Longtime actor pals Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes are launching a new podcast.
Will and Grace star Sean and Ozark’s Jason Bateman felt it would be “fun” to host an audio series while they’re at home on lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, and when they decided they needed a third host, they looked through their impressive contact list and stumbled on the ideal candidate – Bateman’s Arrested Development co-star Will Arnett.
“The three of us have been friends for a long time and have always been trying to find a way to work together,” Sean tells Deadline. “Jason and I were casually talking about podcasts and how fun it would be to do one and we wanted to include a third person so we went through my Rolodex and wouldn’t you know, Arnett was first.
“We are united not only by our shared professions but our innate curiosity. And, during this stay at home crisis, we thought, ‘Why not ask a bunch of smart and talented people questions about the world instead of constantly bothering our spouses’. We really just wanted to create an atmosphere where we can be authentically us in our humor and thirst for understanding and invite the audience to laugh and learn along with us.”
The trio is getting ready to drop the first episode on 20 July, with new instalments launching every Monday.
The main premise of the show, titled Smartless, is the element of surprise – the hosts take it in turn to select a name for the show while keeping the other two presenters in the dark until show time. The threesome will then grill each guest together .
Smartless interview subjects will include Will Ferrell, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Seth Rogen, Awkwafina, Dax Shepard, and Melissa McCarthy.