Small brewery sitcom coming to Fox?
[5/20 Update: Fox canned this show a couple weeks ago (before it became a series).]
(Los Angeles, CA) – In 1983, Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas starred in a comedy film called Strange Brew, focused around the fictitious Elsinore Brewery in Canada. 27 years later, Fox Broadcasting Co. has lined up a pilot for a small brewery-centered sitcom of the same name.
The Hollywood Reporter, the Beernews.org equivalent of the hollywood world, broke the news in late January. “Strange Brew” is about a small but successful family-owned brewery and the family’s struggles with working and living together. The announcement was met with mixed reactions in the beer community. Brewers Association Director, Paul Gatza, was the most outspoken about his concerns for the concept:
“I guess if they are going to get many aspects of technical brewing wrong and misrepresent the industry, I hope they are really funny in doing it. Each week a different malfunction to overcome. Please let the brewer wear rubber boots.”
“Will and Grace” creators, David Kohan and Mitch Mutchnik, are behind the new “Strange Brew.” “Will and Grace” was nominated for 27 Golden Globes and won 51 awards per IMDB so these guys know how to run a television show . . . but what do they know about small breweries? That remains to be seen.
One interesting note is that the writers are working with Warner Brothers on this project. Warner Brothers happens to be partnered with Beer Wars as well. This is most likely a coincidence but maybe one of the execs is a diehard craft beer lover.
THR reports that Marc Buckland will be sitting in the director’s chair for the pilot. Buckland won an Emmy for directing “My Name is Earl” and was nominated for another for “Scrubs.”
Laurie Metcalf, a.k.a. Jackie from “Roseanne,” will be starring as the mother of the family. ‘Memba her? She won a few Emmy’s for her role on the show. Here is the official description for her character, Janie, per Entertainment Weekly:
“In her 40s, Ted’s attractive and high strung wife, mother to Clay, Kyle, Lizzy and Michael, she’s newly sober, and being newly sober at a brewery with a family of brewery workers is not a happy or easy thing. She’s also trying to stop swearing, and it’s a toss up which vice is more difficult to shed. Though dealing with her own issues, she is still a source of strength to her husband and family.”
THR also reports that Jere Burns will be starring opposite of Metcalf as the father and President of the brewery with Aya Cash, Skylar Astin and Mo Mandel cast as the children. The actors, none of which I am familiar with, all appear to be in their early-mid 20s so don’t expect this to be another “Home Improvement.”
Here is a description of their roles from The Futon Critic:
“He’ll play Ted, the patriarch of the Forrest clan, who was ‘once a weathered ourdoorsmen [however] the last 10 years has turned him into a withered indoorsmen.’ [...] Cash will play ‘beautiful, highly-intelligent, highly-underachieving’ Lizzy, the eldest sibling who works as Ted’s secretary. Astin and Mandel then are believed to be playing fraternal twins Kyle, ‘the alpha twin,’ and Clay, ‘the sweeter, gentler one.’”
So who is going to be the Head Brewer?
Remember that the project is still in the pilot stage so it may not even bloom into an actual television series but there is certainly enough star-power behind this for it to be a contender. Shooting will begin soon.
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March 9th, 2010 at 6:20 pm
[...] news coming from The Hollywood Reporter (and Beer News) about a new sitcom in the works called Strange Brew, from Will & Grace creators (David Kohan [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 12:43 am
[...] Via beernews.org. [...]
March 10th, 2010 at 5:10 pm
[...] Small brewery sitcom coming to Fox? (beernews.org) [...]
March 13th, 2010 at 10:02 am
[...] ● Small brewery sitcom coming to Fox? [...]
August 20th, 2010 at 4:40 am
I love the idea, maybe just because i love beer, but, I’m not so sure about Fox with a lot of crash and burn sitcoms that they’ve had.
March 9th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Small brewery sitcom might be coming to Fox http://bit.ly/b41hPw #beer
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
March 9th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
Interesting. Just don’t jump the shark. Would be bad for #craftbeer. RT @elmachuca @beerpulse Small brewery sitcom http://bit.ly/b41hPw
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
March 9th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
Small brewery sitcom coming to Fox? http://ff.im/-hdvw4
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
March 9th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
They couldn’t come up with a different name at least? RT @beerpulse: Small brewery sitcom might be coming to Fox http://bit.ly/b41hPw #beer
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
March 9th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Would anyone be surprised if Sam(DFH) and Greg(Stone) were cast? RT @beerpulse Small brewery sitcom might be on Fox http://bit.ly/b41hPw
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
March 9th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Small brewery sitcom coming to Fox? http://bit.ly/a5Y265
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
March 9th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Small brewery sitcom coming to FOX? http://beernews.org/2010/03/small-brewery-sitcom-coming-to-fox/
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
March 9th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Interesting… RT @BeerTapTV: RT @beerpulse: Small brewery sitcom might be coming to Fox http://bit.ly/b41hPw #beer
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
March 9th, 2010 at 9:57 pm
FOX network planning a new sitcom based on a family-run microbrewery #beer http://bit.ly/bc16cV /via @beerforyou
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
March 9th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
I just hope they hire a consultant so shit isn’t blatantly wrong. I don’t care too much, but it would be really easily to get the basics right.
This comment was originally posted on Reddit
March 9th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Exactly, I ***LOVE*** beer but I probably wont watch it because it will most likely be filled with foolish fake TV drama and characters designed just to appease the douche-bag crowd…
This comment was originally posted on Reddit
March 9th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
This could be painful to watch. I’ll give it a shot though.
This comment was originally posted on Reddit
March 9th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
Wasn’t this already pretty much done with Drew Carey?
This comment was originally posted on Reddit
March 9th, 2010 at 11:35 pm
and then that obnoxious chick from Beer Wars stole their idea for Buzz Beer!
This comment was originally posted on Reddit
March 10th, 2010 at 12:31 am
shes kinda hot.
This comment was originally posted on Reddit
March 10th, 2010 at 12:58 am
…starring Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, in "HOPping Mad!"
This comment was originally posted on Reddit
March 10th, 2010 at 2:19 am
After the wort cools down, you add the bakers yeast, and one hour later it’s beer!
This comment was originally posted on Reddit
March 10th, 2010 at 2:55 am
This could be pretty cool. Or it could be really, really, really, really bad. No other way.
This comment was originally posted on Reddit
March 10th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
Small brewery sitcom coming to Fox? http://bit.ly/bznMDV
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
March 10th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
cc: @bruisinales RT @beeriety: Small brewery sitcom coming to Fox? http://bit.ly/bznMDV
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
March 10th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
Sitcom about a brewery coming to fox…http://bit.ly/aDLetU
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
March 10th, 2010 at 10:40 pm
Now that you mention it, there’s not enough beer on TV. RT @beeriety Small brewery sitcom coming to Fox? http://bit.ly/bznMDV
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
March 10th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
Ill defintely see it at least once–> RT @beeriety Small brewery sitcom coming to Fox? http://bit.ly/bznMDV
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
March 10th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Yes. I’m also starring! lol RT @h0zae: cc: @bruisinales RT @beeriety: Small brewery sitcom coming to Fox? http://bit.ly/bznMDV
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
March 11th, 2010 at 3:10 am
I saw "obnoxious chick from Beer Wars" and then realized you weren’t talking about the narrator.
This comment was originally posted on Reddit
March 11th, 2010 at 4:31 am
well, I wasn’t talking about her, but that doesn’t mean that she isn’t obnoxious. I should have been more clear about which obnoxious chick from Beer Wars I was talking about.
This comment was originally posted on Reddit