Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin may get most of the plaudits for their wonderful sitcom 30 Rock, but regular viewers know that the show has a vast array of secret weapons, not least of which is Tracy Morgan, the former SNL star who plays deliciously unhinged black comedian, Tracy Jordan.
And so we’re delighted to report that Morgan has signed on to star in a new comedy called Freshman Roommates. OK, so that’s dangerously close to the likes of Who Dat Ninja and Fat Bitch, the fake and utterly ludicrous films that Jordan made on 30 Rock, but we’re going to give this one a chance.
Not least because the premise is actually pretty promising, revolving around the idea that those scam emails from Nigerian princes flooding the internet might not be scams after all.
So when TJ Miller – best known as the deeply annoying Hud from Cloverfield – answers one in a drunken stupor, he gets the shock of his life when, soon afterwards, the son of a deposed African dictator (Morgan) turns up and moves in. Together, the two work to regain Morgan’s stolen inheritance.
The film is written by comedy veterans, Nick Kroll and John Mulaney. Mulaney in particular worked with Morgan on Saturday Night Live – let’s hope he wrote some of the occasional funny sketches on that show.
No director is yet attached, but Paramount will sign the cheques. More as we get it.