George Clooney ‘Catch-22’ Begins on Hulu May 17

The George Clooney dark comedy Catch-22 premieres on Hulu May 17. There are six episodes in the series, which is based on Joseph Heller’s comic novel from 1961.

Clooney is an executive producer and is in the cast. Also in the cast are Christopher Abbott, Kyle Chandler, Hugh Laurie, Giancarlo Giannini, Daniel David Stewart and Rafi Gavron.

Catch-22 is the story of a U.S. Air Force bombardier in World War II named Yossarian, played by Abbott, who is furious because people he has never met are trying to kill him. His real problem, though, is not the enemy, but his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. If Yossarian makes any attempt to avoid his military assignments, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, which Hulu calls “a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule which specifies that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers which are real and immediate is the process of a rational mind.”

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Grant Heslov is executive producing with Clooney for Smokehouse Pictures, along with Richard Brown and Steve Golin for Anonymous Content. Luke Davies and David Michôd are co-writers and executive producers.

Paramount Television and Anonymous Content is producing the show. Clooney, Heslov and Ellen Kuras each directed two episodes.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.