Audible & Broadway Video Announce New Slate of Comedy Podcasts

Written by John Edward Betancourt

One thing that fans of podcasts and scripted audio programming have noticed as of late, is that Audible is in the news often and understandably so. Because they are just releasing announcement after announcement regarding their programming lineup, as part of an effort to continue to bring those aforementioned fans, the best content possible and once again… they’re back in the headlines, courtesy of today’s announcement.

For earlier, Audible let the world know that they are bringing forth a bevy of new comedy podcasts with their longtime collaborator Broadway Video. In fact, they have so many lined up, that we can expect these new shows to extend well into 2023 and well, with that in mind… here is more on this wondrous announcement and the lineup in question… courtesy of Audible and Broadway Video.

‘Audible Inc., the leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, today announced a new slate of original comedy podcasts with longtime collaborators, Broadway Video Enterprises. In addition to new originals, Audible greenlit the second season of the hit Audible Original, Hot White Heist. Featuring an all-queer cast led by Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live), Hot White Heist, which was deemed “a playfully zany production with an all-star cast” byNPR’s ‘Fresh Air’ and “breezy summer fun” by The New Yorker, is set to return for a second season in 2023.
 
“We’re so grateful for our fruitful ongoing collaboration with Broadway Video who time and again creates best in class comedic storytelling” said Rachel Ghiazza, Executive Vice President, Head of US Content at Audible. “From the most recent success of Hot White Heist to some of our earlier collaborations like Heads Will Roll and 64th Man, our listeners have always gravitated toward Broadway Videos’ uniquely hilarious point of view and comedic spirit, which is consistently marked by prolific creators and esteemed casts.” 
 
“Audible and Broadway Video’s long time collaboration has allowed us to expand our production and IP into different genres and formats within comedy and audio entertainment. With writers and performers from many different fan bases and backgrounds, these series will appeal to a wide variety of listeners,” said Britta von Schoeler, President of Broadway Video Enterprises.
 
“I can’t wait to share Past My Bedtime with listeners. It’s wild, silly, surprising, and funny as hell,” said Past My Bedtime star David Harbour.
 
“I am very excited to be part of this project in Broadway Video’s new slate with Audible,” said Excessive star Chloe Fineman. “I can’t wait for people to hear what we’ve been working on.”
 
Find full details for the upcoming slate below:
 
Motivated! (September 22, 2022)
Created and Executive Produced by: Nia Vardalos and Rob Riggle
Written by: Nia Vardalos, Rob Riggle, Achilles Stamatelaky, Rae Sanni and Shukri Abdi
Produced by: Mark Valdez
Directed by: Achilles Stamatelaky
Cast: Nia Vardalos, Rob Riggle, Janelle James, Charlyne Yi, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Rizwan Manji, Rachel Dratch, Boris Kodjoe, Cheyenne Jackson, Matt Bomer, Tom Hanks, John Corbett, Wendi McClendon-Covey, Rob Huebel, Suzy Nakamura, Joel McHale, Ana Gasteyer, Parvesh Cheena, Alec Mapa, Jaime Camil, Charles Michaels Davis III and Michelle Collins.
Length: 10 episodes (approx. 5 hours)  

The best motivation is… rivalry! Candace “The Warrior” Wonder is a talk radio veteran whose mutual loathing is shared by her archenemy, a newbie radio talk show host, Misty “The Hunter'’ Carlisle. The two coworkers couldn’t be more different, but their similar motivational talk shows have them both convinced they were the first to come up with the idea. When a big-time national radio station expresses interest in buying only one of their shows, they’ll do anything to best each other in the ratings, even if it means sabotaging their own lives.

This darkly rich comedy, created by Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and Rob Riggle (The Hangover), features an all-star cast, including Janelle James (Abbott Elementary), Charlyne Yi (The Mitchells vs. The Machine), Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts), Boris Kodjoe (Station 19), SNL alums Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch… and Tom Hanks too!

Motivated! invites listeners to WCAL, a small local radio station in Rochester, NY with a motley crew of novice talk show hosts keeping their station afloat as their two biggest stars duel to prove who gets the fame – and who is the fraud. Motivated!takes us on the wild ride of the Candace vs Misty’s competition, a comedic crusade for power. Because Candace and Misty are…Motivated!
 
Past My Bedtime: An Oral History of The Fastest Failure in Late Night History (November 3, 2022)
Created & Written by: Max Silvestri and Leah Beckmann
Produced by: Austin Breslow
Directed by: Peter Grosz
Associate Produced by: Gabriella Mezzacappa  
Cast: David Harbour, Zach Galifianakis, Whoopi Goldberg, Lennon Parham, D’Arcy Carden, Tim Robinson, Jenny Slate, Nick Kroll, Seth Meyers, Sam Richardson, John Early, Kate Berlant, Bob Balaban, Mae Whitman, Claudia O’Doherty, James Austin Johnson, and John Levenstein
Length: 10 episodes (approx. 5 hours)

Past My Bedtime: An Oral History of The Fastest Failure in Late Night History is about a forgotten (and invented) pop culture footnote: the ill-fated 2003 premiere of the first late night talk show to be hosted by a 10-year old boy, and the show’s abrupt cancellation six minutes into its live premiere. Obsessive narrator Phillip Jackal (David Harbour) lost two decades of his life chasing Donnie Dixon's true story down a rabbit hole, and now he’s ready to ask the tough questions: Where is Donnie now? Why has the government destroyed all evidence of what he did that night? And when will Phillip's ex-wife admit she's still in love with him? He doesn’t care how many lives he has to ruin to get the answers he wants.
 
