Have heard The News? Music legend Huey Lewis is getting his own TV show.
Deadline reports the Huey Lewis & The News frontman is set to star in and executive produce a “Curb Your Enthusiasm”-style mockumentary series. The half-hour comedy, titled “Whatever Happened to Huey Lewis,” is in development at Fox with backing from Jimmy Kimmel’s Kimmelot and Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment.
According to The Wrap, Lewis will play a fictionalized version of himself — much like Larry David on “Curb” — centered on his struggles to navigate his new life after losing his hearing. Lewis canceled a Central New York concert in 2018 and stopped touring altogether after being diagnosed with Meniere’s Disease, an inner ear disorder that can cause vertigo and hearing loss.
“With the help of his codependent family and eccentric celebrity friends, Huey will tackle this hilarious next phase with his signature Heart and Soul,” the show’s official logline says.
Huey Lewis attends “The Heart of Rock and Roll” special celebration performance at The James Earl Jones Theatre on Friday, April 19, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
Kirker Butler (”Only Murders In the Building,” “Family Guy”) is writing and executive producing the project. Lewis and Kimmel are longtime friends and “fly-fishing buddies,” according to Deadline.
Lewis, 74, is a Grammy-winning rock singer who sold more than 30 million albums with his backing band, The News, including hits like “Hip to Be Square,” “The Heart of Rock & Roll,” “I Want a New Drug” and the Oscar-nominated “Power of Love” from “Back to the Future.” The group most recently released the album “Weather” in 2000.
Lewis has also acted, appearing in “Back to the Future” and other movies and TV shows, including “Duets” (with Gwyneth Paltrow), “Hot in Cleveland,” “The King of Queens,” “The Blacklist” and “Just Shoot Me!” He played Billy Flynn in “Chicago” on Broadway and had his songs turned into the stage musical, “The Heart of Rock and Roll.”