HBO has given a series order to Barry, its half-hour comedy pilot starring, co-written and directed by Bill Hader in Saturday Night Live alum’s return to television. The pilot, which stemmed from Hader’s exclusive development deal with HBO, also marked Hader’s directorial debut.
Co-written by Hader and Silicon Valley executive producer Alec Berg, Barry centers on an ex-Marine (Hader) who works as a low-rent hitman in the Midwest. Lonely and dissatisfied in his life, he begrudgingly travels to Los Angeles to kill someone and ends up finding an accepting community in a group of eager hopefuls within the LA theater scene.
The series, which co-stars Henry Winkler as Gene Cousineau, an inspiring acting teacher; Stephen Root as Fuches, a man who arranges Barry’s hits; Sarah Goldberg as Sally, an aspiring actress who is Barry’s entree into LA’s theater scene; Anthony Carrigan as Noho Hank, a Chechen gangster; and Glenn Fleshler as Goran Pazar, a Chechen gangster, will shoot in Los Angeles in 2017.
Hader and Berg executive produce.
