Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence struck gold again with Ted Lasso, somehow turning a commercial for a TV network’s sports coverage into one of the most heartwarming shows on streaming services. And now Apple seems primed to give Lawrence a crack at success with another interesting concept, this one based on a bestselling novel.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lawrence’s next project will be turning the novel Bad Monkey into a TV series, with Vince Vaughn in the lead role.
Written by Lawrence, Bad Monkey revolves around Andrew Yancy (Vaughn), a one-time detective who was demoted to restaurant inspector in Southern Florida. A severed arm found by a tourist out fishing pulls Yancy into the world of greed and corruption that decimates the land and environment in Florida and the Bahamas. And yes, there’s a monkey.
THR reported that Vaughn will also serve as executive producer for the series, which will mark his first on-screen TV work since the second season of True Detective. The 10-episode crime drama is based on the 2013 bestseller by Carl Hiaasen, a book that is loaded with the kind of darkly comic moments that should play to both Lawrence and Vaughn’s strengths. This is all very intriguing.
Also intriguing: the report notes that Lawrence’s overall deal with Apple is being “re-negotiated” after the success Lasso has seen, which is currently rolling out its second season in weekly episodes. If things go well with Bad Monkey, well, we’re gonna need a bigger money truck for the writer and showrunner.