Tracy Morgan to Star in Jordan Peele’s New Comedy Series
Tracy Morgan is set to star in a new comedy on TBS. The show, co-created by Jordan Peele and John Carcieri, focuses on a man returning home to Brooklyn after a 15-year stint in prison and finding that his ex-girlfriend has remarried and that he has twins he did not know about. According to Deadline, the series will tackle “race relations, the Gen X/Millennial gap and the American penal system.”
This marks Morgan’s first major television role since his car accident in 2014 put him into a coma. A pilot for the series was initially shot for FX, which described Morgan and Peele as an “unbeatable combination.” But Deadline reports that the network declined to move forward with the project after reading the pilot’s script.
TBS ended up beating out Comedy Central in a bid for the show and ordered ten episodes. The pilot will be rewritten for the new network. The show does not yet have a name or a debut date.
“Tracy and Jordan are two of today’s most sought-after and authentically funny comedians, and this show captures all the hilarity you would expect from this brilliant duo,” said Brett Weitz, EVP of programming for TBS. “TBS is becoming a home for the most creative and diverse comedy creators in the business, and Tracy and Jordan are a perfect fit for this network.”
Morgan has been working his way back slowly after the accident. He embarked a comeback tour and has a role in the forthcoming comedy Fist Fight. Last year he also hosted Saturday Night Live. “He’s like the Bionic Man now,” Tina Fey told Rolling Stone. “Better than he was before.”