old men yell at things

A New Comedy Starring Old White Men? Groundbreaking.

Baldwin and Grammer, together at last? Oi.

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Fresh in from the “who asked for this?” desk comes news that ABC has given a straight-to-series order for a new multi-camera comedy starring Alec Baldwin and Kelsey Grammer, to be produced by Modern Family co-creator Chris Lloyd. That’s right, as marginalized groups scramble and fight for more representation, we’re getting a new comedy about old white men, and bonus, the cast is made of terrible people.

Here’s the description of the show from The Hollywood Reporter.

Written by Lloyd and his longtime Modern Family cohort Vali Chandrasekaran, the series revolves around three guys who were roommates in their 20s until their warring egos drove them apart who reunite decades later for one more run at the lives they’ve always wanted.

First off … what does that mean? “Run at the lives they’ve always wanted?” Both Grammer and Baldwin are in their sixties and so I’m assuming this will be some show where at least one (more likely both) of them have been divorced by wives who knew they could do better and will waste all their time in this show chasing after improbably hot, younger women because that’s always how these things go. Baldwin will play snide and sleazy. And given Grammer’s brand and political leanings, odds are also high that he’ll be playing a fatuous, conservative blowhard so he doesn’t have to act much.

Yes, in case you didn’t know or have forgotten, Kelsey Grammer is an outspoken conservative and kind of terrible in a lot of respects. He’s praised Trump, which puts him in the illustrious company of Jon Voight, Roseanne Barr, and more. Alec Baldwin for his part has faced charges for assault and other allegations of horribleness … so this really feels like a great pairing of guys who should honestly instead be easing into retirement with whatever goodwill they have left.

But it’s not just these stale actors still getting work that’s annoying here. It’s the fact that they are just being given another show when there are so many less well-known, less terrible, less male, and less white actors and creators out there. If Hollywood continues to throw money at the same 30 old white men, how are we ever going to see meaningful systemic change in regards to representation anytime soon? This isn’t just boring, it’s exhausting and frustrating.

But I guess Hollywood is gonna Hollywood and we’ll have to deal with Three White Men Who Are Babies or whatever it will be called in the 2021 season.

(via: The Hollywood Reporter, Images: Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive; Shutterstock)

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Jessica Mason
Jessica Mason (she/her) is a writer based in Portland, Oregon with a focus on fandom, queer representation, and amazing women in film and television. She's a trained lawyer and opera singer as well as a mom and author.