Having conquered the worlds of basketball, hip-hop, video games, crime-fighting, wish-granting, goofing around with Charles Barkley, and word play, Shaquille O’Neal is getting into the TV business. In a move that we would never imply was in any way influenced by his former teammate LeBron James’ autobiographical comedy Survivor’s Remorse, O’Neal is developing an autobiographical comedy pilot based on his “sprawling business empire” and the “offbeat, yet capable group [that] juggles the mayhem of managing [Shaq’s] existing products and endorsements while implementing his latest batch of sometimes eccentric business ideas.” Overseeing it all will be O’Neal himself as his underlings “constantly [jockey] for the power and recognition to make the big guy proud,” which doesn’t sound all that different from working at The A.V. Club.
The title of the pilot, predictably and delightfully, will be Shaq Inq. This will be the first foray into scripted programming for TruTV, which also produces renaissance man O’Neal’s prank show Upload With Shaquille O’Neal. Veteran TV director John Fortenberry has signed on to direct, with O’Neal and 30 For 30’s Mike Tollin serving as executive producers. The pilot for Shaq Inq. will be written by The Wedding Ringer writer-director Jeremy Garelick, so don’t be shocked if the humor is on the homophobiq side.