone and he was saying, you know, we do DTF Saint Louis. I’m going, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah.’ [I had] no idea what it was. And so he sent me the script and then I found out, but it was brilliant.”

Those who have been on the internet for a hot second know that “DTF” is slang for “down to fuck,” which is used by people who are hookup hot and heavy. In the context of the show, “DTF St Louis” references the name of a dating app used primarily by married people to find willing participants to engage in physical relationships outside of their marriage.

In DTF St Louis — the show, not the app, that is — that includes Harbour’s character downloading the app at the urging of his friend, Clark (Jason Bateman), who says he should download the app to help spice up his sex life. You see, things have been dull in the bedroom department since Floyd’s wife, Carol (Linda Cardellini), started working as an ump to make extra money, something Floyd says is a total mood killer.

Photo: Tina Rowden/HBO

As for the slang term behind the name of the series and the wacky premise of the show, 78-year-old Jenkins says it’s not exactly the type of verbiage he finds himself using on the daily — or the social settings he finds himself going through — but thankfully, he was able to get up to speed quickly for the purpose of the project.

“The script is brilliant. His writing is brilliant, it’s really great, it’s so smart. I mean, writing exposition is so hard, and foreshadowing, it’s so hard to get information into a movie that an audience needs to know without saying, ‘You know, what day is it today?’ ‘Oh, it’s Tuesday,’ you know? Then there’s a way to get Tuesday in there that you don’t even see it,” Jenkins said of what made him sign onto the show.

Of course, it’s easy for Jenkins to say that it was an immediate yes as he received all seven episodes, while the audience is only receiving one at a time. Don’t worry, though, he promises it will all be worth it by the finale, as the show will take you on an unexpectedly weird and hilarious ride, albeit one that makes you question from time to time what you’re watching.

The first episode of DTF St. Louis is now streaming on HBO Max.

If you’re new to HBO Max, you can sign up for as low as $10.99/month with ads, but an ad-free subscription will cost $18.49/month.

If you want to stream even more and save a few bucks a month while you’re at it, we recommend subscribing to one of the discounted Disney+ Bundles with Hulu and HBO Max. With ads, the bundle costs $19.99/month and without ads, $32.99/month.