Hey guys, Jana here,
Depending on your age, when you hear the name Neil Patrick Harris, you either think of ‘How I Met Your Mother‘, or like me, it’s ‘Doogie Howser, M.D.‘ A 16 year old NPH stole the collective heart of girls everywhere when he played the prodigious child doctor. From that day forward, Harris would be a steady presence on TV. He appeared in numerous one-off series and made-for-TV movies that kept him in front of a camera just enough to make us want more. In addition to earning a spot that would cement his name, once again, in the annals of hit series with ‘How I Met Your Mother‘, he lent his voice to multiple animated ventures. NPH’s ever evolving resume led to a singing role as the title character in Joss Whedon’s ‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog‘. The thespian has hit the boards on Broadway in between his recorded projects and his most recent theatre stint was the titular part in ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch‘ where he drew rave reviews from even the most staunch critics. Hedwig is now being played by Michael C. Hall.
His career thus far has primed and paved the way for his next gig. The five-time Emmy Award winner will be hosting a new primetime variety series. NPH has made no secret of his desire to host this kind of gig, “I want to do an Ed Sullivan–y kind of show, with all the variety acts.” His vast wheelhouse makes him the perfect anchor for a show of this diversity, not to mention he seemed to be the puzzle piece missing in NBC’s desire to air just this kind of show. The resulting project will be based on the UK format ‘Ant And Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway‘. The series has already received a 10-episode order and will air live and originate in New York.
The typical talk-show format was too rigid for Harris who felt he would grow bored of doing the same thing every week. While this won’t be a duplicate ‘Saturday Night Live‘ series, they will share some of the same elements, the goal is to keep things fresh and relevant. The unnamed series will feature comedy sketches, musical numbers, mini game shows, hidden camera pranks on celebrities and appearances by A-list stars, sorry, Kathy Griffin. The series sounds like a marriage of Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show and SNL, where SNL relies on sketch comedy alone and some of their scenes fall flat, NPH will have the chance to shine through the diversity a variety act will offer.