Steve Carell has been responsible for some of the funniest characters on the big and small screen this century. Brick Tamland in Anchorman, Michael Scott in The Office, Gru in Despicable Me, Mark R. Naird in Space Force (hey, he's good even if the show isn't!) — the list goes on. Now, per THR's reporting, Carell is set to add another notch to his funnyman belt with a starring role in a new HBO comedy from Ted Lasso co-creator Bill Lawrence and Scrubs' Matt Tarses.
The victor of a multi-platform bidding war, HBO have ordered the as-yet-untitled show straight-to-series, with a 10-episode first season in development. Lawrence and Tarses, who are currently hard at work on Apple TV's upcoming Vince Vaughn comedy series Bad Monkey, are set to write the first episode of this show, a single-camera comedy set on a college campus that centres around the complicated relationship between an author (presumably Carell) and his daughter.
In a statement accompanying the HBO comedy's announcement, a confident Lawrence said: "HBO has long been a standard bearer of quality TV. Getting to do a show there with Steve Carell is an immediate career highlight for Matt (Tarses) and me. Nothing can go wrong now.” And clearly Warner Bros. TV Group chair Channing Dungey agrees. "We’re so excited to be collaborating with the dream team of Steve Carell, Bill Lawrence, and Matt Tarses on what is sure to be a brilliant new series,” Dungey said. "Collectively, they have been at the center of some of the most iconic and successful shows in television history. With thanks to our partners at HBO, we look forward to bringing them together to deliver the next great comedy.”
With no release date set yet for this new half-hour show, we'll next be seeing — or, more accurately, hearing — Steve Carell, who just reunited with Office co-star John Krasinski for family adventure IF, in this summer's Despicable Me 4. As for Lawrence, there's been no stopping since Ted Lasso ended last year. Following a successful first season for his and Brett Goldstein's Harrison Ford-starring cathartic comedy Shrinking, a second season is already in production. And before that, Bad Monkey hits Apple TV+ this August. Now that's our kind of lollapalooza, folks!