Kanye West’s Showtime TV Show With Jaden Smith Sounds Truly Bizarre
These days it seems like music is in the periphery for Kanye West. Between Yeezy, his Sunday Service, and his increased involvement on the 16th season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, the rapper is spread thin. Somehow, though, he’s found the time to add to his project list with something truly out of left field: an anthology series on Showtime.
West is apparently developing a half-hour show called Omniverse that explores an alternative reality with a totally different Kanye West. Feel free to read that sentence a couple of times — but, sorry, it probably won’t make much more sense. Fittingly, West tapped family friend and time skeptic Jaden Smith to play a young version of himself in this alternative reality which “examines the many doors of perception.” What does that look like? When does it take place? And what exactly will be the series of events it follows? At least right now, there are no answers.
What we do know is that the pilot script has officially been commissioned and is being made right now and handled by writer Lee Sung Jin who comes from a comedy background, having contributed to Silicon Valley, Netflix’s Tuca & Bertie, and Amazon’s Undone. In a statement, Jin attempted to offer a few more details about the show’s premise, saying per The Hollywood Reporter, that the show will “present an alternate world through the eyes of a young man somewhere in the multiverse who happens to also be a Kanye West.” “Omniverse is not set in our world nor about our world’s Kanye West as we aim to add a new spin on alternate realities, consciousness, and push the limits of half hour narrative,” Jin said. Jin and West will also serve as executive producers, alongside his former manager Scooter Braun, Jaden Smith, James Schin, Scott Manson, and Miguel Melendez.
This actually isn’t West’s first attempt at getting a TV show green-lit. Back in 2007 he attempted to sell a show to Comedy Central that was an adult, hip-hop version of The Muppets, capitalizing on the popularity of Crank Yankers. West’s show, dubbed Alligator Boots, was co-created with Rhymefest and even brought West and Kardashian together. While they wouldn’t officially become a couple for another five years, they did share time together on screen with Kardashian suiting up as Princess Leia and West dressing as a stormtrooper. The show’s pedigree also included Jordan Peele as a writer. Sadly, even all of that wasn’t enough to get Comedy Central to pick up the show. This time, though, maybe West will have better luck.
