Detective Comedy From ‘Astronomy Club’ Duo Shawtane Bowen & Jerah Milligan Lands At HBO Max
EXCLUSIVE: Shawtane Bowen and Jerah Milligan, two of the members of the Astronomy Club comedy troupe, are teaming up again on a comedy about an all-Black detective agency for HBO Max.
The streamer is developing the untitled project with The Problem With Apu producer Cowboy Bear Ninja Productions.
Created by Bowen and Milligan, the comedy follows a group of self-described sleuths who unite to create Harlem’s last all-Black detective agency after an outbreak of petty crimes goes unsolved.
The pair previously starred in the Astronomy Club sketch show, which aired on Netflix.
Deadline revealed the project in June, which Bowen said the show had been informed by living in Harlem for eight years. “I had a lot of interactions with the cops,” he told Deadline. “I thought it’d be interesting to do a show on Harlem’s first and last all black detective agency.”
Milligan added that they wanted to make a show that was funny and silly. “We’re in a time where Black people, in particular, are getting a chance to venture out and not just do the same thing that we’ve been forced to do like playing a thug or a drug dealer so with [this show] we’ve got the opportunity to create a heightened world like Curb Your Enthusiasm or Reno 911.”
Michael Melamedoff from Cowboy Bear Ninja exec produces.
Bowen is repped by Innovative Artists and Schreck, Rose, Dapello & Adams and Milligan is repped by Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment, Innovative Artists and Schreck, Rose, Dapello & Adams.
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