Mike Myers Is Back And He Is Playing SEVEN Different Characters For A New Netflix Series
Ken Jeong (“Crazy Rich Asians,” “Community”), Keegan-Michael Key (“Schmigadoon,” “The Prom,” “Lion King”), Debi Mazar (“Goodfellas,” “Younger”), Richard McCabe (“The Audience,” “Eye in the Sky”), Jennifer Saunders (“Absolutely Fabulous,” “Death on the Nile”), and Lydia West (“Years and Years,” “It’s a Sin”) will all appear alongside Myers in the series, with Myers set to play seven new characters himself. Production is currently underway on the six-episode show.
In the half-hour series, five men have been working to influence world events for the greater good since the Black Plague of 1347. As the show begins, one unlikely Canadian journalist finds himself embroiled in a mission to uncover the truth and just possibly save the world himself.
Telling me that you're getting anyone to play multiple characters in a comedy show or series isn't something that really tickles my fancy. That comedic device has sort of been left in the past with actors who nailed it like Eddie Murphy and Myers, and that is probably for the best. However, maybe that kind of throwback will be something that is back in fashion for us! Comedy movies are basically dead, and all the best material from the genre has been coming from TV series anyway. So take this older device and apply it to a more modern comedy, and maybe we got something.
'The Pentaverate' is something that Myer's character Stuart(the main character's father, both of which are played by him) mentioned in the 1993 movie 'So I Married an Axe Murderer'.
Stuart Mackenzie : Well, it's a well known fact, Sonny Jim, that there's a secret society of the five wealthiest people in the world, known as The Pentavirate, who run everything in the world, including the newspapers, and meet tri-annually at a secret country mansion in Colorado, known as The Meadows.
Tony Giardino : So who's in this Pentavirate?
Stuart Mackenzie : The Queen, The Vatican, The Gettys, The Rothschilds, *and* Colonel Sanders before he went tits up. Oh, I hated the Colonel with is wee *beady* eyes, and that smug look on his face. "Oh, you're gonna buy my chicken! Ohhhhh!"
I don't think that movie is going to have a big impact on this series, but apparently that throwaway line had a big impact on Myers if he wanted to run with this. The series is going to be directed by Tim Kirkby, who has directed episodes of VEEP, Brockmire, Fleabag, Brooklyn 99 and more which is promising. I think what might be more pressing to you guys, though, is what happened to Mike Myers.
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Mike Myers is a guy that near the top of the world for the better part of two decades. Waynes World, Shrek and Austin Powers were monsters! His run on SNL with the 1990-95 crew is still considered to be one of the best in the shows history. So why did he suddenly fall off the map? Well, the answer is more complicated than just "The Love Guru sucked ass".
In 2000, Myers backed out of the production 'Dieter' based on the SNL sketch 'Sprockets". Universal sued him, and ended up dropping the lawsuit after Myers promised to do a different project with them. That project ended up being the live action Cat in the Hat
Go forward to 2003, and 'The Cat in the Hat' got roooooooasted with Myers taking most of the blame for its failure. Over the next few years, some of his co-stars came out with details about his behavior during the production. One said that he was a diva that micromanaged the entire movie, and also had a PA who followed him around all day feeding him chocolates out of a Tupperware container. Others said he was difficult, threatening or worse.
Go forward to 2008, 'The Love Guru' does, in fact, suck ass. Myers was the producer, writer and star of a movie that loses Paramount over $20 million. After that, we didn't really see much out of Myers except in small roles like 'Inglorious Basterds' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.
During this 8 year hiatus from movies, he said that he mostly focused on being a dad. He had three kids during this period and was there for them growing up. Whatever you wana say about him being a dickhead on set, I respect that. Like Rico says…
If you wana know more about Myers hiatus, I recommend reading this Looper article.
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