Audible has ordered four more comedy podcasts from “Saturday Night Live” producer Broadway Video and has renewed its LGBTQ action-comedy “Hot White Heist” — with an all-queer cast led by “SNL” cast member Bowen Yang — for a second season.
The new slate of shows, set to hit Audible through starting later this month and into 2023, bring the number of Broadway Video projects at the Amazon-owned audio platform to 13 since they first began working together more than three years ago.
The comedy podcasts feature performances from actors including Chloe Fineman, David Harbour, Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg, Zach Galifianakis, Nick Kroll, Seth Meyers, Janelle James, Joshua Jackson, Matt Bomer, John Corbett, Rob Riggle, Tim Robinson and Nia Vardalos.
Harbour (“Stranger Things”), who stars in late-night spoof “Past My Bedtime,” said of the podcast, “It’s wild, silly, surprising, and funny as hell.” Fineman (“SNL”) stars in Broadway Video’s “Excessive,” commening, “I am very excited to be part of this project in Broadway Video’s new slate with Audible. I can’t wait for people to hear what we’ve been working on.”
All of the upcoming Broadway Video shows will be available as part of Audible Plus, the subscription service that starts at $7.95/month and provides unlimited access to thousands of audio titles.
In addition, starting Oct. 3, Audible is set to rerelease a selection of its original comedies on major third-party podcast platforms, available to listen to for free with ads. Titles include Broadway Video’s “Hot White Heist,” “Hit Job,” and “Heads Will Roll,” as well as “Sorry Charlie Miller” and “Summer in Argyle.”
“Audible and Broadway Video’s long time collaboration has allowed us to expand our production and IP into different genres and formats within comedy and audio entertainment,” commented Britta von Schoeler, president of Broadway Video Enterprises.
Rachel Ghiazza, EVP and head of U.S. content at Audible, praised Broadway Video’s “best-in-class comedic storytelling,” said that “our listeners have always gravitated toward Broadway Videos’ uniquely hilarious point of view and comedic spirit, which is consistently marked by prolific creators and esteemed casts.”
Season 2 of “Hot White Heist,” which Variety named one of the best new podcasts of 2021, is set to return for a second season in 2023. In the first season, a group of LGBTQ contemporaries attempts to steal the U.S. government’s sperm-bank deposits from some of history’s most brilliant minds — in the hopes of selling the genetic material on the black market to buy an island for a new queer paradise. Season 1 featured Bowen Yang, Alan Cumming, Cynthia Nixon, Shannon Woodward, Jane Lynch and Bianca Del Rio.
In the second season of “Hot White Heist,” Judy Fink (Yang) and his squad are back, and it turns out pulling off the perfect crime was only the beginning of their troubles. Investigative reporter Sarah Keebler is piecing together the team’s previous heist for her bombshell true-crime podcast. Can Fink and crew stop her? And why is a notoriously bloodthirsty gay billionaire so interested in the story? It turns out the ultimate heist will be getting themselves out of trouble, and they’re going to need all the help they can get.
“Hot White Heist” is created by Adam Goldman, who directs alongside Alan Cumming. The show is produced by Goldman, Cumming and Mark Valdez. Season 2 will have six episodes, with a total runtime of about 2.5 hours.
Here’s a rundown of other Broadway Video podcasts coming to Audible:
“Motivated!” premieres Sept. 22, 2022; 10 episodes (approx. 5 hours). Created and executive produced by Nia Vardalos and Rob Riggle. At WCAL, a small local radio station in Rochester, N.Y., a motley crew of novice talk show hosts keeping their station afloat as their two biggest stars duel to prove who gets the fame — and who is the fraud. Written by Nia Vardalos, Rob Riggle, Achilles Stamatelaky, Rae Sanni and Shukri Abdi. Produced by Mark Valdez. Directed by Achilles Stamatelaky. The cast includes Vardalos (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”), Riggle (“The Hangover”), Janelle James (“Abbott Elementary”), Charlyne Yi (“The Mitchells vs. the Machines”), Utkarsh Ambudkar (“Ghosts”), Boris Kodjoe (“Station 19”), “SNL” alums Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch, and Tom Hanks.
