Hulu Orders Steve Martin & Martin Short Comedy, Renews ‘Dollface’ & ‘Wu-Tang’ & More
Hulu is adding to its original content with a new series from an Oscar- and Emmy-winning actor, along with renewals for two of its freshman series.
“Hulu’s success in Original content is driven by highly curated programming from world class talent,” Craig Erwich, SVP of Originals, Hulu, said. “From the Steve Martin project, second series orders of Ramy and Dollface, to shows like Little Fires Everywhere, our momentum in original content is stronger than ever.”
A Comedy About True Crime
Erwich announced that the streaming service has given a straight-to-series order to a new comedy starring Steve Martin and Martin Short. It comes from This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman, with John Hoffman and Martin as co-creators.
The comedy follows three strangers who share an obsession with true crime, only to suddenly find themselves in the middle of one.
Wu-Tang: An American Saga & Dollface Are Coming Back
Both new series have been renewed for second seasons.
Wu-Tang: An American Saga is based on the Wu-Tang Clan, one of the most influential groups in hip-hop history and chronicles its history and formation as its members try to balance their music career in the drug-induced early 90s.
It stars Ashton Sanders, Shameik Moore, Dave East, Siddiq Saunderson, Marcus Callender, Julian Elijah Martinez, Zolee Griggs, Erika Alexander, TJ Atoms, and Johnell Young.
Dollface‘s first season was the best-performing new binge series for subscriber engagement amongst Hulu Originals in 2019. It follows the broken-hearted Jules (Kat Dennings) after her boyfriend dumps her. In the series, Jules battles her own imagination to literally and metaphorically re-enter the world of women, with friendships she left behind and dating again.
It stars Dennings, Brenda Song, Shay Mitchell, and Esther Povitsky.
2020 Premiere Dates
New comedy The Great debuts on Friday, May 15. It chronicles the genre-bending, anti-historical ride through 18th Century Russia and Catherine the Nothing’s comedic rise to Catherine the Great.
It stars Elle Fanning as Catherine, Nicholas Hoult, Phoebe Fox, Adam Godley, Gwilym Lee, Charity Wakefield, Douglas Hodge, and Sacha Shawan.
Tony McNamara created and wrote the series and serves as executive producer alongside Marian Macgowan, Thruline’s Josh Kesselman and Ron West, Echo Lake’s Brittany Kahan Ward, Doug Mankoff and Andrew Spaulding, Fanning, Mark Winemaker, and Matt Shakman.
Ramy returns for another season, with all 10 episodes dropping on Friday, May 29. The comedy follows first-generation, Egyptian-American Ramy Hassan (Golden Globe winner Ramy Youssef) on a spiritual journey in his politically divided New Jersey neighborhood. In Season 2, he’ll find a new Muslim community and embrace a deeper commitment to his faith. Mahershala Ali will guest star.
The comedy also features Mohammed Amer, Hiam Abbass, Amr Waked, May Calamawy, Dave Merheje, Laith Nakli, and Steve Way.
Youssef created and writes the series. He also serves as executive producer with A24’s Ravi Nandan, co-creators Ari Katcher and Ryan Welch, and Jerrod Carmichael.
The eight-episode Solar Opposites will debut on Friday, May 8. It follows a family of aliens from a better world who must take refuge in middle America and can’t agree on whether Earth is awful or awesome.
It stars voice actors Justin Roiland, Thomas Middleditch, Sean Giambrone, and Mary Mack. Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan co-created the series and serve as executive producers with Josh Bycel.
Hulu Adds to Its Kids Programming
The streaming service will be the home to future slates of DreamWorks Animation feature and library films and brand-new original series. Three coming in 2020 are Madagascar: A Little Wild, TrollsTopia, and The Mighty Ones.
Madagascar: A Little Wild focuses on Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, and Gloria the Hippo. It follows their adventures as kids in their rescue habitat at the Central Park Zoo.
TrollsTopia is based on the Trolls franchise and follows enchanting characters like Poppy from the upcoming movie Trolls World Tour.
The Mighty Ones follows the adventures of the tiny creatures in an unkempt backyard belonging to three unkempt humans they think are gods: a twig, a pebble, a leaf, and a strawberry.