David Farnor | On 03, Jul 2018

YouTube has ordered a new sci-fi anthology series from Jordan Peele.

Called Weird City, the series is set in the not-too-distant future metropolis of Weird, with each standalone episode exploring present day issues through the prism of science fiction and comedy.

The series is written by the Get Out creator and the Emmy-nominated Charlie Sanders, who has worked on Peele’s sketch show, Key and Peele. Adam Bernstein (‪Fargo‬, Scrubs, 30 Rock) will direct the first two episodes, with Jose Molina (The Tick, Marvel’s Agent Carter, Sleepy Hollow) attached as showrunner.

That combination of names has been enough to bag a straight to series green light from YouTube, with six episodes commissioned. The order comes as YouTube looks to boost the content and appeal of its subscription service YouTube Red, recently rebranding it as YouTube Premium and finally launching it in the UK last month. The series also joins a growing number of anthology projects in the online video arena, from Apple’s upcoming reboot of Spielberg’s Amazing Stories and Amazon’s Electric Dreams to Netflix’s Black Mirror.

Weird City will be produced by Peele’s Monkey Paw Productions, alongside Sonar Entertainment, Mosaic and Raskal Productions. Peele, Sanders, Molina and Bernstein will all serve as executive producers, along with Monkeypaw’s Win Rosenfeld, Sonar’s Tom Lesinski and Jenna Santoianni, Mosaic’s Sam Hansen and Jimmy Miller, and Raskal’s Linda Morel.

“We are thrilled to be in business with Jordan, Charlie and Jose, who have brilliantly created a highly entertaining satire that will be a timely send up of modern society,” said Susanne Daniels, Global Head of Original Content, YouTube, in a statement. “We are excited to partner with Sonar Entertainment and all of the innovative storytellers behind Weird City to push boundaries and redefine what a comedy series can be.”

“Writer/creator Charlie Sanders and I collaborated on some Key & Peele sketches that took on everything from the ‘Black Republicans’ to ‘Continental Breakfasts’ to ‘Family Matters’,” added Peele. “Now, with YouTube we present a series of comedy driven twisted-ass science fiction stories that take place in a world close to ours but just a little bit off.”

The series will premiere exclusively on YouTube Premium in 2019.

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