EXCLUSIVE: The CW has picked up Everyone Else Burns, Channel 4’s apocalypse comedy about a religious sect starring Friday Night Dinner’s Simon Bird.
The show, which was the first to come from Emily in Paris producer Jax Media’s UK office and is co-produced with Universal International Studios, is expected to be be unveiled as part of the network’s fall lineup.
Penned by up-and-comers Dillon Mapletoft and Oliver Taylor, Everyone Else Burns stars Bird as David, a misguided patriarch living in a small religious sect in Manchester. David, who believes the world will end in apocalypse, is losing a grip over his family, with each character going on their own personal journey with regard their hyper-religious upbringing. Kate O’Flynn, Lolly Adefope, Kadiff Kirwan and Morgana Robinson also star.
Everyone Else Burns was well received by critics and achieved decent ratings when it aired on Channel 4 earlier this year. Sporting a memorable bowl haircut, Bird’s performance came in for praise, along with OFlynn’s as his wife Fiona. Speaking to Deadline in January, EPs Brooke Posch and Molly Seymour talked up the way in which the show subverts traditional narratives and doesn’t “punch down” on its subjects.
The show is The CW’s first Channel 4 acquisition since Taskmaster but that format was moved to CWSeed after just one episode due to poor ratings.
Universal International Studios is distributor. Ghosts helmer Nick Collett was director, Jax Media’s Tony Hernandez and Brooke Posch EP-d and Jax’s Seymour, who heads up the Imagine Entertainment-backed company’s UK drive, was producer.