James R | On 25, Jan 2020

Amazon is doing nothing with its plans to remake People Just Do Nothing for the US.

The series, which was announced in 2018, is based on the hit BBC Three mockumentary, which follows pirate radio station Kurupt FM.

The remake would relocate events to North Las Vegas, a town of “mini malls and vast parking lots, where the lights of The Strip act as a beacon of fame and glory that’s just out of reach”. The series tracked the stumbling ambitions of a working-class DJ group called Whet Desert, and explore how the relationships between their friends and family evolve as the reality of their dreams start to hit.

Jorge Diaz (The Long Road Home), Eliza Bennett (Sweet/Vicious), Andre Hyland (Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping), Conner McVicker (Vice Principals) and Amir Talai (LA to Vegas) were set to star in the show, written and exec-produced by Mehar Sethi, a writer for shows including It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and BoJack Horseman. Hugo Chegwin, Steve Stamp, Asim Chaudhry and Allan Mustafa, creators and stars of the original series, were also EPs on the project.

After a pilot, though, Amazon Studios has decided that the project will not go forward. Vernon Sanders, Co-Head, TV at Amazon Studios, told Deadline the news at the TCA winter press tour.

The good news is that the British original version, although it has ended its five-season run, is in production for a feature film that will see Kurupt FM head to Japan.

 

Amazon casts America’s Kurupt FM for People Just Do Nothing remake

8th December 2018

What would Kurupt FM look like if it was a radio station in America? Amazon Studios is giving us the answer in a new remake of BBC Three’s People Just Do Nothing.

A pilot for the comedy was ordered earlier this year and now, Amazon has found its cast for the project.

The remake will relocate events to North Las Vegas, a town of “mini malls and vast parking lots, where the lights of The Strip act as a beacon of fame and glory that’s just out of reach”. The series will track the stumbling ambitions of a working-class DJ group called Whet Desert, and explore how the relationships between their friends and family evolve as the reality of their dreams start to hit.

Deadline reports that those friends will be played by Jorge Diaz (The Long Road Home), Eliza Bennett (Sweet/Vicious), Andre Hyland (Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping), Conner McVicker (Vice Principals) and Amir Talai (LA to Vegas).

Diaz will play leader of the group Koyote, described as “a charming, handsome blowhard”, Bennett will play Krystal, Koyote’s hairdressing girlfriend and the mother of their daughter, Kitty, who also has a beauty blog. Hyland will play Beats, Koyote’s best friend, alongside McVicker as Brody, a drug-addled former pro skater and now an intern in the crew, and Talai as Farouk, a smalltime pedlar and owner of a local car garage.

The pilot is written and exec-produced by Mehar Sethi, a writer for shows including It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and BoJack Horseman. Chris Storer is directing the pilot and exec-produces with Sethi, Ash Atalla and Jon Petrie from Roughcut TV. Hugo Chegwin, Steve Stamp, Asim Chaudhry and Allan Mustafa, creators and stars of the original series, are also EPs on the project.

 

BBC Three’s People Just Do Nothing is being remade by Amazon

25th October 2018

BBC Three’s hit comedy series People Just Do Nothing is getting the remake treatment from Amazon Studios.

Co-created by and starring Allan Mustafa as MC Grindah and co-starring Hugo Chegwin as DJ Beats, what started as a mockumentary series on YouTube about pirate radio station Kurupt FM has been nurtured by the BBC, growing from a Comedy Feed pilot in 2012 to a flagship comedy – becoming the first BBC Three show to premiere in full on BBC iPlayer along the way. After three successful runs, the show was quickly renewed for a fourth and fifth season in 2016, going on to win the BAFTA for Best Scripted Comedy in May 2017. While that fifth season will be its last, though, the show may well live on across the pond, as Amazon Studios has ordered a pilot based on the series.

The remake would relocate events to North Las Vegas, a town of “mini malls and vast parking lots, where the lights of The Strip act as a beacon of fame and glory that’s just out of reach”. The series will track the stumbling ambitions of the working-class DJs and explore how the relationships between their friends and family evolve as the reality of peoples’ dreams starts to hit.

The pilot will be written and exec-produced by Mehar Sethi, a writer for shows including It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and BoJack Horseman. In a promising sign, Chegwin, Mustafa and their co-stars Asim Chaudhry and Steve Stamp will also exec-produce the pilot.

The news continues Amazon’s relationship with BBC Three, with Fleabag previously snapped up by Amazon Prime Video as an exclusive in the USA.

Season 5 of People Just Do Nothing, meanwhile, will air on BBC Two later this year, and will also be available online through BBC Three on BBC iPlayer.

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