In a very competitive situation, Netflix has landed The Politician, a new hourlong comedy series from longtime collaborators Brad Falchuk, Ian Brennan and Ryan Murphy, I have learned. The project, starring Tony winner Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hanson), with Oscar winners Barbra Streisand and Gwyneth Paltrow in negotiations to co-star, has received a two-season straight-to-series order, I hear.
The deal, believed to be the biggest TV package sale of the year, came after a week-long bidding war among top streaming players, including Amazon and Hulu, sources said. It gives prolific creator/producer Murphy two series on Netflix, along with the upcoming Ratched.
As he does on all of his shows, Murphy will direct the pilot for The Politician, described as a one-hour comedy with social commentary. If Streisand and Paltrow’s deals close, the two will serve as producers on the series alongside Platt, and Streisand also likely will direct some of the episodes, insiders with knowledge of the project told Deadline.
Details about the plot and characters in The Politician are being kept under wraps but, according to a source close to the show, it revolves around the politician aspirations of Platt’s Payton, a wealthy Santa Barbarian, and every season will revolve around a different political race that character is involved in.
I hear that Platt will have musical numbers in several episodes of the show. That, along with the potential involvement of Paltrow and Streisand, helped drive interest in the project, sparking a heated bidding and leading to the big Netflix deal.
Frequent collaborators Falchuk and Murphy had been quietly working on the script for The Politician for the past year. The two brought in their Glee co-creator Ian Brennan, with the three expected to share co-creator credit. Platt also was attached early on and is heavily involved in the casting of the series, which eyes a potential late summer production start.
The deal, believed to be the biggest TV package sale of the year, came after a week-long bidding war among top streaming players, including Amazon and Hulu, sources said. It gives prolific creator/producer Murphy two series on Netflix, along with the upcoming Ratched.
As he does on all of his shows, Murphy will direct the pilot for The Politician, described as a one-hour comedy with social commentary. If Streisand and Paltrow’s deals close, the two will serve as producers on the series alongside Platt, and Streisand also likely will direct some of the episodes, insiders with knowledge of the project told Deadline.
Details about the plot and characters in The Politician are being kept under wraps but, according to a source close to the show, it revolves around the politician aspirations of Platt’s Payton, a wealthy Santa Barbarian, and every season will revolve around a different political race that character is involved in.
I hear that Platt will have musical numbers in several episodes of the show. That, along with the potential involvement of Paltrow and Streisand, helped drive interest in the project, sparking a heated bidding and leading to the big Netflix deal.
Frequent collaborators Falchuk and Murphy had been quietly working on the script for The Politician for the past year. The two brought in their Glee co-creator Ian Brennan, with the three expected to share co-creator credit. Platt also was attached early on and is heavily involved in the casting of the series, which eyes a potential late summer production start.
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