Vanessa Bayer and Molly Shannon Team Up for Showtime Comedy “I Love This for You”
More “Saturday Night Live” alumni are teaming up. Hot on the heels of the announcement that Rachel Dratch and Ana Gasteyer will act in, write, and executive produce holiday parody “A Clüsterfünke Christmas” comes word that Vanessa Bayer and Molly Shannon are joining forces on “I Love This for You.” The comedy just received a series order from Showtime, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Created by Bayer and former “SNL” writer Jeremy Beiler, “I Love This for You” is inspired by Bayer’s own experience of overcoming childhood leukemia. “I Love This for You” tells the story of Joanna Gold (Bayer), “who dreams of becoming a host at a home-shopping channel as she works to shed her label as ‘that cancer girl.’ The series follows her as she moves away from her parents, starts a budding romance for the first time in her adult life and forms a meaningful friendship with her idol Jackie, all against the backdrop of a highly competitive workplace run by an unstable billionaire, where people play dirty to succeed,” the source summarizes. Shannon will portray the star of the network.
Jessi Klein, whose credits include “Dead to Me” and “Inside Amy Schumer,” will serve as showrunner and is among the series’ exec producers.
“Vanessa Bayer channels her beloved personality into an underdog part that is both close to her heart and universally relatable,” said Showtime entertainment president Jana Winograde. She emphasized, “Vanessa’s comedic brilliance as a performer, co-creator, and executive producer have yielded an offbeat, emotional, and laugh-out-loud series that we can’t wait to bring to our Showtime audiences.”
Bayer added, “I’m so thrilled to be making this show with Showtime and that all of my hours of home shopping as a kid are finally paying off! It’s been an absolute dream, and my co-creator, Jeremy Beiler, and I are so grateful to the entire creative team we feel so lucky to work with.”
Bayer and Shannon both received Emmy nominations for their work on “SNL.” Shannon scored an additional two nods for guest spots on “Enlightened” and “Will & Grace.”
“Trainwreck” and “Office Christmas Party” are among Bayer’s best known credits. Shannon’s recent credits include “Promising Young Woman” and “The Other Two.”
