Aziz Ansari Comedy Series A Go At Netflix
In his followup to Parks & Recreation, actor-comedian Aziz Ansari is toplining a comedy series for Netflix. Ansari co-created the show, which has a 10-episode straight-to-series order, with Parks & Rec co-executive producer Alan Yang. The two executive produce with fellow Parks & Rec alums, co-creator/executive producer Michael Schur and exec producer David Miner, as well as Dave Becky. Parks & Rec studio Universal TV, where Schur and Yang are under overall deals, is producing with 3 Arts.
Co-starring alongside Ansari in the series, currently filming in New York, are fellow comedians H. Jon Benjamin, Lena Waithe (Dear White People) and Eric Wareheim, half of the comedy duo Tim & Eric, as well as Saturday Night Live alumna No?l Wells and Kelvin Yu. The guest cast includes Homeland star Claire Danes. James Ponsoldt (Spectacular Now) is directing. Details about the premise are being kept under wraps though I hear the project features semi-autobiographical elements and deals with dating and relationships.
Ansari is coming off seven seasons on Parks & Rec where he was the very first actor cast when the project was still in its nascent stages and was known as a spinoff from The Office. He is already a staple on Netflix with two original specials, Buried Alive and Live At Madison Square Garden, and his previous standup specials also are available on the streaming service.
There has been a flurry of greenlight activity on the comedy front at Netflix over the past few weeks, with a David Cross & Bob Odenkirk sketch comedy series, a Full House offshoot and the Aziz Ansari show getting a formal go-ahead.
Ansari is repped by WME and 3 Arts. Schur, co-creator/executive producer of Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine, is with UTA and 3 Arts. Yang is with WME. Ponsoldt is with UTA, Brillstein, and Frankfurt Kurnit.
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