Married couple and acting dream-team Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaid, The Heat) and Ben Falcone (Bridesmaids, Tammy) are slated to star in Falcone’s upcoming Netflix series entitled God’s Favorite Idiot, according to The Hollywood Reporter. This marks the duo’s second collaboration with Netflix alongside the film Thunder Force and their sixth overall.
The series surrounds tech support employee Clark Thompson, played by Falcone, who falls in love with co-worker Amily Luck, played by McCarthy, as he becomes the messenger of God. Michael McDonald (Nobodies) will reunite with the team after working together on TV Land’s Nobodies, now serving as director and executive producer. McCarthy and Falcone, who previously joined forces to work on films such as Tammy, The Boss, Life of the Party, Superintelligence, and Thunder Force, will executive produce God’s Favorite Idiot via their On the Day production company.
Following her appearances as series regular on Hulu’s upcoming series Nine Perfect Strangers as well as on CBS’ comedy Mike & Molly, God’s Favorite Idiot will just be McCarthy’s latest role as a series regular.
Meanwhile, Falcone has maintained a similarly busy career within the past few years, having directed the HBO Max feature Superintelligence as well as writing, directing, and producing Netflix’s Thunder Force which starred McCarthy and Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures).
God’s Favorite Idiot will serve as Netflix’s latest attempt to recruit actors with wider audiences, such as McCarthy. Similarly, earlier this year, the streaming service had announced that Jaime Foxx (Just Mercy) will star in a series entitled Dad Stop Embarrassing Me, inspired by his relationship with his daughter. McCarthy and Falcone’s upcoming comedy series will has since been called for a 16-episode first season.