“Barry,” HBO’s six-time Emmy-winning dark comedy starring “Saturday Night Live” alum Bill Hader, will return for an eight-part third season this Sunday, April 24th, the premium cabler announced today during its Television Critics Association press tour day.
Co-creators Hader (Pixar’s “Inside Out”) and Alec Berg (HBO’s “Silicon Valley”) executive produce, direct and write “Barry.” Its six Emmy wins include for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Hader), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (Henry Winkler), Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation. In total, “Barry” has received thirty Emmy nods.
Per the logline, “Barry” follows its titular protagonist (played by Hader) as he attempts to untangle himself from the world of assassination and fully immerse himself in his newfound passion of acting, but his attempts to stay away from violence seem to get thwarted a every turn throughout the show. Season 3 finds Barry and the other people in his life trying to make better choices and understand their psyches more. Other Emmy-nominated and winning cast regulars on “Barry” include Stephen Root as Monroe Fuches, Sarah Goldberg as Sally, Anthony Carrigan as Noho Hank and Gene Cousineau as Barry’s former acting teacher. Sarah Burns, D’Arcy Carden and Michael Irby will return as recurring cast members.
Aida Rodgers and Liz Sarnoff executive produce alongside Hader and Berg, and Julie Camino produces. Additional writers for Season 3 include Emma Barrie, Jason Kim, Emily Heller, Duffy Boudreau and Liz Sarnoff.
HBO made other announcements about its forthcoming shows slate at the WarnerMedia network’s TCA session, including news about “The Staircase,” “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” “Julia,” “We Own The City,” “The Survivor,” “George Carlin’s American Dream” and “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.”
“The Staircase”
HBO
Based on a true story, “The Staircase,” starring Coln Firth and Toni Collette, explores the life of Michael Peterson and the suspicious death of his wife, Kathleen. Set in North Carolina, the limited series is written and executive produced by showrunners Antonio Campus and Maggie Cohn. Its ensemble cast includes Michael Stuhlbarg, Juliette Binoche, Dane DeHaan, Olivia DeJonge, Rosemarie DeWitt, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sophie Turner, Vincent Vermignon, Odessa Young and Parker Posey. The show is co-produced by Annapurna Television.
“The Time Traveler’s Wife”
HBO
“The Time Traveler’s Wife” will get another adaptation— this time, a six-episode drama series from HBO starring Rose Leslie as Clare Abshire, Theo James as Henry DeTamble, Desmin Borges as Gomez and Natasha Lopez as Charisse. The intricate and magical love story is based on the beloved romance novel by Audrey Niffenegger of the same name and is executive produced by Steven Moffat (“Doctor Who,” “Sherlock”) and directed by David Nutter. Sue Vertue and Brian Minchin executive produce through Hartswood Films; also executive producing are Nutter and Joseph E. Iberti.
“Julia”
HBO
Inspired by Julia Child’s extraordinary joie de vivre and her pioneering cooking show “The French Chef,” “Julia” explores a pivotal time in American history— the emergence of public television, the nature of celebrity, the women’s movement —as well as a loving marriage with a shifting power dynamic. The eight-part comedy stars Sarah Lancashire, David Hyde Pierce, Bebe Neuwirth, Brittany Bradford, Fran Kranz and Fiona Glascott, and is slated to debut its first three episodes on Thursday, March 31. All others will be subsequently released one episode weekly through May 5. “Julia” is produced by Lionsgate and 3 Arts Entertainment, and is executive produced by showrunner Chris Keyser, alongside creator Daniel Goldfarb, Erwin Stoff of 3 Arts Entertainment, Kimberly Carver and Charles McDougall. Consulting on behalf of The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts is Todd Schulkin.
“George Carlin’s American Dream”
HBO
The two-part documentary from Emmy-winning directors Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio chronicling the life and work of legendary counterculture comedian George Carlin will debut this May on HBO. Carlin, widely considered one of the most influential stand-up comics of all time, headlined 14 HBO comedy specials and appeared on “The Tonight Show” over 130 times. He was a cultural and comedic chameleon who was able to evolve with the times and zoom in on societal ills up until his death in 2008. The documentary tracks Carlin’s rise to fame from his childhood in New York City and touches on his drug use, his brushes with the law, and his two marriages with the use of exclusive interviews and never-before-seen archival material. Some of Carlin’s various loved ones and comedy colleagues that came together to share their memories of the legendary performer in the documentary include Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Patton Oswalt, Stephen Colbert, Bill Burr, Bette Midler, W. Kamau Bell, Sam Jay, Judy Gold, Jon Stewart, Kelly Carlin, Jerry Hamza and Sally Wade, among others. “George Carlin’s American Dream” hails from HBO Documentary Films, Rise Films and Apatow Productions. It is edited by Joe Beshenkovsky and executive produced by Teddy Leifer, Lisa Heller, Nancy Abraham, and Carlin’s daughter (Kelly) and manager (Hamza), alongside Apatow and Bonfiglio.
More to come…