Catherine Keener (Capote, Get Out) has signed on for her first series regular role on the small screen, with Deadline reporting that the Oscar-nominated actress will star opposite Jim Carrey in the upcoming half-hour comedy Kidding from Showtime.
Created by Dave Holstein (Weeds) and directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), the series will see Carrey as Jeff, a.k.a Mr. Pickles, “an icon of children’s television, a beacon of kindness and wisdom to America’s impressionable young minds and the parents who grew up with him – who also anchors a multi million dollar branding empire. But when this beloved personality’s family – wife, two sons, sister and father – begins to implode, Jeff finds no fairy tale or fable or puppet will guide him through this crisis, which advances faster than his means to cope. The result: A kind man in a cruel world faces a slow leak of sanity as hilarious as it is heartbreaking.”
Keener is set to take on the role of Deirdre, who builds all of the puppets for Jeff’s show, despite never being allowed to voice them, and struggles to take the simple lessons preached by Jeff and apply them to the darker complications of actual parenting.
Holstein is serving as showrunner on the 10-episode series, as well as executive producing with Gondy, Carrey and Jason Bateman.
Originally published December 18, 2017. Updated April 19, 2018.
