It was announced today (3 June 2014) that, after a successful pilot, ROB DELANEY (US comedian and bestselling author) and SHARON HORGAN (award-winning actress and star/co-writer of Pulling) have been commissioned to write and star in a new series for Channel 4.
Catastrophe is a 6 x 30 min, single camera comedy series following an Irish woman (SHARON HORGAN) and an American man (ROB DELANEY) who make a bloody mess as they struggle to fall in love in London.
PHIL CLARKE, Head of comedy at Channel 4, said: “Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney are two unique, and supremely talented comic writers and performers, and they have come together to make a notably outstanding pilot. The result is an original and joyous transatlantic romantic comedy, and I’m delighted that we are now going to series.”
JON THODAY, Joint Managing Director of Avalon Television, said: “We are delighted to be producing another exciting new narrative project with Channel 4 and working with two brilliant original comic talents.”
An Avalon Television production, Catastrophe was commissioned by PHIL CLARKE, Head of Comedy at Channel 4. The series will be directed by BEN TAYLOR (Cardinal Burns and Cuckoo) and produced by ADAM TANDY (The Thick of It, and A Touch of Cloth), while the Executive Producers are RICHARD ALLEN-TURNER, KARA BAKER and JON THODAY.
The series is set to record this autumn.
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For more information please contact:
Dan Lloyd at Avalon on: 020 7598 7222 or email: DanL@avalonuk.com
Notes to editors
ABOUT ROB DELANEY
ROB DELANEY is a writer/stand up originally from Boston and graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Much of DELANEY’S success can be attributed to his massive following on Twitter of over 1,000,000 followers.
In 2013, his first novel and bestselling memoir, Rob Delaney: Mother Wife Sister Human Warrior Falcon Yardstick Turban Cabbage was released by Spiegel & Grau in the US, and by Little Brown in the UK.
In 2012, he was named one of Variety’s “Top 10 Comics to Watch” and won the award for “Funniest Person on Twitter” at the Comedy Central Comedy Awards beating out such luminaries as STEVE MARTIN and STEPHEN COLBERT. He’s also been listed as one of “The Funniest People on Twitter” on such sites as the Rolling Stone, Huffington Post, Vice Magazine, Paste Magazine, Comedy Central, and Funny or Die.
ROB’S reach spreads beyond the US market; in the UK he sold out the Soho Theatre in 7 minutes via one “tweet” making him the fastest selling US performer in the venue’s history. His television credits include Comedy Central’s Key & Peele, E!’s Chelsea Lately, Burning Love, and TBS’ Cougartown.
His debut one hour special, Rob Delaney: Live at the Bowery Ballroom, is available on Netflix and from Comedy Central Records.
ROB also sings the national anthem for the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He currently performs stand up regularly at the top comedy venues in Los Angeles, New York, and across the United States.
ABOUT SHARON HORGAN
SHARON is an Irish actress, writer and comedian.
She can currently be seen in Tiger Aspect / Sky series Phycobitches, playing a range of roles from JANE AUSTEN to BOUDICA to FRIDA KAHLO. She also recently shot Bad Management for ABC, which she wrote and starred in.
Recent projects include BBC3 sitcom Dead Boss, which she wrote and starred in, Sky’s Little Crackers, which she wrote, directed and starred in and Bad Sugar, a Tiger Aspect pilot for Channel 4, written by SAM BAIN and JESSE ARMSTRONG (Peep Show), directed by BEN PALMER (Inbetweeners Movie) and co-starring OLIVIA COLEMAN and JULIA DAVIS.
SHARON was BAFTA nominated for Pulling 2007, won a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Actress in 2008, was BAFTA nominated again in 2009, won a Southbank Show Comedy Award in 2009 for Pulling and won a of British Comedy Award in 2009 for a Pulling special.
