NBCUniversal’s high-profile Joe Exotic drama starring Kate McKinnon is no longer headed for broadcast television.
After announcing that the series based on the Wondery podcast of the same name would air across NBC, USA Network and Peacock, the media company’s new streaming and TV regime has decided that the content of the limited series would be best suited for its streamer.
“Joe Exotic is shaping up to be a bold and provocative drama and perfectly suited for Peacock, where we can push the envelope and truly bring the story to life in a way that we would be unable to do on broadcast television,” said Susan Rovner, chairman of entertainment content at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “Moving Joe Exotic to Peacock exclusively is just one example of the strengths of our new structure, which gives us the ability to let the art dictate the platform and not the other way around.”
Rovner serves alongside Frances Berwick, and together the duo oversee a content group that includes Peacock, NBC and a cable portfolio that includes USA Network, Syfy and Bravo, among others. Berwick announced in August that Joe Exotic would be the first series to air across NBC, Peacock and USA Network as she laid out a strategy, under NBCU Streaming and TV chairman Mark Lazarus, to better expose content to viewers. The decision was made before Rovner joined the company from Warner Bros. TV.
John Cameron Mitchell, who won Tonys for writing and starring in Broadway’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch, will take on the role of Joe “Exotic” Schreibvogel in the scripted limited series. Saturday Night Live Emmy winner McKinnon will star as activist Carole Baskin in the drama from Universal Content Productions and showrunner Etan Frankel.
McKinnon will exec produce alongside Frankel, Wondery’s Hernan Lopez, Marshall Lewy and Aaron Hart. Justin Tipping (Flatbush Misdemeanors, Twenties) will direct the first four episodes, including the pilot.
A premiere date has not yet been determined.
The news comes as Berwick and Rovner are poised to unveil NBC’s fall schedule Friday. The duo have been quick to make their mark, with recent moves including a change in hosts for E!’s red carpet coverage and ditching original talk programming at 1:30 a.m. following the cancellation of Lilly Singh’s show.
Source: THR
Filed under Joe Vs. Carole News
