Neil Patrick Harris will take the reigns of a new variety series set for a 10-episode run on NBC in 2015, Vulturereports. Its a dream gig for the former How I Met Your Mother star and pasthost of the Tony and Emmy Awards, who turned down an offer from CBS to replace David LettermanonThe Late Show for theweekly variety format. Im very keen on it being an Ed Sullivan kind of show, he told Rolling Stone. Something that would be more events-driven, with a lot more acts, a totally different structure.
The new show is based on the long-running British program, Saturday Night Takeaway (though it will neither have that name, nor air on Saturday), and comes courtesy of U.K. network ITV, who were reportedly shopping the 10-episode run to a number of different U.S. stations. Paul Buccieri, the chairman of ITV Studios U.S. Group, described the programs basic format as, a real blend between comedy, game and musical variety. And it has this fast pace and irreverence to it.
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On Monday, before the news broke, Harris spokewith Charlie Roseabout his ambitions as an impresario and tastemaker In a perfect world, in five years Im Ed Sullivan, he said and what he envisioned a successful variety show would look like. While Harris said that, like Sullivan, he would want to feature everything from Broadway performers tomagicians, he noted that the show would have to cater to shorter attention spans and provide the immediate satisfaction of a YouTube clip.
You have to do a show now where its their best two and a half minutes, Harris said. Instead of six acts, you have 26 acts. Its like Americas Got Talent. Thats why its so successful now. You want to meet the person, see their best thing, talk about it, move on. I think thats the difference now.
NBC which already airs a number of variety-like programs such as The Voice, Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallonand has recently dipped its toe into live television events like last years presentation of TheSound of Music has tried out a few variety shows in recent years, but with little success. The problem is always who has the versatility to pull it all off, said Orly Adelson, president of ITV Studios America, adding she thinks Harris represents the combination of the right format with the right host.
Paul Telegdy, head of NBCs Alternative and Late Night Programming, echoed the sentiment, saying Harris wasat the top of the networks list of potential hosts. The executive also teased the possibility of future seasons that could be longer than 10 episodes, but not by much more notingthe demanding nature of the variety format.
While theres no word on when exactly in 2015 Harris show will air, it will likely come after he hosts next years Oscars. Were not going to rush this, Telegdysaid. Well take our time and make a great show.