Will Ferrell (SNL, The Shrink Next Door) is making a rare foray into scripted television in a big way.
The former SNL star, whose acting credits have mainly focused on films, is co-creating the new Netflix comedy series GOLF alongside Ramy Youssef (Ramy) and Josh Rabinowitz (The Carmichael Show). Ferrell and Youssef are set to star.
In his first leading role in a comedy series, Ferrell will star as a fictional golf legend. Details regarding Youssef’s role are under wraps.
Ferrell was previously developing a series following a professional golfer who becomes the face of a controversial new league competing with the PGA, as Deadline reported exclusively back in 2023. “It also evokes one of Ferrell’s signature movies, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. The series is in a similar tone, I hear, bringing Ferrell back to the sports arena he also explored in Blades of Glory and Semi-Pro,” the story revealed. Whether GOLF will be in the same vein is as yet unknown.
The 10-episode GOLF will be showrun by Youssef and Rabinowitz who also executive produce alongside Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum and Alix Taylor under the Gloria Sanchez Productions. Rian Johnson, Ram Bergman and Nena Rodriguez are executive producers for T-Street. Andy Campagna is an executive
producer for Cairo Cowboy.
Ferrell is an avid golf player and has hosted The Will Powered Golf Classic, a fundraising event benefiting Cancer for College, for two decades. As an actor, writer and producer, he has created many popular characters in Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy, Elf, Step Brothers, and Stranger Than Fiction, among many others.
He can next be seen voicing Gru’s new nemesis Maxime Le Mal in Despicable Me 4 set to release this summer on July 3.
Youssef is perhaps best known for Hulu’s Peabody Award-winning comedy series, Ramy, which he created, produces, directs and stars in. Inspired by his own experiences, the series centers around a first-generation Egyptian-American Muslim on a spiritual journey in his politically divided New Jersey neighborhood. For his performance, he received a Golden Globe in 2020 in the category of “Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy,” and was subsequently nominated for two Emmy Awards in the categories of “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series” and “Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series” on behalf of the series’ second season.
He is also the co-creator and executive producer of Netflix’s MO, a semi-autobiographical series inspired by Mo Amer’s life as a Palestinian refugee growing up in Houston.
