Bo Burnham’s Secret Sitcom
Bo Burnham has a “secret” sitcom? Kinda.
Burnham co-wrote a sitcom called Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous with Dan Lagana (American Vandal, Showrunner) that aired in 2013. Why are we calling this a “secret” sitcom?
Because BARELY ANYONE HAS SEEN IT and it’s AMAZING.
The first episode aired in May 2013 to a measly 650,000 viewers on MTV. By June, the numbers had halved. I have no idea how many people in America have now seen it but I can tell you absolutely nobody in England has seen or even heard of it. And I’m talking about comedy fans, sitcom fans and even Bo Burnham fans. Tragically, it was cancelled after one season.
So, what is it about?
Zach Stone (Bo Burnham) has just finished high school and all his friends are going to college. Zach has decided to take a different path in life – he wants to be a celebrity. How? Well, he’s not too sure – as he doesn’t really have any talents. He hires a film crew to follow him around with the little money he has saved up and calls himself a “pre-celebrity”.
It’s a mockumentary style sitcom that feels a lot like the UK Office. (Yes, that’s a good thing.) Each episode Zach comes up with a new idea to be famous and usually drags along his best friend, Greg (Armen Weitzman, Another Period, Silicon Valley), along for the ride. This really is Bo Burnham at his best with an amazing cast around him.
Check out this clip:
Is It Worth Watching?
Yes, of course it is.
I showed it to a friend that is obsessed with comedy and sitcoms. He stopped replying to texts for 6 hours. This wasn’t unusual for him – he’s a prick – but it turned out he had watched the whole series in one sitting.
He sent me a text saying he had no idea how he had not seen it, Bo Burnham is a genius and this is in his top 10 sitcoms of all time without question.
He’s still shouting that from the rooftops to this day.
Where Can I Watch It?
At the time of writing it can not be found on any streaming services such as Netflix. However, you can get the DVD from Amazon.
