Dane Cook developing NBC half-hour comedy
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Dane Cook, the man famous for selling out arenas with jokes about itchy rear-ends and murder by frozen turkeys, has signed a talent deal with NBC, EW has confirmed. Cook is working on a half-hour comedy for the Peacock; if it’s successful it will be his first foray into the world of network television. (Deadline first reported the story.)
Unfortunately for Cook, this deal was signed less than a week after the premiere of Whitney. Whitney, if you happen to live in an area where billboards and buses do not exist, is the painfully unfunny Whitney Cummings project that has been advertised more than Bud Light during a football game. “Whoever invented morning sex… forgot about morning breath!” Ahh, yes. That’s the one. Remember now? Cummings, much like Cook, is a crass comedienne who has proven herself capable with her stand-up and written work (2 Broke Girls). But despite her obvious talent, her NBC project just isn’t working. The concept is weak, the jokes fall flat, and the advertising is absolutely infuriating. Cook’s raunchy, overgrown-fratboy sense of humor and tendency to choose big paydays (My Best Friend’s Girl, Good Luck Chuck) over quality entertainment has me worried that we might just have another Whitney on our hands.
But then I remembered Cook’s brilliant appearance on Louie this year, and how that show, headlined by another blockbuster comedian, is one of the best comedies on television right now. Cook’s sense of humor certainly aligns closer to Cummings’, but his passive-aggressive bit on Louie showed a much different side to the Cook we’ve gotten to know over the years. It showed his humility, and his ability to laugh at himself in the face of a career-altering controversy. If Cook can tone down the crazy and stick with this much more subdued and likable aspect of his personality, then this could be a more-than-decent project.
So what do you think, PopWatchers?
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