ABC Developing Half-Hour Comedy With Trae Crowder, The Liberal Redneck
The creators of Party Down are heading down south with the Liberal Redneck for a new half-hour comedy project on ABC, Deadline reports.
Trae Crowder, also known for his performance persona the Liberal Redneck, is developing a series inspired by his life along with Rob Thomas and Warner Bros. TV.
The project was previously attached to Fox from the same creative team with a different premise revolving around the Liberal Redneck returning to his Tennessee hometown. That concept has been reworked slightly for the ABC version of the show, and will focus on Crowder struggling to raise a wife and son in Tennessee while reckoning with the complexities of Southern culture as he sees it.
The series pilot was written by Crowder and Party Down showrunner John Enbom, who co-created Party Down along with Thomas, Dan Etheridge, and Paul Rudd. Enbom and Thomas are also known for their work on iZombie and Veronica Mars, both of which Thomas created.
Crowder's Liberal Redneck videos have been popular on Facebook and YouTube as viral sensations since they first started being released in 2016. They have been widely shared largely due to the appeal of their progressive viewpoints delivered in a disarmingly folksy, good-ol'-boy manner.
Crowder, along with comedy partners Drew Morgan and Corey Ryan Forrester, worked the character and his ideals into a book called The Liberal Redneck Manifesto: Draggin' Dixie Outta the Dark, which was published in 2016. The three comedians are currently on a national tour that is in its second year.