After three decades in the Hollywood system, Reno 911! co-creator Robert Ben Garant is venturing outside of it for his next series, set in the world of satirical tabloid fixture Weekly World News.
The project, on which Garant will serve as co-showrunner/executive producer alongside frequent collaborator fellow Reno 911! alumna Cathy Shim, will film a six-episode season commissioned by Weekly World News Studios, which raised $2.5 million from six private investors to finance it. WWN Editor-In-Chief Greg D’Alessandro serves as writer and executive producer on the series, which is set to start production the first week of February in Simi Valley, California.
Shot in the improvised mockumentary style of Reno 911!, the comedy follows the reporters of Weekly World News, known for Bat Boy, alien encounters and Elvis sightings, as they track down stories too outside-the-box for “legacy” media. The reporters treat every assignment with complete seriousness, even as their compelling personalities and professional ambitions collide on the job. Through it all, they stay committed to delivering “The World’s Only Reliable News.”
This marks the first series for Garant since the Reno 911! revival for Quibi/Roku six years ago. He and Shim came close with workplace comedy Movers, which got a pilot order at FX last year but ultimately didn’t go to series. It was their third produced pilot since Reno 911! to not go the distance following Seoul Hunters for TruTV and Chasers for Comedy Central.
Amid a shrinking comedy space with few opportunities, the duo are looking to create one for themselves following the example of comedian Shane Gillis who also shot a six-episode season of his comedy Tiers independently before selling it to Netflix.
The producers of the WWN series plan to start pitching the series to platforms and other distributors once there is filmed footage. The series’ price point would make it suitable for any outlet, including basic cable networks which operate under financial constraints when picking up original programming.
Because of its improv nature, the series will be working off “scriptments,” which have been written. Based on the amount of improvisation, the season may go beyond six episodes. Because of the current minimum budget threshold of $1M an episode, the WWN series does not qualify for a California tax credit, but its producers wanted to use Los Angeles cast and crew instead of going to New Mexico or New Jersey.
“I grew up with Weekly World News. It’s made me laugh for a long time. Our take is that every story in the Weekly World News is true. If it made the paper, it happened.” Garant said. “So our reporters are busting their ass to report these incredible stories, but they all have chips on their shoulders because everyone thinks their paper is a joke.”
Adam Kolbrenner of Lit Entertainment produces alongside Joe Corcoran and Ken Denison, who will produce for Weekly World News Studios. Patrick White of Lit Entertainment will serve as co-producer and Grace Lovret of Weekly World News Studios will serve as executive producer.
“In a world where nobody knows what to believe, the reporters at Weekly World News have the advantage of believing absolutely everything,” D’Alessandro said. “Ben has an extraordinary ability to make absurd situations feel completely real, which makes him the perfect creative partner. Ben, Cathy and I want the audience to believe in these characters, even when they can’t believe what’s happening around them. And it’s all fact-checked by Bat Boy.”
Weekly World News Studios produced The Zombie Wedding, released in 2024, and is working on a documentary and a slate of film and television projects drawn from the Weekly World News library, including a live-action Bat Boy series, that was previously set up at Netflix.
The Weekly World News supermarket tabloid was published in print from 1979 to 2007. The brand has stayed live on social media since then.
Garant is repped by CAA, Artists First, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman. Shim is repped by Global Artists Agency, Artists First, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman. Weekly World News Studios and D’Alessandro are repped by Adam Kolbrenner of Lit Entertainment Group and Elsa Ramo of Ramo Law.