Watch Latin American Music Awards
LONDON — ARD in Germany, the world’s second largest public broadcaster, has acquired the first two seasons of comedy “Cuckoo.” Season one stars Andy Samberg (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) and the second stars “Twilight” thesp Taylor Lautner.
The deal with distributor FremantleMedia Intl. marks the first time in more than a decade that an acquired series has made it into ARD’s access primetime schedule, which before now has focused on local productions. ARD looks to premiere the series this autumn.
The latest sale for “Cuckoo” follows on from a deal completed with HBO Central Europe that sees the series go to 16 territories within the region. The sitcom can now be seen in more than 70 territories worldwide, including Australia (Foxtel), New Zealand (BBC), Russia (Amedia and 2×2) and Africa (MTV).
Produced by Roughcut TV for U.K. youth channel BBC3, the first season of “Cuckoo” pits Samberg against British comedy thesp Greg Davies. Series kicks off when Rachel (Tamla Kari) returns from travelling abroad with a new husband, known as “Cuckoo” (Samberg), a self-appointed spiritual ninja. Her parents Ken (Davies) and Lorna (Helen Baxendale) have no choice but to welcome him into their family home.
Season two kicks off with the disappearance of Cuckoo while on walkabout in the foothills of the Himalayas. Two years later Rachel is rebuilding her life with a new boyfriend. The fragile equilibrium is shattered when a handsome and mysterious stranger (Taylor Lautner) appears in town.
“Cuckoo” is exec produced by Ash Atalla (“The IT Crowd,” “The Office” and “Trollied”).
