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‘SNL’ Icon Teams With ‘Mad Men’ Creator for New TV Series

The big-screen legend is taking on his first scripted live-action TV role nearly 50 years after his small-screen debut.

Eddie Murphy has been a TV star, a movie star, a stand-up legend, and an Emmy winner. But somehow, he’s never starred in a scripted live-action TV series. Until now. Murphy is set to star in The Chairman, a drama series in development at Peacock from Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner. Weiner is writing, directing, and executive producing the series, with Murphy also on board as an executive producer. Plot details are being kept tightly under wraps. Murphy first became a TV sensation on Saturday Night Live, joining the cast in 1980 at 19. He later created—but did not appear in—the short-lived sitcom The Royal Family and lent his voice to the animated series The PJs. His career has largely unfolded on the big screen with enormous hits such as Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America, and Shrek. He also earned an Oscar nomination for his dramatic turn in Dreamgirls. Now Murphy gets to add another medium to his résumé, with Weiner—one of television’s most acclaimed creators—at the helm.

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