The summer upfronts are in full swing with shows getting picked up left and right. Turner's conference occurred today and its sister network TBS announced a slew of new comedies. They also gave details about the new show with Tracy Morgan and new deals with Conan O'Brien and Super Deluxe.
The first new series is a reboot of The Joker's Wild to be hosted by Snoop Dogg of all people. The 70's and 80's show is being revamped in a half hour format with a focus on comedy. Dogg will host from his "own casino" that will utilize the slot machine from the original series along with mini games (think dice, cards, and problem solving) in the place of trivia questions.
Details for Tracy Morgan's new show were also released. The show -- now titled The Last O.G. -- has cast Cedric the Entertainer, Taylor Mosby, Dante Hoagland, Allen Maldonado and Ryan Gaul. The Last O.G. stars Morgan as a felon who is released after 15 years only to find his beloved Brooklyn neighborhood gentrified. His former girlfriend, played by Tiffany Haddish, is now raising their twins with a new white lover. Jordan Peele and John Carcieri created and are executive producing the series.
The network has also greenlit a show from JG Quintel -- who previously ended Regular Show on TBS's sister network Cartoon Network. The show is called Close Enough, an animated series that takes a look at going from twentysomething to thirtysomething. The main characters, a married couple, tackle everything from parenthood to ham thieves.
TBS is not done with the surreal comedy as it has also picked up a show from The Dress Up Gang. Set in Los Angeles, Donny Divanian and Cory Loykasek are roommates who have a symbiotic relationship. The third member of DUG, Robb Boardman, will appear on the show as well as write and direct. Executive producers include Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim and Dave Kneebone.
Finally having a shot at television, Super Deluxe is set to start a 90 minute block thanks to TBS. The Turner owned digital entity will have several varieties of shows including scripted series and docu-series from diverse people who wouldn't usually get a voice. Much like Adult Swim, these shows will be divided into quarter hours in late night while also being available on multiple platforms. Three shows have already been picked up. Art Thiefs comes from Joseph Carnegie and Ben Jones and is about two friends who try to get into the LA art scene in order to steal said art to buy fast cars and a used hot tub. The second show, Dummies from Cody Heller, is about an aspiring writer and her boyfriend's sex doll. The last show is Poundhole and is a modern take on Soul Train except it takes place in an underground music club.
And last but not least, Conan O'Brien has signed a new four year deal with TBS. That means his late show will be on air -- in some form -- until 2022 making Conan the longest tenured host thus far. On top of that, Conaco LLC and TBS will have a deeper relationship starting with Team Coco's newest ventures into podcasting, gaming, pay TV, live events, and other digital content.
