HBO readies comedy set against 1987 Wall Street crash

HBO has finally figured out a way to tackle the recession: make fun of it. The network has paired with author Andy Bellin to produce The Review, a comedy series set in 1987 at a literary magazine at the height of that era’s Wall Street meltdown.

The series is said to be inspired by Bellin’s experience at The Paris Review during the same period as a freshman editor. In a narrative familiar to anyone who follows the industry, the magazine’s continued publication will be in jeopardy in the face of major funding cuts. On paper, the series sounds as if it will be modeled similarly to HBO’s Entourage, which took elements of Mark Wahlberg’s career to create a fictionalized vision of young celebrity in Hollywood.

Still in early stages of preproduction, the show has no start date, but expect it to be fast-tracked given its obvious ties to the current financial climate.

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