The 55-year-old actor – who was previously a small screen regular in ‘In Living Color’ – will team up with his ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ director Michel Gondry for Showtime’s upcoming comedy series ‘Kidding’, in which he will play a children’s TV icon whose family begins to implode.
The full synopsis for the show explains: “Carrey plays Jeff, aka Mr. Pickles, an icon of children’s television, a beacon of kindness and wisdom to America’s impressionable young minds and the parents who grew up with him – who also anchors a multimillion dollar branding empire.
“But when this beloved personality’s family – wife, two sons, sister and father – begins to implode, Jeff finds no fairy tale or fable or puppet will guide him through this crisis, which advances faster than his means to cope. The result: a kind man in a cruel world faces a slow leak of sanity as hilarious as it is heartbreaking.”
The programme – which was created by Dave Holstein – will air for 10-episodes, each lasting 30 minutes, and network executives have promised viewers are in for a “magnetic, volcanic and emotional” show.
Showtime president David Nevins said in a statement: “No one inhabits a character like Jim Carrey, and this role – which is like watching Humpty Dumpty after the fall – is going to leave television audiences wondering how they went so long without him.
“With his ‘Eternal Sunshine’ partner Michel Gondry on board to direct, we are on our way to a magnetic, volcanic and emotional viewing experience.”
Both Jim and Michel will serve as executive producers on the programme, alongside Jason Bateman.