Summary

Steve Carell returns to leading role in new HBO comedy series, focused on father-daughter relationship on a college campus.
Show creators Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses are excited to work with Carell, marking a highlight in career with HBO backing.
Carell also stars in John Krasinski’s
IF
, voices Gru in
Despicable Me 4
, and will appear in Tina Fey’s
The Four Seasons
series.

Steve Carell is making his return to the leading role of a new comedy series, created by Ted Lasso’s Bill Lawrence and The Goldbergs’ Matt Tarses. The new series, currently without a title, has received a 10-episode, straight-to-series order from HBO. Lawrence and Tarses are re-uniting for the first time since the pair worked together on the hit medical comedy Scrubs – created by Lawrence.

According to Deadline’s report, the new series, set on a college campus, focuses on an author’s (Carell) complex relationship with his daughter. The new comedy series will be a single-camera production, with episodes running for an estimated 30 minutes. In a statement, Bill Lawrence said:

“HBO has long been a standard bearer of quality TV. Getting to do a show there with Steve Carell is an immediate career highlight for Matt and me. Nothing can go wrong now.”

HBO’s commission of the show is part of the network’s plan to reinvigorate its comedic offerings, following the recent finales of Barry and Curb Your Enthusiasm. The new series will be produced by HBO’s sibling company, Warner Bros. TV. Channing Dungey, Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Group also released a statement, praising the talent driving the new series. Dungey said:

“We’re so excited to be collaborating with the dream team of Steve Carell, Bill Lawrence, and Matt Tarses on what is sure to be a brilliant new series. Collectively, they have been at the center of some of the most iconic and successful shows in television history. With thanks to our partners at HBO, we look forward to bringing them together to deliver the next great comedy.”

Fans are most excited to see Carell take the lead in a new comedy series after the actor helped establish The Office (US) as the juggernaut of modern comedy that it still holds up as, even a decade after its finale.

Steve Carell Has a Lot of Upcoming Comedic Roles
IF (2024) 3/5 IF, originally titled Imaginary Friends, is a comedic fantasy film written and directed by John Krasinski. A young girl who experiences a tragic moment early in her life discovers she can see the imaginary friends of others who leave them behind as they grow older.Release Date May 17, 2024 Cast Ryan Reynolds , John Krasinski , Cailey Fleming , Steve Carell , Matt Damon , Emily Blunt , Phoebe Waller-Bridge , Vince Vaughn , Sam Rockwell , Maya Rudolph , Jon Stewart , Awkwafina

While the report didn’t indicate any production timeline or release window, Carell’s fans don’t have to wait long for the actor to make his next comedic appearance. Carell currently stars in John Krasinski’s first foray into children’s movies, IF. The actor lends his voice to the giant purple imaginary friend, Blue, who, alongside Cailey Fleming’s Bea, must reunite imaginary friends with their real-life friends.

Carell will also make a quick return to the world of animated comedies as Gru in Despicable Me 4. The fourth installment in Illumination’s immensely popular franchise sees Gru and his family go on the run, after facing down a new nemesis, Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell).

Related John Krasinski’s IF Movie BTS Clip Shows Funny, Yet Touching Reunion with Steve Carell John Krasinski and Steve Carell’s latest venture, IF, will showcase the duo’s comedic chemistry.

Moving back to live-action comedy, Carell has also signed on to appear in Tina Fey’s new Netflix comedy, The Four Seasons. Based on the 1981 rom-com of the same name, The Four Seasons follows three couples whose regular annual vacation together is disrupted when one couple unexpectedly divorces. Fey has re-partnered with her 30 Rock collaborators, Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield, to write the eight episode series.

Filming on The Four Seasons is scheduled to begin later in 2024. There have also been rumors that Carell will reprise his most famous role, that of Michael Scott from The Office in Peacock’s upcoming ‘reboot’, which follows a failing newspaper in the Midwest. However, Carell has denied any involvement with the new series.