Bill Hader is Coming to HBO with Barry
A new comedy series from Bill Hader has officially been picked up by HBO.
HBO has been lining up new comedy projects left and right, including finally setting a vague date for Sarah Jessica Parker’s series, Divorce. Now it was one more to add to the list, though it could still be a while before we see it.
In January HBO ordered a pilot for Barry from Bill Hader, a comedy series about a hitman. The pilot has not aired — or even really been shot — though according to Deadline HBO was impressed enough to order the show to series. It probably helps a little that Barry also comes from Alec Berg, an executive producer on Silicon Valley. This is part of an exclusivity deal that Hader signed with HBO.
Barry is only one of many new comedy series headed to HBO, but the inclusion of Bill Hader definitely gives it a leg up. In terms of television, Hader most recently starred in the hilarious Documentary Now with Fred Armesen on IFC.
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Barry will co-star Henry Wrinkler, which is something of a get. The potential team-up of Bill Hader and Henry Wrinkler is a genius, semi-demented idea. The series won’t begin filming until 2017, so it would be wise to not expect it before 2018, though a late 2017 premiere isn’t necessarily out of the question.
Bill Hader is a hitman isn’t the only news that HBO had to share; they also picked up Crashing, a show from Judd Apatow featuring Pete Holmes. Apatow already has a series on Netflix and is a producer on Girls. It would appear that under the new management of Casey Bloys, HBO is doubling down on comedy in the coming years.
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Barry could end up being something special but it’s going to be a while until we find out. At least we’ll have Vice Principals this summer to help tide us over.