Vanessa Bayer’s Showtime comedy is finally going forward with a series order. The series, now titled “I Love This for You,” stars Bayer and fellow “SNL” alum Molly Shannon.
The project, previously titled “Big Deal,” has been in the works since 2018.
Inspired by Bayer’s own story of overcoming childhood leukemia, “I Love This for You” centers on Joanna Gold (Bayer), who dreams of becoming a host at a home-shopping channel. Working to shed her lifelong label as “that cancer girl,” she moves away from her parents, starts a budding romance for the first time in her adult life and forms a meaningful friendship with her idol Jackie — all against the backdrop of a highly competitive workplace run by an unstable billionaire, where people play dirty to succeed.
Shannon appears as Jackie, the charismatic star of the network; Paul James as Jordan, a charming but dry stage manager; Ayden Mayeri as Beth Ann, an ambitious but insecure host; Matt Rogers as Darcy, the ingratiating right-hand man to the CEO; and Emmy nominee Punam Patel as Beena, an offbeat backstage producer.
“Vanessa Bayer channels her beloved personality into an underdog part that is both close to her heart and universally relatable,” Jana Winograde, president of entertainment for Showtime, said. “Combined with the immense talents of executive producers Jeremy Beiler, Jessi Klein and Michael Showalter and a tremendous cast, Vanessa’s comedic brilliance as a performer, co-creator and executive producer have yielded an offbeat, emotional and laugh-out-loud series that we can’t wait to bring to our Showtime audiences.”
”I’m so thrilled to be making this show with Showtime and that all of my hours of home shopping as a kid are finally paying off!” Bayer added. “It’s been an absolute dream, and my co-creator, Jeremy Beiler, and I are so grateful to the entire creative team we feel so lucky to work with.”
Bayer co-created the comedy with Jeremy Beiler, and the two will executive produce alongside showrunner Jessi Klein. Other executive producers include Michael Showalter, who will also direct, and Annapurna’s Megan Ellison and Sue Naegle and Jordana Mollick of Semi-Formal.
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