A cop turned health inspector in the Florida Keys. A shaman from the Bahamas nicknamed the Red Queen. A medical examiner who is not cut out for the job. A death under mysterious circumstances. A real estate developer willing to do anything. And an overly mischievous monkey. These are just some of the players moving around the board of Bad monkeythe police comedy that Apple TV+ premieres on Wednesday the 14th. Actor Vince Vaughn plays a police officer who is dismissed from the force and, after some tourists catch the arm of a corpse, it occurs to him that, if he can prove that behind this peculiar capture there is a murder that he can solve, he will be readmitted to the force.
The series adapts one of the novels by the writer and journalist Carl Hiaasen, a story that combines a police plot with characters, crazy situations and an ecological background that the author has also cultivated in his work as an investigative journalist in the Miami Herald. Screenwriter Bill Lawrence, creator of television comedies such as ScrubsCougar Town and, most recently and also for Apple TV+, Ted Lasso and Unfiltered therapywho had been reading Hiaasen since he was young, had seen how all attempts to bring his stories to the screen had failed. “I thought that maybe the reason why no one had been able to do it was because it was almost impossible to do it in 90 minutes as a movie, because they have so many characters and so many strange intersecting stories…”, he explained in a video call interview last Thursday. So he proposed to Hiaasen that they collaborate to do it in a series that would last 10 hours.
One of the reasons Lawrence was drawn to the story of Bad monkey was his peculiar tone. “In my series, I always try to have a balance between two stories. Scrubs It was a silly comedy, but it was also about the health care system and people living and dying. Carl Hiaasen’s books seem like crazy, wild comedies, but there’s pathos behind them, people living and dying, and an environmental message. They remind me of the movies I grew up with. People remember Beverly Hills Cop, Limit: 48 hours…but if you see them again, Beverly Hills Cop It begins with his best friend dying in front of him, and 48 hours It dealt with racial issues and was quite dark as well. I like to walk that tightrope when telling a story, that it’s a comedy and something more,” explains the creator and head of the series.
For the author of the novel, it was essential that the production be filmed in Florida and show the real environment in which the story takes place, but this requirement posed several additional challenges. “Filming with constant storms, what seemed like 100 degrees Celsius, wild animals… It was the most complicated but also what gives it the most value,” says the scriptwriter. “For Carl, Florida is one of the most stunning and beautiful states in the United States. The Everglades National Park, the Keys, the beaches… And he also believes that, because we Americans are stupid, we are destroying the ecosystem.”
Bill Lawrence and actor Vince Vaughn have known each other since they were in their twenties, so the screenwriter knew the actor would fit the lead role. “The character is physically imposing, he can be menacing, funny, a guy who constantly makes bad decisions but who everyone would want as a best friend. And that’s Vince in real life,” says the creator. The other star of the series is Crystala female capuchin monkey with extensive experience in front of the cameras and who has appeared in films such as Night at the Museum, Doctor Doolittle either The Hangover in Las Vegas.
In his three decades of experience in television, Bill Lawrence has lived through the evolution of comedy on the small screen. “I’ve been in this business so long that I’ve lived through the death of comedy, then the death of drama, then the death of comedy again… What happens is that people try to put things in boxes: this is a comedy, this is a drama. And it’s not like that anymore. I don’t think that’s the case anymore.” Succession was the best drama when it won the Emmy, I think it was the best comedy. It made me laugh so hard… There aren’t as many dumb comedies now as there used to be. But look, there’s the show sketches by Tim Robinson, I think you should leave [en Netflix]which is possibly the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. But genres are changing, there are many dramas that are comedies and many comedies that are dramas.”
The talk could not end without asking about the future of Ted Lasso. The comedy he co-created ended its third season without it being officially confirmed that it was its end. While the team and the platform occasionally release messages that point to some kind of continuation, Lawrence is cautious. “If you ask other writers and actors they will tell you the same thing because we have decided that we will be okay with whatever decision Jason makes.” [Sudeikis]”. The ball is in the court of the protagonist, co-creator, screenwriter and producer of the series. Meanwhile, Lawrence already has in mind the premiere of the second season of Unfiltered therapy (October 16 on Apple TV+) and is preparing a comedy for HBO starring Steve Carell. For now, if it’s Bill Lawrence’s turn, the television comedy has a secure future.
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