Continuing its assault on the TV establishment, Netflix has secured another new original series. Dubbed Lady Dynamite, the Comedy will follow funny-woman Maria Bamford through a series of misadventures patterned loosely after her own life.
Sources have described the single-camera show as the “occasionally surreal” life of a character who “… loses — and then finds — her sh*t.”
Co-written by Mitch Hurwitz (Arrested Development) and Pam Brady (South Park), this series has quite the comedic pedigree. Both scribes have Emmys to their names and are well-respected within the industry.
Hurwitz, in particular, is a Netflix favorite and inked a multi-year production deal with the company back in 2014. The writer seems pretty fond of his employer as well. After signing the deal, he was quoted as saying “it is incredibly inspiring to get to produce for Netflix, a company that not only doesn’t resist change, but is leaps and bounds ahead of everyone in forging it.”
For those unfamiliar with Bamford, the actress has amassed over 70 credits, including a brief stint on Louie and a six-episode run as drug-addict Debrie Bardeaux on Arrested Development. She was also one of the comedians featured in the cult-favorite documentary The Comedians of Comedy, which also featured budding stars in Zach Galifianakis, Patton Oswald, and Brian Posehn.
Then, of course, there is The Special Special Special, a shot-at-home stand-up special where the comedian performs for an audience of two: Her parents. The result is as hilarious (and cringe-worthy) as you might expect. It’s available on Netflix.
Her newest gig will reportedly span 13 episodes and will help bolster Netflix’s rapidly expanding stable of shows. Back in January, Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos indicated that the streaming service may look to release as many as 20 scripted series each year.
Lady Dynamite has no premiere date as of yet, but Bamford posted on her Facebook page that the series began production on June 1.