Netflix has officially approved of a new comedy series starring Keegan-Michael Key and Cobie Smulders.
In an article from Variety in March of this year, we first learned of the husband and wife comedy duo, Nick Stoller and Francesca Delbanco. Mr. Stoller has penned several comedies, including films such as the Neighbors franchise, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and The Five Year Engagement. Stoller also has a background in television, as he has been credited as executive producer for The Carmichael Show and the Fox comedy The Grinder, so the Netflix comedy will not be his first foray into the television comedy world.
Ms. Delbanco, on the other hand, is slightly newer to the television game. However, she has had her fair share of time in the spotlight. Previously, she worked as an actress in several of Stoller’s films (including The Five Year Engagement and Forgetting Sarah Marshall), but she is switching to a more behind-the-scenes position for her and her husband’s new comedy, Friends From College. It is reported that she will be writing and executive producing the season alongside Stoller.
Now that Variety has reported of Netflix’s decision to greenlight the series, we can finally glean a little bit more about the plot. Friends From College is a look into the complicated dynamics of four friends who have maintained a relationship since attending Harvard together. As the friends start approaching middle age, they must learn to adapt to their new (properly) adult circumstances, learn about the peaks and valleys of both their professional and personal lives, and what that might mean for their romantic relationships. Since both Ms. Delbanco and Mr. Stoller are Harvard alums in their off-screen lives, the show is sure to have some realistic nods about what it’s like to graduate from a prestigious university and then land solidly into the real world.
Stoller is set to direct all eight episodes that the series is currently slated for, and Keegan-Michael Key and Cobie Smulders will be cast alongside Annie Parisse, Nat Faxon (who has also appeared on The Grinder), Jae Suh Park, and Fred Savage (of Wonder Years fame, of course).
This new ensemble comedy has no premiere date as of yet, but production is scheduled to start in New York this fall.