Stephen Colbert is returning to Comedy Central, but not in person. The talk show host has landed two animated projects on the network – a comedy series and a feature film. Colbert will be executive producing both projects, but it is unclear if he will provide voices for them.
Colbert went from a Daily Show correspondent to a spinoff series called The Colbert Report on Comedy Central before leaping to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert over on CBS. However, since Comedy central is still under the ViacomCBS umbrella, it seems he has more work to do on his old home network. He will be executive producing a half-hour comedy series called Fairview, which will be a politically charged sitcom set in a small American town called Fairview, according to a report by Deadline. Meanwhile, he will work with the same team on an animated movie about a rising political star called Washingtonia.
‘Washington has been announced for Comedy Central.
The series was created by RJ Fried and is an animated feature about a rising political star and his deeply incompetent staff navigating the deeper incompetence of Washington.
Source: https://t.co/OkhCUVjMGv pic.twitter.com/HPN2HTIgy6
— Cartoon Crave (@thecartooncrave) September 21, 2021
“I am so excited to participate in this press release, but I should mention that my deal for Fairview and Washingtonia is not yet closed,” Colbert said when asked for comment. “The main sticking point is money. I want more, and they don’t want me to have more. I look forward to airing these projects as soon as this issue is resolved.”
Both projects come from the team behind Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News and Showtime’s Our Cartoon President. The former was nominated for Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama, Or Variety Series at the Emmys this year, so it’s no wonder the network is steering into that success. CBS Studios produce both.
Fairview will reportedly center mainly on the titular town’s mayor, Kelly Sampson. She has not been cast yet, but Kelly is a former party girl who somehow stumbled into the leadership role. The show will reportedly be full of “Natty Light-chugging, grocery store parking lot-fighting and public urination” while examining how national politics can lead to small-town drama.
Meanwhile, Washingtonia is about a rising star in the world of national politics trying to climb through the ranks with a “deeply incompetent” staff behind him. However, that staff will uncover “way deeper incompetence” in the rest of Washington, perhaps giving them a fighting chance.
Both productions are created and executive produced by RJ Fried, a writer who has often worked with Colbert and credits on many political comedies of the last decade. These announcements come on the heels of some significant investments in animation over at Comedy Central and ViacomCBS, including a chronological order for more seasons of South Park, a Beavis and Butt-head revival, and two Star Trek cartoons on Paramount+.
So far, there is no word on when either Fairview or Washingtonia will air or even when they go into production. Colbert’s talk show, his current animated projects, and more are streaming now on Paramount+.
Disclosure: PopCulture is owned by ViacomCBS Streaming, a division of ViacomCBS.