HBO Max has ordered 10 episodes of a single-camera dark comedy from Broad City alums Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky, which the trio are also executive producing alongside Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine co-creator Michael Shur!
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The series, which has landed Emmy winner Jean Smart (Watchmen, A Simple Favor) to star, will explore a dark mentorship that forms between a Las Vegas diva (Smart) and an entitled, 25-year-old outcast.
“When this dream team came to us, we jumped at the chance to develop this project, which features two complex female characters working in comedy and facing the professional and personal challenges that come along with it. When Jean Smart came aboard, we were even more delighted to move forward,” Sarah Aubrey, Head of Original Content, HBO Max, said in a statement. “We’re excited to be working with this winning combination of talent and confident the show will fit perfectly into our robust slate of HBO Max Originals.”
“I am so thrilled to be making this show with our incredible partners at HBO Max and Universal TV, and it is a dream to write for the incomparable Jean Smart,” Downs said in a statement. “It is an honor and a privilege to craft and portray complex, female characters. For far too long, male voices dominated the space, both on-and-off screen, and thankfully that has finally changed. I’m sure Lucia and Jen agree, but unfortunately, they only gave us this much room for a quote. Sorry girls!”
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Down was an executive producer, writer and co-star for the acclaimed Comedy Central series Broad City, while his creative and personal partner Aniello was an executive producer, writer and director for the series and is currently an executive producer for the network’s Awkwafina is Nora From Queens and EP and director for Netflix’s The Baby-Sitters Club. The duo also worked together on the 2017 dark ensemble comedy Rough Night, which Downs starred in and Aniello made her feature directorial debut in. Statsky was a co-executive producer and writer on Broad City, as well as Schur’s The Good Place, for which she was nominated for an Emmy.
The series is executive produced by Downs and Aniello via their Paulilu banner, Statsky via First Thought Productions, as well as Emmy winners Schur via Fremulon, David Miner (The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) for 3 Arts Entertainment and Morgan Sackett (Veep).
