With his U.S. movie career proving less successful than expected, irreverent British funnyman Russell Brand is opting to try his hand at television. Brand’s got two small-screen projects in the hopper for FX, one animated and one a topical talk show. According to Britain’s The Sun, the latter has been titled Strangely Uplifting, and will feature the recent divorcé (from pop star Katy Perry) giving “his take on current affairs, politics and popular culture.”
FX is rolling the dice that Brand, a big star in his native UK but never more than an amusing curiosity Stateside, will find the audience on the small-screen that has thus far eluded him on the big one. Best-known for his ill-fated marriage to Perry, the manically acerbic comedian enjoyed scene-stealing cameos in films like Forgetting Sarah Marshall but flopped with starring vehicles Arthur and Get Him to the Greek.
Brand’s television foray could fare little better than his film career: According to the Sun, Strangely Uplifting is scheduled to compete directly with Jon Stewart’s monolithic Daily Show, which has proven itself a ratings juggernaut for Comedy Central. Drawing eyeballs away from Stewart will be a difficult task indeed, even for a guy who once pleasured a homeless man on British television.
Source: The Sun
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