Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone are reteaming with Netflix for a workplace comedy series.
The married couple will star in God’s Favorite Idiot, marking the duo’s sixth collaboration and second with Netflix after they recently completed production on feature Thunder Force for the streamer.
Created by Falcone, God’s Favorite Idiot revolves around mid-level tech support employee Clark Thompson (Falcone), who finds love with co-worker Amily Luck at the exact same time he becomes the unwitting messenger of God. As the logline notes, there’s also roller skating, a lake of fire and an impending apocalypse. Netflix has gone straight-to-series on the comedy, with an order for 16 episodes.
Michael McDonald, who previously teamed with McCarthy and Falcone on TV Land’s Nobodies, will serve as director and exec producer. Falcone and McCarthy previously teamed on Tammy, The Boss, Life of the Party, Superintelligence and Thunder Force. The duo, who also briefly worked together on Bridesmaids, will exec produce the series via their On the Day production company.
God’s Favorite Idiot marks McCarthy’s latest series regular foray following Hulu’s forthcoming Nine Perfect Strangers and her six-season run on CBS’ Chuck Lorre comedy Mike & Molly. Her small-screen work includes hosting NBC’s Little Big Shots, Samantha Who and her beloved role as Sookie St. James in Gilmore Girls.
For his part, Falcone directed McCarthy in HBO Max feature Superintelligence. He also wrote, directed and produced Thunder Force, the Netflix superhero comedy starring McCarthy and Octavia Spencer. His credits include Life of the Party, The Boss, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Chips, Office Christmas Party, Spy and Identity Thief.
McCarthy and Falcone founded On the Day in 2013, counting TV Land’s Nobodies among its small-screen work.
The series marks the latest effort at Netflix to recruit stars with a broad and global audience like McCarthy to the streamer. The company earlier this year announced that Jaime Foxx, another global superstar, would star in a series inspired by his relationship with his daughter, Dad Stop Embarrassing Me.
McCarthy and Falcone are repped by CAA and MGMT Entertainment; McDonald is with ICM Partners.
