AMC Networks has announced that a series titled Straight Man starring Bob Odenkirk is fast in development. The series will be an adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo's 1997 novel of the same name.
Straight Man follows William Henry Devereaux Jr. (Odenkirk), the unlikely interim chairman of the English department of the extremely underfunded Railton College found in the rust belt of Pennsylvania.
Additional cast members are yet to be announced. The series is produced by AMC along with Sony Pictures’ Television TriStar TV and Gran Via. Straight Man will mark Odenkir's third series with AMC after Breaking Bad and its spin-off Better Call Saul.
Aaron Zelman and Paul Lieberstein will serve as the showrunners on the project. Zelman and Lieberstein will also direct along with Odenkirk and Peter Farrelly. Author Russo will also be an executive producer alongside Naomi Odenkirk and Marc Provissiero.