“Kevin Can F**k Himself” Comes from Valerie Armstrong And Executive Producers Rashida Jones, Will McCormack And Craig DiGregorio
NEW YORK, NY, OCTOBER 1, 2019 – AMC today announced that it has greenlit two new series, thriller and courtroom drama “61st Street,” from BAFTA-winner Peter Moffat (“Criminal Justice” “The Night Of” “Your Honor”) and executive produced by Michael B. Jordan and Alana Mayo of Outlier Society (“Just Mercy” “David Makes Man”), and “Kevin Can F**k Himself,” from creator Valerie Armstrong (“Lodge 49,” “SEAL Team”) and executive producers Rashida Jones and Will McCormack through Le Train Train (“Claws,” “A to Z”) as well as Craig DiGregorio. Both series are produced by AMC Studios.
“61st Street,” which has been ordered as a two-season television event series with eight episodes per season, is a propulsive courtroom drama that follows Moses Johnson, a promising, black high school athlete, who is swept up into the infamously corrupt Chicago criminal justice system. Taken by the police as a supposed gang member, he finds himself in the eye of the storm as police and prosecutors seek revenge for the death of an officer during a drug bust gone wrong. Timely and provocative, “61st Street” is set against the systemic abuse happening in some of our country’s most vulnerable communities. Moffat will serve as showrunner and executive producer.
“Kevin Can F**k Himself,” probes the secret life of a type of woman we all grew up believing we knew: the sitcom wife. “Kevin Can F**k Himself” looks to break television convention and ask what the world looks like through her eyes. Alternating between single-camera realism and multi-camera comedy, the formats will inform one another as we imagine what happens when the sitcom wife escapes her confines and forces the world to let her take the lead. Craig DiGregorio (“Shrill” “Kevin (Probably) Saves the World”) will serve as showrunner and executive producer. “Kevin Can F**k Himself,” will consist of 8, hour-long episodes.
Said Sarah Barnett, President of AMC Networks Entertainment Group & AMC Studios:
“At AMC we believe in shows that have startling vision and fresh voice, with something to say. These two projects couldn’t be more in our sweet spot, as both have something big to say, and a genius way of saying it.
Timely and audacious, ‘61st Street’ combines the irresistible form of a courtroom drama with a bracingly provocative take on race in America today. The scripts are truly un-put-downable, and the ambition of this series is breathtaking. With a dream team on board of Peter Moffat and the Outlier Society team of Michael B. Jordan and Alana Mayo, we think ‘61st Street’ will electrify viewers. We are approaching this series as a two-season television event and ordering both seasons from the outset, evidence of how excited we are by this team’s vision.
Barnett continued, “How has nobody already told the story of the rage of the sitcom wife? Like all of the best ideas, it’s simple and brilliant in concept, and Valerie Armstrong’s vision is ingenious in execution. This show has smarts, humor, attitude and ferocious creativity. We’re so happy to be working again with her, along with Rashida Jones and Will McCormack and Craig DiGregorio, as we finally get to hear from the woman who has been the foil to sitcom ‘Kevins’ for decades.”
“61st Street is an important commentary and observation of those impacted by the complicated history of race and the criminal legal system in America,” said Outlier Society’s Michael B. Jordan and Alana Mayo. “Our admiration of Peter’s prior work and his personal experience with this subject matter are reasons we’re honored to be a part bringing it to life. We are lucky to have found an equally passionate partner in AMC.”
Peter Moffat said: “Having spent ten years at the criminal bar and the last two years researching deep inside the criminal justice system in Chicago, this is a story I’ve been waiting to write all my professional life. ‘61st Street’ is a thriller – supple plotting and dynamic storytelling are central to everything – but race, politics, history, jurisprudence, and police culture are all fundamental to what this project is about and broaden its scope into what I hope will be a story for our times. Working alongside Alana Mayo and Michael B. Jordan makes me happy and humble and I’m very grateful to AMC for their amazing support.”
“We are ecstatic to help bring Valerie’s one-of-a-kind voice and this timely, incisive story to the world along with our partners at AMC,” said Rashida Jones and Will McCormack.
Valerie Armstrong said: “I’m so thrilled that this weird little pilot I wrote in my pajamas is somehow going to be a weird little series. I’m forever grateful to AMC for seeing the potential in this character’s unconventional story, rather than being scared by it.”
About 61st Street
“61st Street” is executive produced by Michael B. Jordan and Alana Mayo of Outlier Society, and Hilary Salmon of BBC Studios (“MotherFatherSon,” “The Night Of,” “London Spy”). Peter Moffat serves as showrunner and executive producer.
About “Kevin Can F**k Himself”
“Kevin Can F**k Himself” is created by Valerie Armstrong (“Lodge 49,” “SEAL Team”) and executive producers Rashida Jones and Will McCormack through Le Train Train (“Claws,” “A to Z”). Craig DiGregorio (“Shrill” “Kevin (Probably) Saves the World”) is showrunner and executive producer.
“61st Street” and “Kevin Can F**k Himself” were developed as part of AMC’s “scripts-to-series” model, which opens writers’ rooms to develop potential series that, in success, move straight-to-series. AMC Studios Content Distribution will manage worldwide sales of “61st Street” and “Kevin Can F**k Himself.”
About AMC
AMC is home to some of the most popular and acclaimed programs on television. AMC was the first basic cable network to ever win the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama Series with Mad Men in 2008, which then went on to win the coveted award four years in a row, before Breaking Bad won it in 2013 and 2014. The network’s series The Walking Dead is the highest-rated series in cable history. AMC’s other current original drama series include Better Call Saul, Fear the Walking Dead, The Terror, Into the Badlands, Humans, Preacher, The Son, McMafia, Lodge 49, The Little Drummer Girl, NOS4A2 and the forthcoming Dispatches from Elsewhere and a new episodic anthology series from Will Bridges and Brett Goldstein. AMC also explores authentic worlds and discussion with original shows like Talking Dead, Talking with Chris Hardwick, AMC Visionaries and Ride with Norman Reedus. AMC is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc. and its sister networks include IFC, SundanceTV, BBC America and WE tv. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile.