BJ Novak’s anthology series Platform received a pilot order from FX. The show uses prominent current events as the basis of singular, character-driven stories about the world we live in. Episodes will be half-hour long. Platform is not FX’s first anthology series, the network also has American Horror Story and Fargo, but Platform will be FX’s first scripted show where the story and cast change episode to episode. According to Deadline, the plan is to film two episodes. The first episode is expected to tackle a sensitive subject in a dramatic tone, while the second episode is rumored to be more comedic with light touches of animation.
The show has lined up Jon Bernthal (The Wolf of Wall Street), Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart), Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea), Boyd Holbrook (Predator – Upgrade), O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Outta Compton), George Wallace (Batman Forever) and Ed Asner (The Mary Tyler Moore Show) to appear in the pilot episode. The nature of their roles has not been disclosed yet.
BJ Novak is the creator of Platform. He will write, executive produce, and direct the pilot of Platform. FX Productions will produce the show. Novak joked about the pilot news on Twitter with the response, “I heard there was a television shortage.”
Novak is known for his work on The Office, which he wrote for and starred in as Ryan Howard, and The Mindy Project, which he executive produced and guest starred in. Novak has also written a book that made the New York Times Bestsellers list, One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories.
Platform joins FX’s development slate that includes The Old Man with Jeff Bridges, Gone Hollywood with Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and an adaptation of Don Winslow’s Cartel trilogy. Production on Platform reportedly began on July 29th.