Ryan Murphy and the creators of Will & Grace have partnered up to develop a new comedy series for Hulu. A logline has also been revealed, which has sparked some comparisons to an iconic sitcom from the past.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, a pilot has been ordered by Hulu for a new comedy show called Mid-Century Modern. The show comes from Will & Grace co-creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, and the first cast members to be revealed are Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, and Linda Lavin. Murphy is executive producing with Kohan, Mutchnick, Lane, Bomer, and director James Burrows.
The show, described as a “gender-swapped take on The Golden Girls,” will follow “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. As a chosen family, they prove that no matter how hard things get, there’s always someone around to remind you it would be better if you got your neck done.”
Lane is playing Bunny Schneiderman, the wealthy friend who’s “forever in search of love but needs to be convinced he’s worthy of it.” Lavin is playing Bunny’s mother, Sybil, described as “wise and caring but also critical and smothering.” Meanwhile, Bomer will play Jerry Frank, a character who is “pure of heart, hard of body and soft of head.” The other main character — the aforementioned “naked Gen Z housekeeper” — has not yet been cast.
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The pilot marks a reunion of sorts as Bomer had previously served in a recurring role in the Will & Grace revival. He also collaborated with Murphy on The Normal Heart and American Horror Story. The actor may be best known for starring in White Collar, which has a revival series in the works. He’s also known to DC fans for playing Negative Man in Doom Patrol, and he’s also voiced Superman and The Flash in animated movies. More recently, he was featured in the Showtime series Fellow Travelers.
Lane is partnering up with Murphy for Netflix’s upcoming season season of the anthology series Monster, which will focus on the Menendez brothers. He previously starred as F. Lee Bailey in Murphy’s American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson. The actor has also garnered Emmy-nominated guest roles in the previous seasons of Only Murders in the Building.
Lavin played the titular role in the sitcom Alice, which aired in the 1970s and 80s. More recently, she had main roles in the TV shows Sean Saves the World, 9JKL, B Positive, and Yvette Slosch, Agent. She recently appeared in the CBS series Elsbeth.
Mid-Century Modern has not been ordered to series as of this time and has no premiere date set.
