Judd Apatow Reveals the Amy Poehler & Jason Segel-Starring Pilot That Was Never Seen (VIDEO)
Exclusive
It isn’t every day that viewers have the opportunity to take a class from the greats in directing, stand-up comedy, and more, but that’s exactly what’s offered in MasterClass. The latest lesson comes via TV and movie powerhouse Judd Apatow (Girls, Love, Crashing).
In the exclusive clip below, the director behind comedy film favorites like Trainwreck and Knocked Up discusses projects that didn’t pan out the way he’d hoped — specifically one comedy series pilot.
Apatow reveals he worked on a series for ABC that wasn’t picked up due to its edginess — “they didn’t want to do new, edgy, experimental comedy, they wanted to go back to the days of Happy Days,” he elaborates.
The pilot he talks so fondly of would have been titled North Hollywood about aspiring actors and actresses. North Hollywood was going to star Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation, Saturday Night Live), Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother), Judge Reinhold (Beverly Hills Cops), Adam McKay (Succession), and Kevin Hart (TKO: Total Knock Out). Apatow further laments the project claiming it was one of the best table reads he’s ever had.
At the time, however, those stars of today weren’t as big as they are now, and the less wholesome aspects of the show were ultimately not Disney’s taste. But the director whose found plenty of other success reveals that it’s just part of the business — rejection.
“That’s sometimes what happens. You work on something, you’re very passionate about it, and the people that hired you to do it suddenly go, ‘we don’t want shows like that, we’re comfort food this year.'”
Check out the full clip below, and fans can catch Apatow’s whole lesson via the subscription service MasterClass, which offers a single class for $90 or unlimited access for the year at $180.
Judd Apatow MasterClass, Available now, MasterClass
