Peacock has released the full trailer for its upcoming series Joe vs. Carole which means this show is really happening, huh? The new series, based on Wondery podcast Joe Exotic: Tiger King, purports to tell the backstory that Netflix’s hit series Tiger King left on the cutting room floor. Whether Joe vs Carole will become a hit for the struggling streamer or, like Tiger King 2, will be dismissed as pretty much pointless, remains to be seen.
The series centers not on Joe Exotic but on his rival Carole Baskin, portrayed by Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon. In Peacock’s trailer, Carole is basically the number one eccentric cat lady. Together with her (second) husband Howard (Kyle MacLachlan), Carole is intent on protecting as many big cats as possible. However, when Carole finds out about the less than savory business practices of Joe Exotic (John Cameron Mitchell), she wants to get his business shutdown to protect the big cats in his possession. But that makes Carole Joe’s number one enemy, and his personal brand of chaos soon takes over her life.
From the trailer, it seems the show will also cover the filming of the Tiger King series, which left the real Baskin feeling betrayed by the producers. Meanwhile, in the real world, Joe Exotic’s 22-year prison sentence was just shortened... to 21 years. And why is the Tiger King in prison at all? For trying to talk an undercover FBI agent into trying to murder Carole Baskin.
The series also stars Brian Van Holt, Sam Keeley, Nat Wolff, Marlo Kelly, William Fichtner, Dean Winters, and David Wenham.
The series was written by Etan Frankel (Shameless), who serves as showrunner. Justin Tipping directed five episodes, with Natalie Bailey directing the other three. All eight, hour-long episodes will drop on Peacock on March 3.