The US version of ‘No Activity’ will also star Patrick Brammall.
When CBS announced it had commissioned a US version of the comedy No Activity for streaming platform CBS All Access, co-written and produced by creators Trent O’Donnell and Patrick Brammall, one key detail was missing.
Brammall, it has since been confirmed, will reprise the co-lead role as one of two low-ranking cops who are staking out a major cartel drug bust.
“It’s a real eye-opener to be re-imagining the show for a US audience,” the actor, writer and producer told IF from Los Angeles today.
Brammall has been zig-zagging between Australia and the US for the past few years, playing guest roles in US series including Fox’s New Girl and CBS’s Life in Pieces.
The Offspring and Glitch star was the only Australian in the casts of the US pilot remakes of Daley Pearson’s Strange Calls and Gristmill’s Upper Middle Bogan.
Alas, NBC did not pick up the Strange Calls pilot produced by Kapital Entertainment, Hoodlum and 20th TV, and CBS passed on Furst Born, the US version of Upper Middle Bogan.
O’Donnell will direct the eight-part No Activity, produced by CBS Television Studios and Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s production company Gary Sanchez with the show’s Australian creators Jungle.
Brammall said: “I couldn’t be prouder of the original version. It’s exciting to bring the concept to a huge US audience; obviously having Will Ferrell and Adam McKay as EPs helps make it visible over here. It’ll be interesting to see how it translates. Fingers crossed.”
The synopsis: Set over the course of a major drug cartel bust, No Activity follows the misadventures of two low-ranking cops who spend way too much time together; two criminals who are kept in the dark; two dispatch workers who haven’t really clicked; and two Mexican tunnelers who get stuck in a space unsuitable for a pair of relative strangers.
CBS All Access won a bidding war for the project orchestrated by UTA, which represents Jungle, O’Donnell and Brammall.
The series will screen in Australia on Stan. Shooting in LA will start in the fourth quarter.