The Premise, a series of standalone stories about the weird times we live in, premieres on FX on Hulu Sept. 16. B.J. Novak, who played Ryan on The Office, created the show and hosts.
The series tackles guns, social justice, sex, capitalism, social media and other hot topics across its five episodes. Said FX, “The curated collection of character-driven episodes challenges our shared morality tales, choosing art over argument, as it engages with the most relevant and meaningful issues of the modern era.”
The cast includes Lucas Hedges, Kaitlyn Dever, Jon Bernthal, Ben Platt, Tracee Ellis Ross, Daniel Dae Kim, Lola Kirke, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Soko, Ed Asner, George Wallace, Jermaine Fowler and Beau Bridges.
Novak shared about how he approached FX with the project during a TCA session last month. “I wrote these scripts, and I said, ‘These are stories about our time the way I see them. I would love to bring on more collaborators and broaden this,’” he said. “But it was really about, how do we tell the stories of our time by looking them in the eye and having fun with them and not being scared of any topic on a human level?”
Novak likened the show to “The Twilight Zone without the sci‑fi” and "Black Mirror without the dystopian technology.”
Novak executive produces along with John Lesher. FX Productions produces the show.
He called his cast “a dream cast.”
“What's especially exciting to me is that these are all people on the way up,” Novak added. “I think that, in the future, people will see these episodes and think, ‘Oh my God, she was in that? He was in that?’ They are really people that are bringing something exciting and new to their performance and interpret these issues in a certain way and embody them a certain way.”
