Pay cabler Epix has ordered a new series from Media Rights
Capital and Curb Your Enthusiasm producer Larry Charles. Charles will oversee
the development of the script for the comedy, dubbed iCon, which will be
written by Newsweek contributor and the author the Fake Steve Jobs blog Dan
Lyons.
The series will tread familiar territory for Lyons, as it follows a
fictional Silicon Valley CEO with a penchant for hunger and greed.
Epix has not announced when iCon will debut.
The channel, founded by film studios Lionsgate, MGM and Paramount, has struggled
to find widespread carriage. Verizon Fios, Cox, Mediacom and Charter carry the
premium channel, but that still leaves it far behind competitors HBO, Showtime
and Starz in terms of household penetration.
"A comedy series by Larry Charles is the perfect complement
to the original comedy specials being produced by Epix," said Mark Greenberg,
president of Epix. "His incomparable sense of humor, along with Dan's insight
will have hilarious results that we can't wait to see."
"Larry is the ideal candidate to bring this concept to
television," said Joe Hipps, VP of production and creative affairs at MRC
Television. "MRC is thrilled to be partnering with Epix to deliver what
promises to be a smart, satirical and entertaining series."
"We are attempting to do nothing less than a modern Citizen
Kane. A scabrous satire of Silicon Valley
and its most famous citizen," said Charles. "We needed a bold environment to
nurture such a vision. One that was free of pre-conceived ideas. And Epix made
it clear they were that place. They asked us to make their home our home. And
we have."
