Huey Lewis Mockumentary comedy set at Fox from Jimmy Kimmel & Kapital
EXCLUSIVE: Huey Lewis is ready to give fans a glimpse into his life, Curb Your Enthusiasm-style. The rock star will executive produce and headline Whatever Happened To Huey Lewis. He will play a fictionalized self in the half-hour comedy mockumentary. The single-camera film, currently in development, is a collaboration between Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment and Jimmy Kimmel Kimmelot, as well as Fox Entertainment Studios.
Kirker Butler, who wrote and produced Only Murders In The Building (Another Murder in the Building), follows the rock legend Huey as he adjusts to his new life following his loss of hearing. Huey’s codependent family and eccentric celebrities friends will help him tackle this next hilarious phase.
Kaplan executive produces for Kapital; Kimmel & Scott Lonker for Kimmelot. Kevin Marco is Kapital’s creative executive.
Lewis and Kapital had previously collaborated on an hour-long anthology, where each season was designed to be a romantic story that was inspired by Lewis’s music. Fox was chosen to develop the project in 2021 after a highly competitive process. Lewis and Kimmel have been friends for many years and are fly-fishing partners. Kaplan and Kimmelot are also collaborating on The Home – a comedy inspired by the MPTF Residential Community. It is expected to be released to the market soon.
Lewis, a Grammy winner and member of Huey Lewis & The News, has sold more than 30 million albums. They have also had a string of Top 10 hits over the years. These include “The Heart of Rock & Roll,” I Want a New Drug,” and the Oscar nominated and chart-topping song “Power of Love” (from Back to the Future). Weather is the first album of new material from the band in almost two decades. The Broadway musical The Heart of Rock and Roll featuring the band’s music had a run this year.
Lewis was an actor who played Billy Flynn on Broadway in the musical Chicago. Lewis also starred in Duets, a movie with Gwyneth Paley. He had a role in Hot in Cleveland. In 2015, he repeated his Back To The Future cameo in a skit with Michael J. on Jimmy Kimmel. Fox and Christopher Lloyd marked the day Doc and Marty travelled to the future in a second film from the trilogy.
Lewis revealed in April 2018 that he suffered from hearing loss due to Meniere’s. He is represented by Paradigm, Joe Carlone, an attorney from King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano, and Dan Weiner, a music agent.
Manager James Dixon and attorney Andy Galker represent Kimmel and Kimmelot. The company is the creator of Live In Front of a Studio Audience, which won an Emmy.
Butler, who was a client of Kaplan when he worked at WMA as an agent, is now a writer and producer on Seth MacFarlane’s Peacock comedy Ted. He worked on Only Murders in the Building as well as Family Guy, Galavant, Kapital’s Life in Pieces as well as The Neighbors, Housebroken and Kapital’s Life in Pieces. Pretty Ugly was published by St. Martin’s Press. It is currently being adapted as a television series. His second novel, Seven Handfuls of Simeon Luck is being made into a movie. Jamie Mandelbaum and WME represent him.
