Ryan Murphy Needs to Take a Break

Does the world really need another Ryan Murphy television show with the singing and the star power and the celebrities? If you ask me, the answer is no. If you ask Netflix, the answer is “YES, MY GOD ARE YOU KIDDING ME, OF COURSE WE DO, NOW BRING ME MY CONTRACT-SIGNING GLASSES AND THE LARGE BAG OF MONEY I PUT ON THE CREDEZNA.”

In a breathless exclusive, Deadline reports that Murphy has managed to shove off what sounds like a(nother) fever dream of his very own making onto Netflix: The Politicians, an hour-long, occasionally musical comedy featuring Ben Platt (the titular Evan Hansen of Dear Evan Hansen, a musical about teens and social anxiety) and possibly also featuring Gwyneth Paltrow (gah) and Barbra Streisand (ah).

The full plot of the show is being kept under wraps, but here’s the gist: “It revolves around the politician aspirations of Platt’s Payton, a wealthy Santa Barbarian, and every season will revolve around a different political race his character is involved in.” Paltrow—engaged to Glee co-creator Brad Falchuk—and Streisand haven’t officially signed on, but if they do, Paltrow will produce and Babs will both star in and direct some episodes. I am personally struggling to see how precisely these very distinct threads of Murphy’s interest will come together. He loves politics, as evidenced by American Horror Story: Cult and he loves singing, as evidenced by Glee. I’m sure he loves Barbra Streisand, but just hasn’t had the public platform from which to declare that love just yet. And apparently, he also loves Santa Barbara? Who knew! I didn’t! But we all will, soon!

The show hasn’t even started production yet, and it’s been reportedly given a two-season straight-to-series order, which means Netflix is extremely confident in Ryan Murphy’s ability to produce…something watchable, at the very least, and good at best.