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Peacock adds to comedy line-up

Will Forte in the 2010 MacGruber film

Peacock, the fledgling SVoD service from US media giant Comcast, has ordered an action comedy based on a SNL parody sketch and will introduce a topical late-night block to its line-up.

A parody of classic action-adventure TV series MacGyver, MacGruber (8×30′) has been picked up to series and will see Will Forte, who also writes and executive produces, reprise his role as “America’s ultimate hero and uber patriot.”

The Peacock series is an adaptation of the 2010 feature film of the same title, itself based on an SNL sketch, and will also feature the original creative team behind the camera.

Forte serves as writer and executive producer alongside John Solomon and Jorma Taccone, who will also direct.

Lorne Michaels, John Goldwyn, Andrew Singer and Erin David also serve as executive producers. The show is from Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, and Broadway Video.

Peacock is also set to launch a weekly topical late-night block anchored by Amber Ruffin and Larry Wilmore next month.

The streamer has ordered nine half-hour episodes of The Amber Ruffin Show, which is set to launch in September.

Ruffin is a writer and performer for NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers and was the first African American female to write for a late-night network talkshow in the US.

Ruffin, Jenny Hagel, Seth Meyers and Mike Shoemaker serve as executive producers. The series is produced by Universal Television and Sethmaker Shoemeyers Productions.

Meanwhile, the as-yet-untitled Larry Wilmore show will see the Emmy Award-winning producer, actor and comedian bring his distinct voice to streaming with a new weekly special series.

Wilmore will have discussions with high-profile people from backgrounds including sports, politics and entertainment. Peacock has ordered 11 episodes and the show is set to launch in September.

The show will be exec produced by Wilmore, who has an overall production deal with Universal TV, along with Jo Miller, Tony Hernandez, Brooke Posch, David Miner and Michael Rotenberg. It is being produced by Jax Media and Universal Television.

Elsewhere at Peacock, Grammy Award-winning recording artist, Emmy nominee and Broadway star Sara Bareilles has been cast as the lead in the Tina Fey- and Robert Carlock-produced series Girls5eva.

The upcoming comedy Rutherford Falls, from co-creators and executive producers Michael Schur, Ed Helms and Sierra Teller Ornelas, has also set its initial cast, with Jana Schmieding, Michael Greyeyes, Jesse Leigh and Dustin Milligan on board.

Rutherford Falls centres on a small town in upstate New York and the Native American reservation it borders, which are turned upside down when local legend and town namesake Nathan Rutherford, played by Helms, opposes the moving of a historical statue.

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