IMDb Orders 2 Short-Form Comedy Series With Jay Pharoah, Nick Cannon, Tig Notaro, More

EXCLUSIVE: IMDb is moving further into original content production with two new short-form comedy series – Special Skills hosted by SNL alum Jay Pharoah, and Unmade, featuring comedians including Nick Cannon, Tig Notaro, Rainn Wilson, Weird Al, Reggie Watts and others. Both are produced by Electus’ Big Breakfast and are set to launch in early 2019.

Co-created by Luke Kelly-Clyne and Steve Marovitch, UnMade will follow comedians as they share the inspirations, plots and stories behind their projects and scripts that never saw the light of day. In each five-to-eight-minute episode, a celebrity guest will reveal a pitch or screenplay for an early passion project they were never able to get off the ground. These ambitious, often misguided and always hilarious ideas are then given a second chance, brought to life via a team of actors and a professional production crew. UnMade guest stars include Nick Cannon, Rainn Wilson, Tig Notaro, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Paul Rust, Jay Chandrasekhar, Reggie Watts, Bobby Moynihan, Kristen Schaal and others. You can watch a trailer below.

Kelly-Clyne, Jillian Vogel, Sammi Cohen and Drew Buckley executive produce for Big Breakfast, and Scott Roesch and Aaron Berman for IMDb.

In Special Skills, actor and comedian Jay Pharoah (SNL, White Famous) is on a mission to beef up the “special skills” section of his résumé, with the help of some famous friends. In each episode, Pharoah will attempt to learn a new skill, serving as pupil to another actor and/or comedian who is already an expert on the topic. Over the course of the series, a range of guest stars will help Pharoah master talents ranging from the essential (singing) to the ridiculous (cat wrangling).

Kelly-Clyne, Vogel and Buckley executive produce for Big Breakfast, and Roesch and Berman for IMDb. Jay Pharoah and Shaina Farrow also serve as executive producers.

“These hilarious yet informative comedy series are going to entertain fans while giving them a new perspective on the entertainment industry,” said Steve Bernstein, GM of IMDb Video. “Building on the success of other IMDb Originals including The IMDb Show, No Small Parts, Casting Calls and year-round event coverage, we are thrilled to team up with Big Breakfast and this amazing lineup of talent to continue expanding our original programming offerings.”

“These series are a great snapshot of Big Breakfast’s mission to produce original stories from the finest comedic minds in the business, and offer artists’ opportunities to showcase their various talents” added Big Breakfast Head of Development and Executive Producer Luke Kelly-Clyne. “We’re ecstatic to be collaborating with IMDb, the perfect home for these shows that spotlight the unique skills and lost projects of some of comedy’s biggest names.”

Big Breakfast is under the Electus umbrella, which was recently acquired by Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owen’s A+E Networks-backed Progagate.