Nearly two years after the sensational Netflix documentary Tiger King premiered during the early stages of the COVID-19 lockdown, Peacock’s upcoming limited series Joe vs Carole will take a new unique look at the contentious hostility between zookeeper Joe Exotic and the CEO of the animal sanctuary Big Cat Rescue, Carole Baskin. The recently released trailer for the series makes it clear that this show is taking a dynamic and comedic approach to a true story that is arguably stranger than fiction.
The series is based on the Wondery podcast Joe Exotic hosted by Robert Moor which means it will take on a different perspective from the popular Netflix documentary. Joe Vs. Carole, as the title implies, will focus on Baskin and Exotic’s feud over their disparate ways of treating their big cats, while Exotic runs his zoo to make a profit, Baskin runs a non-profit sanctuary. In the trailer, we can see Carole stating out loud the decision to go after her rival and shut his morally questionable enterprise down. The trailer also makes clear how both are willing to go to extreme measures to bring the other down. Joe angrily affirms: “You have no idea what I’m willing to do for my animals” and right after we see Carole in the process of purchasing a firearm that would “stop a hitman in his tracks."
We know we will be having a fair share of hilarious interpretations because John Cameron Mitchell and Kate McKinnon will be respectively playing Exotic and Baskin. Other cast members include Kyle MacLachlan as Howard Baskin, Brian Van Holt as John Reinke, Sam Keeley as John Finlay, Nat Wolf as Travis Maldonado, Marlo Kelly as Jamie Murdock, William Fichtner as Rick Kirkham, and Dean Winters as Jeff Lowe.
Showrunner, writer, and executive producer Etan Frankel previously shared a statement in which he explains how they wanted to bring a different and unexplored version of this well-known story to the screen and that McKinnon and Mitchell were the perfect actors to star in the titular roles:
“I hope that when people watch Joe vs Carole just maybe they'll see these people that they thought they knew in a brand-new way. We knew it would take two extraordinary actors to portray these larger-than-life people as the complex, three-dimensional individuals that they are. John Cameron Mitchell is one of the most gifted and thoughtful actors I've ever worked with. He cares so deeply about the work, and his performance is breathtaking. And Kate McKinnon is simply remarkable. She is able to make us double over with laughter one moment and then break our hearts the next. It was an absolute thrill to watch these two exceptional actors morph into these roles."
In addition to Frankel, McKinnon also executive produced the series along with Alex Katsnelson and Wondery’s Hernan Lopez, Marshall Lewy, and Aaron Hart. The co-directors for the series were Justin Tipping, who directed episodes 1,2,3,4, and 8, and Natalie Bailey, who directed episodes 5, 6, and 7.
You will be able to revisit the crazy cats and kittens when the series arrives on Peacock on Thursday, March 3. Check out the new images and trailer below:
