FX preps Peep Show again

FX is taking another stab at a US version of Peep Show, and has ordered a pilot from Atlanta and What We Do in the Shadows creative Stefani Robinson.

The cable network said Robinson’s pilot will “take inspiration” from the original but will not look to make a carbon copy. The adaptation of the cult Channel 4 comedy will feature female leads and “follows the relationship between a long-suffering assistant and her boss, an emotionally unstable tech entrepreneur.”

The Objective Media Group-produced (OMG) original, which ran for nine series between 2003 and 2015, explored the story of university friends and flat-mates Mark Corrigan and Jeremy “Jez” Usborne – played by David Mitchell and Robert Webb – as they led wildly differing lifestyles to unequal amounts of failure and success.

It was devised by Succession creator Jesse Armstrong and his writing partner Sam Bain, and co-starred Olivia Colman. It also helped propel the career of Matt King, who played Jez’s sometime confidante Super Hans.

FX Productions is behind the US pilot. Robinson will exec produce, in addition to writing, alongside Dianne McGunigle, Armstrong and Bain. Hannah Mackay and Ben Farrell, of OMG label Objective Fiction which produced the original, will also exec produce.

It is the latest in a string of attempts to rework the cult comedy. Disney-owned FX previously had a script in development in 2019 from Superstore and Community alum Karey Dornetto, which also replaced the main characters with female leads.

Fellow cabler Starz and broadcast network Fox also made short-lived attempts to adapt the series in 2016 and 2005, respectively.

FX and Robinson have had success in adapting high-profile comedy IP for the small screen, with cult film What We Do in the Shadows having run for four series as a TV revamp. The show, which stars Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Kayvan Novak, Harvey Guillen and Mark Proksch, has been recommissioned for a fifth and sixth series.