Jim Carrey has landed a pilot order at Showtime for “I’m Dying Up Here,” an hourlong project set in the 1970s comedy scene, Variety has learned.
Showtime boss David Nevins is expected to make the announcement Tuesday at the cabler’s Television Critics Assn. press tour presentation.
Carrey serves as an exec producer on the dark comedy along with former standup comedian Dave Flebotte who penned the pilot, which is based on William Knoedelseder’s novel of the same name.
Exploring the famous Hollywood comedy clubs of the ’70s — the golden age of L.A. comics when many of today’s renowned comedians got their start — the pilot will delve into the inspired and damaged psyches that inhabit the hilarious, yet complex business of making an audience laugh.
“The 1970s L.A. comedy scene gave rise to some of the biggest and most influential performers of the last half-century,” Nevins commented. “Who better than Jim Carrey and Dave Flebotte, who were both there, to tell the story of that special era along with the complicated and talented performers that dared to grab an open mic.”
In addition to Carrey and Flebotte (“Will & Grace,” “Desperate Housewives,” “The Bernie Mac Show”), Michael Aguilar (“The Departed,” “Semi-Pro”) and Christina Wayne (“Copper”) will also exec produce. Jonathan Levine (“50/50,” “Warm Bodies”) will direct the pilot hailing from Endemol Shine Studios and Assembly Entertainment.
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“I’m Dying Up Here” is set to shoot this fall.
