John Mulaney is bringing the Sack Lunch Bunch to Comedy Central. The Saturday Night Live alum will executive produce and star in the two new specials, as Vulture reported.
John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch is a musical comedy special in the style of 70’s children TV series like Sesame Street and The Electric Company. Mulaney wrote and starred in the special alongside 15 child actors that are known in the show as the Sack Lunch Bunch. These actors will return for at least one of the two new specials, with Vulture confirming the first will be a “holiday-themed special that will reunite the cast from the original hit special.”
While based in children’s entertainment, its humor and fans will make the specials a good fit on the more adult audience-oriented Comedy Central. The original infused Mulaney’s more risque and darker humor with the genre of children’s musicals, including songs known as “Sascha’s Dad Does Drag (and the Act Needs Work)” and “I Saw a White Lady Standing on the Street Just Sobbing (And I Think About it Once a Week).”
The two new specials will mark a jump for the franchise, as the original debuted on Netflix last December. In a statement released to Vulture, Mulaney spoke on the switch to Comedy Central: “I was an intern at Comedy Central when I was barely older than the kids in the Sack Lunch Bunch. I wasn’t a very good intern, so I am psyched they hired me again. We are thrilled to bring these specials to Comedy Central: a place where I have had so many good times.”
The ViacomCBS-owned Comedy Central has been making waves lately, as its parent company hopes to push the network to the forefront of television comedy. Recently, the network announced a spin-off of the classic show Daria and a reboot for Beavis and Butt-head in an attempt to compete with other adult-oriented animation series such as The Simpsons or Family Guy.
John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch is available to stream on Netflix right now. There has been no word as to whether these new installments will make their way to Netflix or ViacomCBS’ streaming service CBS All Access.