American Vandal Duo Making Last Dance-Style Mockumentary And That Sounds Amazing
Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault, the creators of the terrific Netflix comedy "American Vandal," are returning to the world of streaming with a brand new mockumentary series set in the world of eSports.
Variety reports that Yacenda and Perrault have landed a series order at Paramount+ for a show called "Players," which is described like this:
"Players" follows a fictional pro "League of Legends" team as they pursue their first championship after years of close calls and heartache. To win it all, they will need their prodigy, a 17-year-old rookie, and their 27-year-old veteran to put their egos aside and work together.
Yacenda, who directed every episode of "American Vandal" and multiple episodes of the acclaimed FXX comedy series "Dave," will direct this series as well, and he'll serve as an executive producer alongside Perrault, Funny Or Die's Joe Farrell and Mike Farah, as well as Tim McAuliffe, Ari Lubet, and Todd Sellers.
Variety implies that this show will poke fun at the stylistic choices of "The Last Dance," the 10-part mini-series devoted to Michael Jordan and his incredible championship run with the 1997-1998 Chicago Bulls. Yacenda and Perrault have proven adept at mimicking other styles in the past — most famously, "American Vandal" pays humorous homage to true crime documentaries like "Making a Murderer" and "The Jinx." But they've also worked on some sports-related content that could give you an idea of what to expect when "Players" eventually hits Paramount+.
Pitch Perfect Parodies
Yacenda previously directed this "30 for 30" parody imagining if the 1994 sports film "Angels in the Outfield" were real, and he also tackled this fake documentary devoted to the climactic fight in "Rocky IV."
Both of those videos show a mastery of capturing the style and scope of a "30 for 30" episode, but the most surprising thing to me about this duo's work on "American Vandal" was how that show eventually became more than just a clever riff on familiar territory. It actually grappled with the consequences of public perception in a way that was far more profound than expected, while also being extremely funny and crafting an authentically compelling mystery in the process. In other words, it was like an Edgar Wright movie instead of one of those awful Friedberg/Seltzer parodies: it actually became an entry in the genre instead of just laughing at its tropes from afar.
I can't wait to see what they do with the world of eSports in "Players." I guess I'm going to have to get a Paramount+ subscription to find out.