Chris Farley gets his close-up when the documentary I Am Chris Farley, part of the I Am Films documentary series on The CW, debuts Saturday, January 6. The film, first released in 2015, goes for two hours.
The I Am series kicked off on The CW with I Am Burt Reynolds on Saturday, December 30. I Am Paul Walker, about the late Fast & Furious actor, happens Saturday, January 13. The CW will air I Am Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, January 15th, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Chris Farley died in 1997 at age 33. He was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1990 to 1995 and his movie work includes Wayne’s World, Tommy Boy and Black Sheep.
The I Am film, directed by Brent Hodge and Derik Murray, “tells the hilarious, touching and wildly entertaining story of legendary comedian and actor Chris Farley,” The CW said. “Beginning with his early days in Madison, Wisconsin, and at Marquette University, through his work at the legendary Second City, the biopic explores his rapid rise to the top of the comedy world on Saturday Night Live and in hit films like Tommy Boy and Black Sheep, showcasing his most memorable characters and skits from television and film, paired with iconic photographs, home movies and family snapshots, to fully round out the story of this comedy legend.”
Other stars lined up for I Am documentaries on The CW include Alfred Hitchcock, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Richard Pryor.
Networks have been creative in filling out their programming schedules amidst last year's strikes in Hollywood. The CW, for one, has licensed a number of scripted shows from Canada, including Son of a Critch, Children Ruin Everything and Sullivan's Crossing. Several I Am documentaries have aired on Crave in Canada.
