Call Me Kat will say goodbye to late actor Leslie Jordan on Thursday, January 5 at 9:30 p.m. on Fox with a tribute episode that will address his absence following its holiday hiatus, according to Entertainment Weekly. The main goal of this episode was to figure out how to honor Jordan as a friend while honoring the grieving process, Mayim Bialik tells Entertainment Weekly. “He knew he was incredible. He knew he was beloved. He was a fabulous, fabulous person. And the ability to both celebrate him and honor him in a way that we hope is respectful was really our goal,” Bialik tells Entertainment Weekly. 

Bialik (The Big Bang Theory, Beaches) plays Kat, a 39-year-old woman who decides to use the money her parents had been saving for her wedding to open a cat-themed cafe. Jordan (Will & Grace, The Help) played Phil, the head baker and the “show’s funny bone” via Deadline. Jordan made his final appearance on the show in the the eighth episode of the third season titled “Call Me Fancy Puffenstuff,” which aired in December, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

They broke the mold when they made Leslie Jordan. He was a dear mentor and a beloved friend. I will miss him so much – it’s unimaginable that he’s gone. Rest well, sweet buddy. pic.twitter.com/c9kN0vkxyM

— Mayim Bialik (@missmayim) October 24, 2022

According to Bialik, because Jordan was a “beloved personality” it was too difficult to plan a funeral episode, so the solution was to find a way that his character would live on forever, via Entertainment Weekly. “His character will live forever, and he can have whatever adventures we all imagine. And because we break the fourth wall anyway, we were able to use that convention to say simply, we gave this character a happy ending.”

Jordan passed away in a car crash at the age of 67 on October 24, 2022. “We’re still grieving. Grief is a full process, and I think there’s a level of authenticity that we feel we want to have as actors. And I’m grateful that Warner Brothers and Fox were able to let us have that. We’re humans and we lost our friend,”  Bialik tells Entertainment Weekly. 

In addition to Bialik and Jordan, Call Me Kat stars Swoosie Kurtz (Liar Liar, Cruel Intentions), Kyla Pratt (The Proud Family, Recovery Road), Cheyenne Jackson (American Horror Story, 30 Rock), Julian Gant (Real Steel, The Angry Birds Movie), and Christopher Rivas (Calm Your Curls, 2 Broke Girls).