“Past My Bedtime: An Oral History of the Fastest Failure in Late Night History” premieres Nov. 3, 2022; 10 episodes (approx. 5 hours). Created and written by Max Silvestri and Leah Beckmann. Follows a forgotten (and invented) pop-culture footnote: the ill-fated 2003 premiere of the first late-night talk show to be hosted by a 10-year old boy, and the show’s abrupt cancellation six minutes into its live premiere. Obsessive narrator Phillip Jackal (Harbour) lost two decades of his life chasing Donnie Dixon’s true story down a rabbit hole, and now he’s ready to ask the tough questions: Where is Donnie now? Why has the government destroyed all evidence of what he did that night? And when will Phillip’s ex-wife admit she’s still in love with him? He doesn’t care how many lives he has to ruin to get the answers he wants. Cast includes Harbour, Zach Galifianakis, Whoopi Goldberg, Lennon Parham, D’Arcy Carden, Tim Robinson, Jenny Slate, Nick Kroll, Seth Meyers, Sam Richardson, John Early, Kate Berlant, Bob Balaban, Mae Whitman, Claudia O’Doherty, James Austin Johnson and John Levenstein. Produced by Austin Breslow, directed by Peter Grosz, and associate produced by Gabriella Mezzacappa.
“Michelle Rojas Is Not Okay” premieres Feb. 9, 2023; 9 episodes (approx. 2.5 hours). Created by Guillermo Zouain, Wendy Muñiz, and Jaime Fernandez. After getting fired for lashing out at co-workers and giving patients questionable advice at a renowned therapy practice in Connecticut, very burnt-out therapist Michelle Rojas moves back home to New York City’s primarily Dominican neighborhood of Washington Heights to start over. Except Michelle feels ashamed for being fired and fears being seen as a failure — so she lies and says she’s “expanding the practice,” embarking on a journey to start a practice with help from her cousin-neighborhood activist Dora and her childhood friend-bodega heir Niño. Cast is led by Dascha Polanco (“In the Heights,” “Orange Is the New Black”), The Kid Mero (“Desus and Mero”), Darlene Demorizi, Tracie Thoms (“Rent,” “Station 19”), Ruben Blades (“Fear the Walking Dead,” “Safehouse”), Laura Benanti (“Younger,” “Gossip Girl”) and Judy Reyes (“Scrubs,” “Claws”). Written and directed by Ashley Soto Paniagua, Guillermo Zouain, Wendy Muñiz and Jaime Fernandez. Produced by Dascha Polanco and Mark Valdez.
“Excessive” premieres early 2023; 10 episodes (approx. 5 hours). Created by Dan Robert. The series follows Paula O’Brien (Fineman, who also serves as executive producer) who has always been told she’s too much. After a humiliating turn at the wedding of her childhood best friend, Paula flees Connecticut to follow a series of signs to Las Vegas to find her twin flame. Enter Victor (Joshua Jackson): a criminally charming bachelor who Paula falls concussion-hard for. But when Victor ghosts her, he discovers the true meaning of too much when she sends thousands of unrequited texts — each message a new stop on this twisty journey through the dark side of romance and magic in Vegas. Cast includes Fineman, Jackson, Kim Cattrall, Meredith Hagner, Debbie Allen, Amy Sedaris, Loni Love, Guillermo Díaz, Emily Skeggs, Heidi Gardner, Alex Moffat, Larry Owens, Connor Ratliff, Dan Robert and Lisha Brooks. Written and directed by Dan Robert and Starlee Kine. Produced by Austin Breslow, Taylor Segal and Ari Lubet and associate produced by Gabriella Mezzacappa.
The upcoming titles will join the slate of scripted original comedy audio shows from the Audible and Broadway Video collaboration.
Those include “Hit Job” starring Keke Palmer and Pete Davidson; “Escape From Virtual Island” starring Paul Rudd, Jack McBrayer, Amber Ruffin and Paula Pell; “Heads Will Roll,” created by and starring Kate McKinnon and Emily Lynne, featuring Tim Gunn, Meryl Streep and Peter Dinklage; “64th Man,” starring John Cena and Anna Chlumsky; “Holiday Greetings From Sugar and Booze” starring Ana Gasteyer and Maya Rudolph; “Lem Can Help” starring Fred Armisen; and “Christmas Delivery” starring Gillian Jacobs and Sam Richardson.
