Apple Orders New Comedy Series from Stars of ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’
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Apple has made a straight-to-series order for a new scripted comedy headed by Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day, according to a new report.
The half-hour comedy series is reportedly set in a video game development studio. McElhenney will apparently star in the show, in addition to writing and executive producing alongside Day, Variety reported on Thursday.
McElhenney and Day are most known for creating, producing, writing and starring in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” which has been on the air since 2005 and will soon enter its thirteenth season this year. Apple’s new order marks the first time the duo has collaborated as writers since that show.
The series will be executive produced by Day and McElhenney under their RCG banner. It will also be produced by the newly formed Lionsgate-3 Arts Entertainment, alongside video game publisher Ubisoft — known for the Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed franchises, among others.
Apple has a growing stable of original TV shows, including a range of drama and comedy series headed by or starring high-profile names in Hollywood and beyond. The company’s larger push for original content even includes talks for feature-length films.
It’s not clear how Apple plans on distributing its original content, however, but it’s likely that the TV app will play a part. There are even rumors that the Cupertino tech giant is working on a combined subscription service that mixes TV, music, news and magazines into a single bundle.
That would put it in more direct competition with platforms like Amazon Prime, as well as established TV and movie platforms like Netflix or Hulu.
Apple’s original TV content is largely expected to roll out sometime in the first half of 2019, though reports indicate that the company could launch a news and magazine subscription ahead of its TV service.