Tonya Wise/PictureGroup/FX Networks(NEW YORK) — Billy Crystal makes his return to television Thursday night in the new FX series The Comedians.
Crystal — who rose to fame on the 1970s sitcom Soap and was later a cast member of Saturday Night Live — and his co-star, Frozen actor Josh Gad, play exaggerated versions of themselves. Crystal’s character is a comedy legend who’s paired with an up-and comer, Gad, on a late-night sketch comedy series.
As much as Gad had wanted to work with Crystal, he initially wasn’t sure The Comedians was a good fit for him. He recalls to ABC Radio that when Crystal approached him about the project, “I was sort of like, I have no real interest in doing TV. I’ve been unlucky in love with it. I haven’t had much success in comedy. It’s just hard, it’s hard on TV. And I was sort of going into it with the anticipation of, I want to find something to do with this guy but this probably won’t be it.”
What ultimately appealed to Gad was the idea of playing a “heightened version” of himself, which he admits “terrified” him. However, he says, “I love the challenge of the unexpected and the challenge of doing something that’s a little bit dangerous.”
And dark, too, according to executive producer and writer Larry Charles. Charles, who’s best known for his work on Seinfeld and the film Borat, says of Crystal and Gad’s characters, “They’re not the most progressive, the most magnanimous, the most generous people. It’s a lot about their dark sides — the sides that they would prefer people not realize.”
The Comedians debuts on FX at 10 p.m. Eastern time. The fifth-season premiere of the Louis C.K. series Louie follows at 10:30 p.m.
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