Vince Vaughn has signed on to star in Bad Monkey, a drama series being developed for Apple TV+. Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Ted Lasso) will serve as executive producer and head writer on the project, and the show will run for 10 episodes.
The series will be based on Carl Hiaasen‘s 2013 novel of the same name. Vaughn will play Andrew Yancey, a former detective and South Florida resident who gets demoted to restaurant inspector for unknown reasons. Disillusioned by his new gig, when a fishing tourist ends up catching a severed human arm instead of a fish, things get interesting for him again.
The plot will reportedly take Yancy on a journey full of corruption, greed, and the environmental devastation which has been happening to the South Florida ecosystem over the past several decades. A monkey does apparently factor into the plot as well, but it’s not yet known in what capacity.
While Vaughn is the star, the main reason Apple is likely ordering this series is Lawrence’s involvement.
The Scrubs creator co-created Ted Lasso alongside Brendan Hunt, and the show has quickly developed from strange oddity (a sitcom based on a character NBC created to advertise the Premier League?) into a beloved show, becoming the most nominated comedy in its debut season in Emmys history with 20.
That’s the kind of talked about, original series Apple needs to compete with the likes of Netflix, so they’re no doubt happy to give Lawrence and his pretty good track record – he also created Spin City and Cougar Town – another crack at making a hit show.
Vaughn had a pretty busy 2020, starring in four films: coming-of-age drama North Hollywood, crime thriller Arkansas, comedy The Binge, and, in a truly excellent performance, in Christopher Landon‘s comedy slasher Freaky.
He also had a recurring role on Curb Your Enthusiasm. He’ll next be seen in comedy Queenpins, which recently sold to Paramount+ and arrives in September.
#Peace.Love.BadMonkey
