TruTV Expands ‘Impractical Jokers’ Franchise, Renews ‘The Misery Index’ For Season 3, Adds 10 More Episodes Of ‘Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party’
WarnerMedia continues to build on the strength of truTV’s flagship franchise Impractical Jokers. The company has ordered a third season of TBS’ The Misery Index and 10 additional episodes of truTV’s remotely shot Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party. Additionally, truTV’s first feature length film Impractical Jokers: The Movie will make its streaming premiere on HBO Max on September 1.
“The Impractical Jokers franchise continues to deliver each and every time,” said Brett Weitz, General Manager of TNT, TBS and truTV. “The plan is continue to grow their business from an incredibly solid foundation and deliver to a passionate fanbase that’s second to none.”
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The popular line-up of programming featuring Joe Gatto, James “Murr” Murray, Brian “Q” Quinn and Sal Vulcano, collectively known as comedy troupe The Tenderloins, has been a ratings draw across the board. Production is set to resume late this month on season 9 of Impractical Jokers starring The Tenderloins. The series, ranked as cable’s No. 1 unscripted comedy in 2020, is produced by NorthSouth Productions with Charlie DeBevoise, Pete McPartland Jr., Gatto, Murray, Quinn and Vulcano serving as executive producers.
Production on the third season of The Misery Index is set to begin this fall, with Jameela Jamil returning as host, along with the cast of Impractical Jokers as panelists. The second half of Season 2 is set to air on TBS in October.
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Inspired by the card game Sh*t Happens, in The Misery Index, teams compete against each other by attempting to rate hilarious and miserable real-life events based on the “misery index”, a ranking system created by a team of therapists.
The Misery Index was developed by comedy writer Andy Breckman, along with Ben & Dan Newmark for Grandma’s House Entertainment. The series is produced by Grandma’s House Entertainment, with the Newmarks serving as executive producing alongside Breckman, Gatto, Murray, Quinn, Vulcano, Michael Bloom for Bongo Pictures, Howard Klein for 3 Arts Entertainment, and Jack Martin, who also serves as showrunner.
Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party, spawned amid the coronavirus-related Hollywood production shutdown, ranks as cable’s No. 1 new unscripted comedy series. The 10 additional episodes, set to air in the fall, will expand on the remote format as the cast safely, and hilariously, connect with each other and their beloved neighborhoods. Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party is produced by Bongo Pictures, with Michael Bloom executive producing alongside Chris Wagner, Quinn, Murray, Gatto, Vulcano and DeBevoise.
2020 also marked truTV’s first feature length film Impractical Jokers: The Movie, which will debut on HBO Max on September 1. The film opened in February with the week’s highest per-screen average of all major theatrical releases with 2.6 million at 357 theaters. In week two, the feature was expanded to almost 1,900 theaters, reaching fans of the franchise across the country.
The film follows the four lifelong friends and comedians in a fictional story of a humiliating high school mishap from the early nineties. Featuring appearances from Paula Abdul, Jaden Smith, and Joey Fatone, the movie combines the fictional narrative with real life footage of over-the-top punishments and callbacks to classic moments from the series. Once the guys from the Impractical Jokers hit the road, they compete in hidden camera challenges for the chance to turn back the clock and find redemption.
Produced by Funny Or Die and directed by Chris Henchy (Daddy’s Home, Eastbound & Down), Impractical Jokers: The Movie is produced by Gatto, Murray, Quinn, Vulcano, Henchy, and Funny Or Die’s Jim Ziegler and Buddy Enright. Executive producers include Jack Rovner and Funny Or Die’s Mike Farah and Joe Farrell.
“We’re excited to continue growing the Impractical Jokers franchise with WarnerMedia. We’re excited to use the word franchise. Each new project or season, we are pushing ourselves to make it bigger, better and funnier than the last,” said The Tenderloins. “Thanks to our insanely loyal fans over the past year, we’ve really been able to stretch ourselves and have had a blast bringing projects to life, including our first feature film and a TV show filmed from our separate homes. Whether its Impractical Jokers, Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party, The Misery Index or something new, we’re thrilled to keep working with each other and making people laugh.”
The Tenderloins are repped by Vector Management, UTA, and Danny Passman of Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown, & Passman.
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