Stranger Things Star Is Getting Their Own Series
A Stranger Things actor is getting their own starring series, just as Netflix's original cultural breakout show comes to an end.
This article is more than 2 years old
Stranger Things star Brett Gelman has been announced to be starring as the lead in an upcoming comedy series. Gelman joined Stranger Things for the hit Netflix series’ second season as conspiracy theorist Murray Bauman, swiftly becoming a fan-favorite character and series regular. The actor has an enormous body of work as a character actor and comic (which we’ll get to in a minute), but this new show will be a relatively rare leading role for him. While Stranger Things is reportedly winding to an end with its current fourth season, it looks like Gelman may be transitioning to more of a leading status.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Brett Gelman’s post-Stranger Things series is called Entitled and will be airing on the Showtime network. In the new show, Gelman will be starring as an American widower named Gabe who travels to the British countryside to meet his late spouse’s family, only to find a bizarre, crumbling Gothic world awaiting him. Apparently, the remaining family will be trying to seduce him for his wealth and competing with each other; with any luck, the series will be a comedic blend of Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak and The Bachelor, but we shall just have to wait and see.
Entitled is being executive producer by the Stranger Things star, in addition to creator Matt Morgan. Harry Williams, Jack Williams, and Sarah Hammond will also be producing the show. In the past, the trio (under Two Brothers Pictures) produced Phoebe Waller-Bridges’ award-winning series Fleabag. Brett Gelman also co-starred in the second season of Fleabag, as Fleabag’s sleazy brother-in-law Martin. Tim Kirkby will direct all eight episodes of Entitled, which will air on The United Kingdom’s Channel 4.
In addition to his work on Stranger Things and Fleabag, Brett Gelman has appeared in a dizzying number of television shows. He appeared in the series finale of AMC’s period advertising drama Mad Men. He was on the Adult Swim Eagleheart series along with comedy legend Chris Elliott. He starred in FX’s Married with Judy Greer and Nat Faxon, NBC’s Go On with Matthew Perry, and the Natasha Leggero and Riki Lindhome Comedy Central series Another Period. Gelman also appeared in Stranger Things’ spiritual predecessor Twin Peaks for its Showtime revival in 2017, and innumerable other shows. In short, the guy works a lot.
Stranger Things recently premiered its two-part fourth season to record-breaking numbers for an English language series. As one of Netflix’s first breakout hits (and cultural talking point), it will be a big loss for the streaming platform for the show to finish; it will have to remain to be seen if Netflix will actually let Stranger Things lie dormant. The Duffer Brothers series remains a high point for Netflix originals as a whole and given the streaming platform’s recent sea of troubles, it has to sting more than a little bit to lose it now of all times. However, they could probably get Brett Gelman into a Stranger Things spin-off in which he solves paranormal mysteries on a motorcycle if they really tried. And frankly, that is now what we are looking for.
