The Tiger King miniseries finally has a home. Or three homes.
While the real Joe Exotic is still in prison, the scripted TV show Joe Exotic has received a straight-to-series order and will officially be airing on NBC, Peacock, and USA. It was reported earlier this year that Kate McKinnon will star as Carole Baskin, but now we've got new details about the upcoming limited series.
Per Universal Content Productions, the series follows "Carole Baskin, a big cat enthusiast, who learns that when fellow exotic animal lover Joe "Exotic" Schreibvogel is breeding and using his big cats for profit, she sets out to shut down his venture, inciting a quickly escalating rivalry. But Carole has a checkered past of her own and when the claws come out, Joe will stop at nothing to expose what he sees as her hypocrisy. The results prove dangerous."
Joe himself has not yet been cast, but it's clear there are plenty of celebs who might be willing to kill for the role.
McKinnon will also serve as executive producer, and the series will be written by Etan Frankel, a writer known for Shameless and Sorry For Your Loss.
The show is actually based on the Wondery podcast Joe Exotic as opposed to Tiger King, the Netflix docuseries. The podcast and the docuseries were both released back in March, right around when the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. Tiger King became a sensation and its subjects—a group of animal lovers and private zoo owners with extremely colorful lives—became viral stars, for better or worse. Carole Baskin is even in talks for Dancing With the Stars, sources tell E! News.
Keep up with everything we know about the miniseries below!
Joe Exotic and his gang of misfits have found mega fame with their Netflix docuseries, but he was first introduced to the world on Wondery's second season of the podcast Over My Dead Body. The story that the writers at Wondery weaved will be the basis of the new series produced by UCP studios. Together, Wondery's Hernan Lopez and Marshall Lewy will executive produce the limited series with the help of their star, Kate McKinnon. Etan Frankel will write and executive produce the series, and it will air on Peacock.
Per UCP, "Joe Exotic is a limited series based on true events following Carole Baskin (McKinnon), a big cat enthusiast, who learns that when fellow exotic animal lover Joe "Exotic" Schreibvogel is breeding and using his big cats for profit, she sets out to shut down his venture, inciting a quickly escalating rivalry. But Carole has a checkered past of her own and when the claws come out, Joe will stop at nothing to expose what he sees as her hypocrisy. The results prove dangerous."
Saturday Night Live star will be playing the divisive Carole Baskin in the limited series. In a statement, Carole called McKinnon "a wonderful actress" and requested that the show use only CGI tigers instead of real ones.
Shrill star John Cameron Mitchell, who rose to fame by writing and starring in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, will play the titular eccentric zoo owner who has it out for Carole Baskin.
"I'm thrilled to take on the role of this modern folk antihero," Mitchell said in a statement. "Joe and I are the same age and like him, I grew up queer in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas so I feel like I know a little bit about this guy and his desperate attempt to conquer an inhospitable world."
Twin Peaks star Kyle MacLachlan will portray Howard Baskin in the Joe Exotic miniseries.
As for who will play Joe's backstabbing friend and fellow big cat enthusiast Jeff Lowe? That will be none other than Oz's Dean Winters.
Initially, Dennis Quaid was cast to play producer Rick Kirkham. However, due to a scheduling conflict, The Parent Trap actor had to exit the series. In July 2021, it was announced that Mom's William Fichtner would step into the role.
In May 2021, it was revealed that Cougar Town's Brian Van Holt was cast as John Reinke in the Joe Exotic miniseries. As fans of the Tiger King saga well know, John was the manager for Joe's zoo, a loyal employee until things got too out of hand.
The Peacock series began rounding out its cast when it tapped Nat Wolff to play one of Joe's husbands, Travis Maldonado, who passed away in 2017 due to an accidental suicide. Nat confirmed the casting news on Instagram, writing, "Couldn't be more excited to go on this wild adventure with this talented group of people!"
On Tuesday, June 1, the second of Joe's husbands was announced. Specifically, Sam Keeley will be joining Joe's throuple as John Finlay, who was often shirtless and had a headline-making smile in the Netflix docuseries.
In regard to his new role, Sam took to his Instagram story and said he was "very excited to be apart of this."
Australian actor Damien Garvey will play mysterious animal trainer Doc Antle.
A newcomer, named Lex Mayson, will portray Saff, an employee of Joe's who lost their arm after a brutal tiger attack.
Following his work on Orange Is the New Black, Joel Marsh Garland is set to play James Garretson, Joe's friend-turned-FBI informant, in the upcoming series.
Depending on the timeline, there could be new evidence brought to light in the disappearance of Carole's husband Don Lewis. The Hillsborough County sheriff wrote on Twitter, "Since @netflix and #Covid19 #Quarantine has made #TigerKing all the rage, I figured it was a good time to ask for new leads." If this happens, the show could have new info to inspire their script.
E!, UCP, NBC, Peacock, and USA are all part of the NBCUniversal family.