James R | On 23, Apr 2015

Get ready, world. Tom Haverford has made it to the big time: Aziz Ansari is reportedly getting his own comedy series on Netflix.

The comedian has won over audiences worldwide with his sleazy supporting role in NBC’s Parks and Recreation – “Whenever Leslie asks me for the Latin names of any of our plants, I just give her the names of rappers. Those are some Diddies. Those are some Bone Thugs-N-Harmoniums, right here. Those Ludacrises are coming in great.” – but Aziz is no stranger to the VOD service: he already has stand-up shows available to stream under Netflix’s original banner. Now, though, he will reteam with Parks and Rec’s co-creator Mike Schur and co-EP Alan Yang for a new project.

The untitled series will include other comedy names such as Jon Benjamin (soon to be seen in Netflix’s Wet Hot American Summer reboot), Lena Waithe (The Comeback), Eric Wareheim (Tim and Eric Awesome Show), SNL’s Noel Wells (SNL) and Bob’s Burgers writer Kelvin Yu. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show is rumoured to be based loosely on Ansari’s own life.

The half-hour series will span 10 episodes with The Spectacular Now’s James Ponsoldt on directing duties.

Universal Television are producing – the studio behind Parks and Rec – along with 3 Arts. While Ansari will be following up his recently added special Buried Alive – which was filmed on a tour that visited New York, London and Sydney – the series will also mark a second original project from Universal and Netflix: their show Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (dammit) moved from NBC to the streaming site earlier this year.

The deal also adds to an ever-expanding string of original comedy developed by Netflix, from Jane Fonda/Lily Tomlin vehicle Grace and Frankie (out next month) to the recently announced reboot of Full House (Fuller House), a sketch show starring Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, plus Judd Apatow’s Love and Will Arnett’s Flaked.

Production on the Ansari series is reportedly already underway.

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