Here’s something I honestly didn’t realize until today.
Eddie Murphy has never starred in a scripted television series.
Think about that for a second.
This is Eddie Murphy. 48 Hrs., Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America, The Nutty Professor, Bowfinger, Dreamgirls, Shrek…the guy has been part of our pop culture for more than four decades.
Obviously, he started on Saturday Night Live, where he basically became a superstar before he was old enough to rent a car.
But an actual scripted television series?
Never.
Apparently that’s about to change.
Murphy is set to star in a new Peacock drama called The Chairman, and there’s another name attached to this that immediately makes the project a lot more interesting: Matthew Weiner, the creator of Mad Men.
Weiner is writing and executive producing the series. And before creating Mad Men, he spent several years writing and producing another little television show you may have heard of called The Sopranos.
So yeah…you have my attention.
Unfortunately, nobody is saying what The Chairman is actually about yet. Considering the title, Murphy’s involvement and Weiner’s history with complicated, powerful characters, I’m certainly curious about where they’re going with it.
What’s really interesting is that this won’t just be another Eddie Murphy comedy.
It’s being described as a drama.
And THAT is what has me interested.
Murphy is obviously one of the funniest performers of his generation, but people sometimes forget that the guy can genuinely act. If you’ve seen Dreamgirls or even some of the quieter moments in Dolemite Is My Name, you already know there’s a lot more there than Axel Foley’s laugh.
Technically, Murphy hasn’t completely stayed away from television. He co-created the wonderfully bizarre animated series The PJs in the ’90s and was also involved with the short-lived sitcom The Royal Family. But after roughly 40 movies, this will be the first time Eddie Murphy has actually been the star of his own scripted television series.
That’s kind of amazing.
Murphy has also been enjoying something of a resurgence lately. We got Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, The Pickup, and the documentary Being Eddie. And, of course, he’s returning as Donkey in Shrek 5.
Now he’s adding prestige television to the list.
We don’t know the story. We don’t know who Murphy is playing. And we don’t even know when we’re going to see it.
But Eddie Murphy starring in a drama from the guy who created Mad Men and worked on The Sopranos?
Yeah. I’ll watch that.
