Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg, Zach Galifianakis, Janelle James, Chloe Fineman, David Harbour among actors cast in slate of new shows
Audible has ordered four more comedy podcasts from “Saturday Night Live” producer Broadway Video and has renewed its LGBTQ action-comedy “Hot White Heist” — with an all-queer cast led by “SNL” cast member Bowen Yang — for a second season.
The new slate of shows, set to hit Audible through starting later this month and into 2023, bring the number of Broadway Video projects at the Amazon-owned audio platform to 13 since they first began working together more than three years ago.
The comedy podcasts feature performances from actors including Chloe Fineman, David Harbour, Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg, Zach Galifianakis, Nick Kroll, Seth Meyers, Janelle James, Joshua Jackson, Matt Bomer, John Corbett, Rob Riggle, Tim Robinson and Nia Vardalos.
Harbour (“Stranger Things”), who stars in late-night spoof “Past My Bedtime,” said of the podcast, “It’s wild, silly, surprising, and funny as hell.” Fineman (“SNL”) stars in Broadway Video’s “Excessive,” commening, “I am very excited to be part of this project in Broadway Video’s new slate with Audible. I can’t wait for people to hear what we’ve been working on.”
All of the upcoming Broadway Video shows will be available as part of Audible Plus, the subscription service that starts at $7.95/month and provides unlimited access to thousands of audio titles.
In addition, starting Oct. 3, Audible is set to rerelease a selection of its original comedies on major third-party podcast platforms, available to listen to for free with ads. Titles include Broadway Video’s “Hot White Heist,” “Hit Job,” and “Heads Will Roll,” as well as “Sorry Charlie Miller” and “Summer in Argyle.”
“Audible and Broadway Video’s long time collaboration has allowed us to expand our production and IP into different genres and formats within comedy and audio entertainment,” commented Britta von Schoeler, president of Broadway Video Enterprises.
Rachel Ghiazza, EVP and head of U.S. content at Audible, praised Broadway Video’s “best-in-class comedic storytelling,” said that “our listeners have always gravitated toward Broadway Videos’ uniquely hilarious point of view and comedic spirit, which is consistently marked by prolific creators and esteemed casts.”
Season 2 of “Hot White Heist,” which Variety named one of the best new podcasts of 2021, is set to return for a second season in 2023. In the first season, a group of LGBTQ contemporaries attempts to steal the U.S. government’s sperm-bank deposits from some of history’s most brilliant minds — in the hopes of selling the genetic material on the black market to buy an island for a new queer paradise. Season 1 featured Bowen Yang, Alan Cumming, Cynthia Nixon, Shannon Woodward, Jane Lynch and Bianca Del Rio.
In the second season of “Hot White Heist,” Judy Fink (Yang) and his squad are back, and it turns out pulling off the perfect crime was only the beginning of their troubles. Investigative reporter Sarah Keebler is piecing together the team’s previous heist for her bombshell true-crime podcast. Can Fink and crew stop her? And why is a notoriously bloodthirsty gay billionaire so interested in the story? It turns out the ultimate heist will be getting themselves out of trouble, and they’re going to need all the help they can get.
