Apple is in final negotiations for a musical comedy that would star “SNL” cast member Cecily Strong.
The series revolves around a couple on a backpacking trip designed to reinvigorate their relationship who discover the magical town of Schmigadoon, in which everyone acts as if they’re in a studio musical from the 1940s. They then discover that they can’t leave until they find “true love.”
The untitled series is co-created by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio (“Despicable Me” franchise). Paul will serve as showrunner. Strong will produce in addition to star, and Daurio (“Despicable Me” franchise) will serve as consulting producer. “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels will executive produce under his Broadway Video production company.
Strong has been with “SNL” since 2012. She joins Aidy Bryant and Kenan Thompson as “SNL” cast members that have separate TV shows produced by Michaels. Bryant stars in Hulu’s “Shrill,” which premiered its second season this month, while Thompson is set to lead NBC’s “The Kenan Show” next season.
On Tuesday, Apple reported its first quarterly earnings since the launch of its Apple TV+, though the new streaming service was barely talked about during its call with analysts (no subscriber information was disclosed). Also this week, Apple signed Carmi Zlotnik, who is set to leave Starz as its programming president at the end of the week, to a producer deal.