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Matthew Perry not through with television

By fred | June 19, 2008

A couple of years ago already, Matthew Perry tried to come back on television, it was through Aaron Sorkin’s latest series, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, and he was coming back with the great Bradley Whitford. On paper it had everything to become a great success, but that not really how things turned out, the show ended up being a complete mess and was canceled by NBC soon enough.

“Screw the main networks, I’m going where the new quality stuff are nowadays!” did not say Perry, but he will still be coming back on Showtime. The network ordered a new dark comedy, The End Of Steve, which will be both written and produced by Matthew Perry and Peter Tolan. That’s right, Perry won’t only be in front of the camera but also involved behind the scenes.

Showtime already ordered a pilot from Sony Pictures TV for this new half-hour show, in the vein of Californication but hopefully much better, as in actually good.

Perry will star as the main character, an egomaniacal local talk show host who is on a reluctant path to redemption, as well as looking for love with the station’s morning show host. Which, again, kinda sounds like a mess of a writer willing to redeem himself and get back with his ex, aka the plot of Californication.

But hopefully Perry and Tolan, who co-created and executive produces FX’s Rescue Me and was nominated for writing and directing on the show, and also won an Emmy for the series finale of Larry Sanders, will manage to keeps things good even after the pilot. Showtime president of entertainment Robert Greenblatt is convinced he’s got a winning duo : “Tolan and Perry, a twisted match made in heaven! I’ve been trying to get into business with Peter Tolan for literally 20 years, so my persistence finally paid off. And I couldn’t be happier than to have him co-creating this bitingly funny character with Matthew Perry, who seems born to play this character better than anyone I can think of.”

It seems Matthew Perry is really willing putting the goofiness of Chandler Bing behind him, as this role is said to be unlike anything he has played so far. “This role will show fans that he can be not only funny but also reach to some dark places. It will be a departure from the way America thinks of Matthew. This is the beginning of a really exciting journey.” said Sony Pictures TV co-president Zack Van Amburg.

In fact, one of the first words said to be heard from Perry’s character is one that looks like “count”, only there’s no “O” in it.

After Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip it seems Perry really isn’t through with TV, coming back not as a writer but as a host, only this time he’ll actually be doing some writing. I don’t know about you, but I am really looking forward to this new show. Perry is a great actor, and not just for comedy, and I can’t wait to enjoy what will hopefully be some dark, twisted humor every week.

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Shows: The End Of Steve