Jason Lee Develops Adult Swim Show, Directs Beatles Movie, Stars in TNT Pilot

Jason Lee has been busy since NBC’s cancellation of his show My Name is Earl last spring.

He is in development on a live-action series he created with Luke Watson for Adult Swim. He will star in and direct the comedy set in the world of skateboarding (a return to the subject for Lee, who was featured as an unknown in Spike Jonze’s early skateboarding videos). Plus, he will direct Get Back, an indie film about two Beatles fans who travel back in time to 1966, where one of them becomes involved in a love triangle with John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

Lee will also star in TNT’s new project, an hour-long pilot called Delta Blues, which is executive produced by George Clooney. Clooney and Grant Heslov’s production company Smokehouse Pictures, along with TV studio Warner Horizon, will produce the project. In another quirky, underdog role akin to Earl, Lee will star as Dwight Hendricks, a Memphis cop who lives with his mother and performs as an Elvis impersonator on the side. Delta Blues will be directed by TV actor-director Clark Johnson (The Wire) with a script by Liz Garcia (Cold Case, Dawson’s Creek) and rookie writer Joshua Harto. The pilot is currently set to air sometime in 2010.

Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.

News

Aaron Sorkin Returns to TV, But Will He Triumph Again?

News

Watch the Trailer for The Decemberists Video Album, Here Comes the Waves: The Hazards of Love Visualized

5 Comments

Click to leave a comment.

By JacksonKnife on November 20, 2009

Actually, Jason Lee was a professional skateboarder way back when for World Industries, and he owns (or at least co-owns) Stereo, a skateboard company. He's still sick on a board.

By mb on November 20, 2009

Also, Jason Lee was not featured in Spikes skate films as an " unknown ". He was one of the top pro skaters at the time, riding for Blind skateboards during video days and to the this day is a legend.

By Otto Maddox on November 21, 2009

Yeah, No kidding. Just about everyone in the world knows Jason Lee was a PRO skater and not an unknown when spike filmed him for blind's Video Days.

This is some whack journalism Ms. Reimer as a simple Google search could tell you this in about a minute of research.

Good job on earning that paycheck.

By Chheetoe on November 22, 2009

"Unknown"? Wow, that's the epitome of slack journalism. I'm more than 100% positive that he is the most popular person even mentioned in this article....well except for Clooney. Back in 1989 when Jonze filmed Lee for “Rubbish Heap”, Lee was Pro and maybe even more of a household name than Clooney! (Clooney's career didn't even really take off until '94 with ER - I'm not counting his 11 episodes of "Roseanne" back in '88-'91)

If you guys need someone who can really write an article, email me! I'll be glad to help!

Side note, You really should check out http://www.theberrics.com/dailyops.php for Jason Lee's contest that him and his company sponsored!

Thank you.

By J. Namdev Hardisty on November 24, 2009

Guess you guys got the "unknown" issue covered already.