By The most unfortunate thing about David Spade’s career is he’s probably most known as that guy who shows up in all the Adam Sandler movies. That in itself is not a bad thing, Sandler has had some banger movies, but it discounts how prolific Spade has been. After 7 years on SNL, he was a sitcom mainstay for nearly two decades. He was a showrunner for Inside Amy Schumer. He even hosted the 2003 Spike Video Game Awards! Now he’s teaming up with the minds behind Juno and Tully for a comedy series on HBO.
Still without a title, the series will have Diablo Cody writing and Jason Reitman directing, both of them getting executive producer credits as well. Each 30-minutes episode will follow Spade as Calvin Walsh, an also-ran grunge rocker who just sobered up and is trying to rebuild his life. The older Walsh meets actress Bailey, who has her own issues that propel both characters in many odd directions. Spade either plays the straight man to a devastating T or an exaggerated character, and this series looks like he could do both at once.
Besides Joe Dirt, Spade usually plays supporting roles or foils to the more outrageous character, but Spade helps elevate those performances. Tommy Boy wouldn’t have been so funny without Spade’s deadpan reactions and biting jabs, so it’ll be interesting to see where the character goes in this show. Being helmed by a duo that meshes as well as Cody and Reitman will also help, but I hope it remains a comedy with drama instead of turning into a comedy-drama, objectively the worst genre in showbiz. If it does, hopefully it doesn’t throw off Spade’s groove.
David Spade To Headline Comedy Series From Diablo Cody & Jason Reitman In Works At HBO [Deadline]