EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of It's Florida, Man's Season 1 finale tomorrow, Nov. 22, the original late-night comedy series has been renewed for a second season by HBO.
It's Florida, Man, an irreverent, low-budget anthology comedy, has been proof of concept for HBO and its performance is expected to usher in more shows developed under that model to the network's late-night.
Acknowledging at an investor call last year that hit drama series in general provide better return on investment than comedies, Casey Bloys Chairman and CEO, HBO and Max Content, has been looking to revamp the genre, mixing up high-end, star-driven vehicles with off-beat, cheaper entires as the TV industry across the board had been looking to bring down comedy costs down.
HBO's previous lower-budget comedy efforts under that strategy include Los Espoookys How To with John Wilson.
The latest experiment, It's Florida, Man, has delivered an attractive cost vs. performance proposition.
Launching with little promotion (the show's marketing campaign was scaled back in the wake of hurricane Milton's path of devastation through Florida), It's Florida, Man drew a solid 2.3 million cross-platform average viewers, ranking within the Top 3 most watched series on Max since its debut in October. The comedy also has fared well with critics with 86% on Rotten Tomatoes.
From Rough House Pictures (HBO's "Eastbound & Down" and "The Righteous Gemstones") and Range Studios, It's Florida, Man brings to life unbelievable ripped-from-the-headlines tales of the Sunshine State - straight from the people who live there. Featuring interviews from everyday Floridians and playful recreations starring a rotating cast of actors and comedians, including Anna Faris, Jake Johnson, Randall Park, Juliette Lewis, Sam Richardson, Ego Nwodim, and more, this hilarious and outrageous series sheds light on the viral, wacky, and weird.
The six-episode Season 1 featured more than two dozen guest stars, including Anna Faris, Randall Park, Jake Johnson, Jon Gries, Sam Richardson, Ego Nwodim, Juliette Lewis, Simon Rex, and more.
The seires is created and executive produced by Mark Herwick for Range Studios and Jeff Tomsic, who also directs. Executive produced by Danny McBride and Brandon James for Rough House Pictures, and showrunner Bryan Storkel.