USA TODAY US Edition

TV is trolling your favorite podcasts for new material

- Patrick Ryan

There are perks of bringing your podcast to cable TV.

Just ask Phoebe Robinson, whose charming, off-the-cuff podcast 2 Dope Queens with Jessica Williams premiered Friday on HBO (11:30 ET/PT) as a series of four stand-up specials.

“The best part of having an HBO budget is the snacks,” Robinson says, only half-joking. “I know that sounds so silly, but they have these really amazing beet chips. I was like, ‘I’m living my best Gwyneth Paltrow life and I didn’t even know that could happen.’ ”

2 Dope Queens began in 2016 as a weekly Brooklyn-based series featuring a diverse lineup of stand-up comics and celebrity guests. It’s the latest in a long line of podcasts being adapted to TV, a trend that started early this decade with IFC’s Maron (a fictionali­zed take on Marc Maron’s WTF persona) and Comedy Bang! Bang! (a spinoff of Scott Aukerman’s podcast).

After bringing Aaron Mahnke’s horror anthology podcast Lore to the small screen last fall, Amazon Studios ordered two seasons of psychologi­cal thriller Homecoming, which began as a podcast in 2016 and will star Julia Roberts in its TV incarnatio­n, from producer Sam Esmail ( Mr. Robot). FX is developing series based on crime/mystery podcasts Welcome to Night Vale and Crimetown, while ABC sitcom Alex, Inc. — adapted from Alex Blumberg’s StartUp — pre-

“Back in the day, it was more books and articles, and now this has become another place to look.” Nina Rosenstein HBO’s executive VP of programmin­g

mieres March 28 (8:30 ET/PT), starring Zach Braff.

More networks are looking to podcasts because they “have a built-in audience, so you’re already starting at first base,” says Nina Rosenstein, executive VP of programmin­g at HBO. “It’s just another place where you find good content. Back in the day, it was more books and articles, and now this has become another place to look.”

The on-hiatus 2 Dope Queens podcast is recorded in front of a live audience, which makes the transition to a stand-up format relatively seamless.

“When you switch formats, there’s always the risk that the (original) format was the secret sauce that made it work, so what was great was that HBO recognized the things that really made

2 Dope Queens stand out,” Robinson says. Chief among them: her easy chemistry and improvised banter with Williams on topics ranging from race to pop culture to hair.

For narrative-driven pod projects, the leap to TV presents more challenges in visualizin­g what were once audio-only episodes. Mahnke is the sole narrator of Lore, which tells factbased scary stories accompanie­d by minimalist, classical music.

“As we developed the visual style and storytelli­ng, it was important to appeal to both the loyal podcast listeners and to Prime (subscriber­s) who were discoverin­g the stories for the first time,” says Heather Schuster, unscripted programmin­g chief at Amazon Originals. “The format is also genre-bending: The combinatio­n of live action with animated elements could have been tricky to navigate, but ultimately is one of the things that makes the series stand out.”

As more podcasters realize the creative potential of TV, big-name producers plan more adaptation­s. The Lego

Movie’s Phil Lord and Chris Miller are developing Sara Koening’s breakout true-crime podcast Serial as a scripted cable series, and Evil Dead’s Sam Raimi is producing horror mystery Tanis.

The recent wave of interest “represents just how far podcasts have come,” says Sami Main, Adweek‘ s social editor, who has written extensivel­y about podcasts. “Stereotypi­cally, podcasts are thought of as a couple of white dudes with microphone­s, but over the years (they’ve) transforme­d into some really cool ways to tell stories.”

Robinson compares the phenomenon with YouTube, dismissed by many as a trivial form of entertainm­ent a decade ago, but more recently the home for Web series that spawned Insecure and Broad City.

“Now people recognize that YouTube is a great platform to develop your voice, and I feel the same holds true with podcasting,” Robinson says. “There’s a lot of great shows with great personalit­ies, and you can’t deny the talent that’s in the podcasting world. Seeing something like

2 Dope Queens and other podcasts make that leap to television is only natural.”

 ??  ?? Jason Alexander, left, and Scott Aukerman deadpan their way through an episode of “Comedy Bang! Bang!” in 2016. IFC
Jason Alexander, left, and Scott Aukerman deadpan their way through an episode of “Comedy Bang! Bang!” in 2016. IFC
 ??  ?? Jessica Williams, left, and Phoebe Robinson bring their popular podcast “2 Dope Queens” to HBO. MINDY TUCKER/HBO
Jessica Williams, left, and Phoebe Robinson bring their popular podcast “2 Dope Queens” to HBO. MINDY TUCKER/HBO
 ??  ?? In “Lore,” painter Robert Gene Otto (Michael Patrick Lane) befriends a haunted doll. The show, and podcast, are based on true stories. TINA ROWDEN
In “Lore,” painter Robert Gene Otto (Michael Patrick Lane) befriends a haunted doll. The show, and podcast, are based on true stories. TINA ROWDEN
 ??  ?? IFC’s “Maron” was a fictionali­zed take on Marc Maron’s “WTF” persona. IFC
IFC’s “Maron” was a fictionali­zed take on Marc Maron’s “WTF” persona. IFC

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