Showtime lands on Moonbase 8

US cablenet Showtime has picked up astronaut comedy series Moonbase 8 starring John C Reilly, Tim Heidecker and Fred Armisen.

John C Reilly, Tim Heidecker and Fred Armisen in Moonbase 8

The six-episode series is a workplace comedy following three subpar astronauts living at Nasa’s Moon Base Simulator with high hopes of being chosen to travel to the moon.

Set to air this fall, having been produced before the pandemic, it is executive produced by Armisen, Heidecker, Reilly and series director Jonathan Krisel and comes from A24 and Abso Lutely Productions.

Between them Armisen, Heidecker and Reilly have starred in and written comedies including Portlandia, Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job! and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

Jana Winograde, president of entertainment at Showtime Networks, said: “In a year when we have all been forced to come to terms with life at close quarters, we are happy to have landed this offbeat take on life in captivity with dreams of escaping to something grander.”

In addition to Armisen, Heidecker, Reilly and Krisel, Moonbase 8 is also executive produced by Dave Kneebone, Eric Wareheim and A24’s Ravi Nandan and Inman Young.