The thought of seeing a fellow Bristolian work his Westcountry magic on the finest TV network in the US is a reassuring one – there’s hope for us bumpkins yet.
It seems that Stephen Merchant is to write, produce and star in a pilot for HBO, in which he’ll play an unlucky-in-love Brit attempt to find to romance in Los Angeles (world’s apart from his native Bristol – trust me). The show will be called HELLO LADIES, the same title as his recent stand-up tour, and plays on a decade-long running gag, with Merchant often making light of his desire to find a wife (the comic often mentioned this on his old XFM radio show with Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington).
The concept of HELLO LADIES does suggest a CURB YOU ENTHUSIASM-like style, and it’s easy to imagine Merchant playing a thinly-veiled version of himself, such as Larry David or Louie CK. It will interesting to see how Merchant fares away from his partnership with Ricky Gervais: whilst THE OFFICE and EXTRAS remain brilliant, their latest effort LIFE’S TOO SHORT received mixed reviews and proved something of a creative lull for the duo, playing on the formula established by their previous work.
Here’s hoping Merchant pulls it off, and shows he really is the brains behind the outfit after all. If not he better sort himself out with a funny dance, pronto.
Source: Collider
