Joel McHale & Beck Bennett To Star In ‘Office Race’; Comedy Central Sets Premiere For Feature Film

EXCLUSIVE: Joel McHale and Beck Bennett are starring in a new TV movie that is set to debut on Comedy Central.

The pair are fronting Office Race, which also stars Kelsey Grammer, Alyson Hannigan and J.B. Smoove.

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Office Race centers around an unambitious office worker (Bennett) who goes to great lengths—specifically 26.2 miles—to one up his exercise-obsessed, micromanaging boss (McHale).

The film, which debuts on September 4 at 8pm, is directed by newcomer Jared Lapidus, who wrote it with Impractical Jokers writer James Kilmoon. It marks their feature film debut.

Kylie Bunbury (Big Sky), Erinn Hayes (A Christmas Story Christmas), Geoffrey Arend (500 Days of Summer), Katlyn Carlson (iCarly), Matt Richards (That Damn Michael Che) and Karolena Theresa (You Hurt My Feelings) also star.

SNL star Bennett will play Pat, a passionless pushover who coasts aimlessly through life until he’s goaded into running a marathon and soon discovers his love for the sport. Animal Control star McHale will play Spencer, Pat’s co-worker and rival, who’s a brown-nosing fitness fanatic with zero self-awareness and a crippling addiction to a quasi-legal sports drink.

Buffy The Vampire star Hannigan will play Girlfriend Pat, Pat’s same-named girlfriend, who’s growing weary of his lackadaisical approach to life. Frasier’s Grammer will play Coach B, Julie’s former high-school track coach and oft-injured marathoner who owns a local running store. Curb Your Enthusiasm star Smoove will play Harry, a former world champion race-walker, who touts the purity of his niche sport and thumbs his nose at the running community.

Hayes will play Rita, a potential investor in Pat’s company and the relentlessly positive, running gear-obsessed captain of the charity running team. Arend will play Don, an emo-adult who’s desperate for companionship and to be recognized for all his charitable efforts, which he’s more than happy to tell you about. Theresa will play Olivia, Pat and Spencer’s bubbly co-worker, who’s more into running clothes than the running itself. Carlson will play Kiki, Harry’s hyper-competitive muse, who’s unafraid to turn running into a contact sport, and will do whatever it takes to win. Bunbury will play Julie, Pat’s smart, dynamic, refreshingly honest teammate and eventual coach, and maybe something more. Richards will play Dave, Pat’s fun-loving best friend who enjoys marathons…of his favorite films, and enables Pat’s laid back lifestyle.

Shot before the strikes, the film is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and co-produced by Above Average and Believe Entertainment Group. Ally Engelberg, Marc Lieberman and Brian Hunt serve as producers and James Kilmoon, Jared Lapidus, Dan Goodman and William H Masterson III serve as Executive Producers. Janee Dabney and Ari Pearce executive produce for MTV Entertainment Studios.

Kristyn Deignan and Bola Fapohunda are supervising producers, with Donny Hugo Herran and Carlos Lugo serving as executives in charge of production.

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