Showtime has announced that Judy Greer (Married) has been cast as a series regular in the upcoming Showtime half-hour comedy, Kidding. Greer joins Golden Globe winner Jim Carrey (True Crimes) in the actor’s first series regular role in more than two decades, as well as alongside Oscar, Emmy, and Golden Globe nominee Catherine Keener (Get Out) and Oscar, Emmy, and Golden Globe nominee Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon). Greer will play Jill, Jeff’s estranged wife who has recently hit a rebellious streak.
In Kidding, Carrey plays Jeff, aka Mr. Pickles, an icon of children’s television, a beacon of kindness and wisdom to America’s impressionable young minds and the parents who grew up with him — who also anchors a multimillion-dollar branding empire. But when this beloved personality’s family — wife, two sons, sister, and father — begins to implode, Jeff finds no fairy tale or fable or puppet will guide him through this crisis, which advances faster than his means to cope. The result: A kind man in a cruel world faces a slow leak of sanity as hilarious as it is heartbreaking.
With a 10-episode first-season order for Kidding, Carrey will executive produce with Oscar winner Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Emmy nominee Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Jim Garavente (Bad Words), Raffi Adlan (The Green Hornet), and Michael Aguilar (I’m Dying Up Here).
Kidding was created by Dave Holstein (Weeds, Raising Hope), who wrote the pilot and will serve as showrunner. Gondry will also direct the project.
