Keegan-Michael Key has another TV show on his post-Key & Peele plate. The Keanu funnyman has been announced in the cast of Nick Stoller’s new comedy series for Netflix called Friends From College, and he’ll be joined by Marvel’s Agent Maria Hill, Cobie Smulders.
According to a press release, “the show centers on a group of friends who went to Harvard together and are now facing down their 40s and experiencing a range of success, or lack thereof, both professionally and domestically. With interwoven and oftentimes complicated relationships with one another, the series is a comedic exploration of old friendships, former romantic entanglements and balancing adult life with nostalgia for the past.”
What I already appreciate about this concept are the similarities in theme to Key’s recent film Don’t Think Twice, about a troupe of older improvisors who deal with the harsh fact that one of them gets a big break and the others don’t. Friends From College, too, will likely strike a nerve with the millennial crowd, who are facing the harsh realities of the job market post-college as pressures from high school reunions linger in the back of their minds. (I’m totally not writing based on personal experience. Totally not.)
The series will consist of eight episodes with Stoller, who helmed Neighbors and its sequel, directing and co-writing with his wife, Francesca Delbanco. Also announced in the cast are Annie Parisse (Vinyl), Nat Faxon (Ben & Kate), Fred Savage (The Grinder), and Jae Suh Park (The Big Short).
Earlier today, Netflix also announced an eight-episode series adaptation of Anne of Green Gables from showrunner Moira Walley-Beckett to stream globally in 2017. Niki Car will direct the two-hour premiere of the project, called Anne, which is described as “a coming-of-age story about an outsider who, against all odds and numerous challenges, fights for acceptance for her place in the world and for love.”
Here’s the plot synopsis:
The series centers on a young orphaned girl in 1890, who, after an abusive childhood spent in orphanages and the homes of strangers, is mistakenly sent to live with an elderly spinster and her aging brother. Over time, 13-year-old Anne will transform their lives and eventually the small town in which they live with her unique spirit, fierce intellect and brilliant imagination.
