Last June, Marc Maron announced that he shot a pilot for a TV semi-adaptation of his podcast "WTF." On Saturday, Laughspin cites insiders that IFC plans to officially announce soon that the cable channel has picked up a full ten-episode season of the show.
Maron's show (currently untitled, but possibly also called "WTF") will join another podcast-turned-TV show on IFC's lineup, "Comedy Bang! Bang!", an off-kilter talk show with Scott Aukerman and Reggie Watts. The game show "Bunk," hosted by Kurt Braunohler, will also see its premiere next summer, and IFC's breakout comedy hit "Portlandia" will return sometime this year as well.
In the pilot for Maron's show, which IFC did not ask to be reshot, Maron plays himself -- a grizzled comedian who hosts a podcast called "WTF," where he interviews his comedy colleagues from his garage (the pilot was even shot in his actual house). Although Laughspin reports that no casting has been confirmed, Ed Asner played Maron's father and Ken Jeong played himself as a podcast guest in the pilot episode. The episode was directed by Academy Award winner Luke Matheny and cowritten by Duncan Birmingham.
Maron's podcast, which he launched in 2009 and quickly became something of a phenomenon, has attracted both listeners and critics with the veteran comedian's open style of talking about his life, in comedy and in private. The last few weeks alone have seen Maron interview "Weird Al" Yankovic, Bill Maher and Mindy Kaling. He also recently was the subject of Hulu's documentary "A Day in the Life," which may serve as a more nonfiction precursor to the IFC show.
IFC will make a formal announcement of the series during their upfronts on Tuesday, according to Laughspin's sources. We will report more information at that time.