It’s not “The Golden Girls,” but get ready for a new, even gayer roommate sitcom.
I can exclusively report that Matt Bomer and Nathan Lane are set to star in “Mid-Century Modern,” a multi-cam series for Hulu executive produced by Ryan Murphy and created by “Will & Grace’s” Max Mutchnick and David Kohan.
Sources reveal that Bomer will take on the ditzy Rose-like character, played by Betty White in the original “Golden Girls,” with Lane taking on the Dorothy (Bea Arthur) of the bunch. Linda Lavin will play Lane’s mother, a la the original Sophia.
The new series will be set in the gay mecca of Palm Springs. James Burrows is directing the pilot. Mutchnick, Kohan, Burrows, Lane and Bomer will also exec produce. 20th Television is the studio.
“The series follows three best friends — gay gentlemen of a certain age – who, after an unexpected death, decide to spend their golden years living together in Palm Springs where the wealthiest one lives with his mother and a naked Gen Z housekeeper,” Hulu says in a release. “‘Mid-Century Modern’ stars Nathan Lane as Bunny Schneiderman, Matt Bomer as Jerry Frank, and Linda Lavin as Sybil Schneiderman, Bunny’s mother. A successful businessman with one foot in retirement, Bunny is forever in search of love, but he first has to be convinced he’s worthy of it. Like her son, Sybil’s strengths are her weaknesses: wise, caring, and iconoclastic – which sometimes means she’s critical, smothering and amoral. Jerry left the Mormon Church and his marriage in his early 20s after his wife informed him and the rest of the congregation that he was a homosexual. Now a latter-day saint in the literal sense of the term, Jerry is pure of heart. He is also hard of body and soft of head. ”
Bomer’s recent credits include “Fellow Travelers” and “Maestro.” He frequently works with Murphy, who directed him to a Golden Globe win for his work in the AIDS drama “The Normal Heart.” Lane, a veteran of television, film and Broadway who has won three Tony Awards, has been getting plenty of screen time on “The Gilded Age” and “Only Murders in the Building.” He became an A24 darling with starring roles in “Beau Is Afraid” and “Dicks: The Musical.” Tony-winning Lavin is best known for her starring turn in the sitcom “Alice” and recently guest-starred on CBS’ “Elsbeth.”
Mutchnick and Koahn created and executive produced the 18-time Emmy Award-winning comedy series “Will & Grace,” which ran for 11 seasons before ending its run on NBC in April 2020.
“The Golden Girls” starred Arthur, White, McClanahan and Getty as four older women living together in Miami. It ran on NBC for seven seasons before ending in 1992. It earned eight Emmys, including two for outstanding comedy series. It has long been a favorite in the LGBTQ community for its gay sensibility. In fact, the original pilot featured a gay male roommate in the house.
