by No kidding!
Showtime doubled down on its investment in the Jim Carrey business — days after renewing his series, I’m Dying Up Here, the network announced it’s picking up a half-hour comedy called Kidding that’ll not only star Carrey but also reunite him with director Michel Gondry.
Gondry, of course, wrote and directed Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
In Kidding, Carrey plays Jeff, aka Mr. Pickles, an icon of children’s television, a beacon of kindness and wisdom to America’s impressionable young minds and the parents who grew up with him – who also anchors a multi-million dollar branding empire. But when this beloved personality’s family – wife, two sons, sister and father – begins to implode, Jeff finds no fairy tale or fable or puppet will guide him through this crisis, which advances faster than his means to cope. The result: a kind man in a cruel world faces a slow leak of sanity as hilarious as it is heartbreaking.
“No one inhabits a character like Jim Carrey, and this role – which is like watching Humpty Dumpty after the fall – is going to leave television audiences wondering how they went so long without him,” said Showtime Networks President David Nevins. “With his Eternal Sunshine partner Michel Gondry on board to direct, we are on our way to a magnetic, volcanic and emotional viewing experience.”
Carrey, who executive produces I’m Dying Up Here, also will EP Kidding with Gondry, Jason Bateman, Jim Garavente, Raffi Adlan and Michael Aguilar. Dave Holstein wrote the pilot and will serve as showrunner.
The 10-episode first season of Kidding will debut in 2018.