Michelle Rojas Is Not Okay (February 9, 2023)
Created by: Guillermo Zouain, Wendy Muñiz, and Jaime Fernandez
Written & Directed by: Ashley Soto Paniagua, Guillermo Zouain, Wendy Muñiz, and Jaime Fernandez
Produced by: Dascha Polanco and Mark Valdez
Cast: Dascha Polanco (In the Heights, Orange is the New Black), The Kid Mero (Desus and Mero), Darlene Demorizi (Vice, Fuse), Tracie Thoms (RENT, Station 19, 9-1-1), Ruben Blades (Fear the Walking Dead, Safehouse), Laura Benanti (Younger, Gossip Girl), Judy Reyes (Scrubs, Claws), and a full cast.
Length: 9 episodes (approx. 2.5 hours)

After getting fired for lashing out at co-workers and giving patients questionable advice at a renowned therapy practice in Connecticut, very burnt out therapist Michelle Rojas moves back home to New York City’s primarily Dominican neighborhood of Washington Heights to start over. Except, Michelle feels ashamed for being fired and fears being seen as a failure, so she lies and says she’s “expanding the practice.” Michelle Rojas Is Not Okay follows Michelle’s journey to start a practice with help from her cousin/neighborhood activist DORA and her childhood friend/bodega heir NIÑO, as she struggles to pierce through the fierce resistance to therapy in the community  but instead find ways to support each other when they need it most.
 
Excessive (Early 2023)
Created by: Dan Robert
Written & Directed by: Dan Robert and Starlee Kine
Executive Produced by: Chloe Fineman
Produced by: Austin Breslow, Taylor Segal, and Ari Lubet
Associate Produced by: Gabriella Mezzacappa
Cast: Chloe Fineman, Joshua Jackson, Kim Cattrall, Meredith Hagner, Debbie Allen, Amy Sedaris, Loni Love, Guillermo Díaz, Emily Skeggs, Heidi Gardner, Alex Moffat, Larry Owens, Connor Ratliff, Dan Robert, and Lisha Brooks
Length: 10 episodes (approx. 5 hours) 

Excessive follows Paula O’Brien (Chloe Fineman) who has always been told she’s too much. After a humiliating turn at the wedding of her childhood best friend, Paula flees Connecticut to follow a series of signs to Las Vegas to find her twin flame. Enter Victor (Joshua Jackson): a criminally charming bachelor who Paula falls concussion-hard for. But when Victor ghosts her, he discovers the true meaning of too much when she sends thousands of unrequited texts—each message a new stop on this twisty journey through the dark side of romance and magic in Vegas.
 
Hot White Heist - Season 2 (2023)
Created by: Adam Goldman 
Directed and Produced by: Alan Cumming and Adam Goldman
Produced by: Mark Valdez
Cast: Bowen Yang and Full Cast 
Length: 6 episodes (approx. 2.5 hours) 
​
Judy Fink (Bowen Yang) and his all-queer heist squad are back, and it turns out pulling off the perfect crime was only the beginning of their troubles. Investigative reporter Sarah Keebler is piecing together the team's previous heist for her bombshell true crime podcast - but why? And how can they stop her? And why is a notoriously bloodthirsty gay billionaire so interested in the story? It turns out the ultimate heist will be getting themselves out of trouble, and they're going to need all the help they can get. 
 
This new slate comes as Audible is set to re-release a selection of Audible Original comedies on third-party platforms, sharing the uniquely-Audible approach to comedy with even more listeners, for free, beginning on October 3. Titles include Broadway Video comedies, Hit Job, Hot White Heist and Heads Will Roll, as well as Sorry Charlie Miller and Summer in Argyle. Find them on all major podcast providers soon.
 
These titles will join the slate of audio-only scripted original comedy series to come from the Audible and Broadway Video collaboration, including Hit Job starring Keke Palmer and Pete Davidson, New York Times Audio Fiction Best-Seller Escape from Virtual Island starring Paul Rudd, Jack McBrayer, Amber Ruffin and Paula Pell; New York Times Audio Fiction Best-Seller Heads Will Rollcreated by and starring Kate McKinnon and Emily Lynne, featuring Tim Gunn, Meryl Streep and Peter Dinklage; 64th Man, starring John Cena and Anna Chlumsky; and Holiday Greetings from Sugar and Booze starring Ana Gasteyer and Maya Rudolph, Lem Can Helpstarring Fred Armisen and Christmas Delivery starring Gillian Jacobs and Sam Richardson.
 
ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.
Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, offering customers a new way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible content includes more than 700,000 audio programs from leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers.
 
ABOUT BROADWAY VIDEO
Broadway Video is a global media and entertainment company focused on the creation and distribution of premier content. Founded by Lorne Michaels in 1979, Broadway Video’s legacy originated with the cultural icon Saturday Night Live. Broadway Video has since built a stable of television programs including The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Documentary Now!, Schmigadoon, MacGruber, The Kids in the Hall, The Other Two, Portlandia, and 30 Rock, feature films and live theater such as Mean Girls, as well as podcasts such as Heads Will Roll and Hot White Heist. Broadway Video has also created and launched the digital studios Above Average and Más Mejor, which celebrates LatinX talent and stories. Broadway Video manages worldwide licensing and distribution of the company’s IP library.’​

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