Skip to main content

Jack Black and Dwight Yoakam to produce country-themed comedy for Fox

jack black dwight yoakam to produce country music comedy white
lev radin / Shutterstock.com
Move over Nashville. There’s another country music-themed series coming to TV — this one a comedy. And it’s got an A-list production team at the helm: actor/musicians Dwight Yoakam and Jack Black.

While it’s unclear whether the duo will also star in the Fox series the storyline has the makings of a hit. The series, called Belles & Whistles, follows an unsatisfied father who moves his family from Silicon Valley to Nashville to pursue a career in country music. The show has an even better chance of catching the eye of viewers if either Yoakam or Black are cast as the lead.

Recommended Videos

While Yoakam is best known for his extensive career in country music, he’s had his fair share of experience in TV and film. Most recently, the Grammy-winner starred in the second season of CBS drama Under the Dome as barbershop owner Lyle Chumley. He has also appeared in FX’s Wilfred, and played major roles in feature films like Panic Room, Hollywood Homicide, and Sling Blade.Currently on tour to promote his 14th record Second Hand Heart, this will be his first time producing a series.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Black’s legacy in music, film and TV — from Shallow Hal and School of Rock to fronting comedic rock group Tenacious D — is long and storied. He’s currently promoting Goosebumps in which he stars as R.L. Stine, the writer of the spooky kids books. “It’s the thrill that I love the most,” he said to Parade about his career in showbiz. “I’ve been on this ride that’s been really magical. If there were no money? I’d be putting on shows! It has to be a story that’s going to blow people’s minds. Then I don’t care if I get paid for it.”

Alex McAulay (Eastbound and Down) wrote the script for the series. Spencer Berman, of Black’s production company Electric Dynamite, will also executive produce.

While little is know about the bones of the series at this point, we’ll certainly give props to Fox for the title.

Chris Leo Palermino
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Chris Leo Palermino is a music, tech, business, and culture journalist based between New York and Boston. He also contributes…
5 great Netflix movies to watch on Christmas
A TSA agent runs in Carry-On.

To quote a notorious line from a James Bond movie, "Christmas comes but once a year." Since that's the case, you better have something fun planned, or the holidays can quickly turn sour. You could watch a football game or go to the movie theater, but why bother with all that hassle when Netflix is just sitting right there?

The streamer has plenty of movies available, especially Christmas-themed ones. But the following list doesn't include such recent films as Hot Frosty or The Merry Gentlemen. Instead, these five movies are all guaranteed crowd-pleasers, even if they don't explicitly involve the holiday.

Read more
5 great drama movies to watch on Christmas
A man puts his hand on the steering wheel in a car in a scene from The Noel Diary.

'Tis the season for watching movies. It's a great opportunity to watch a movie since many of us will be off during the holiday season. There are so many Christmas movies to choose from that it can be overwhelming. Family-friendly classics like Elf, Home Alone, and A Christmas Story never go out of style. Rom-coms like Love Actually and The Holiday always play well this time of year.

There are significantly fewer Christmas dramas than the two categories mentioned above. However, the dramas that are available to stream are worth watching. Our picks for drama movies to watch on Christmas include a famous psychological drama from a master, an iconic adaptation of a novel, and a Netflix romance.

Read more
1999 had the greatest lineup of Christmas movies ever
Two men work on a film projector in The Cider House Rules.

We all have our traditions for Christmas. Some sing carols around the neighborhood while others wear ugly sweaters to work and make gingerbread at home. For myself, every year I always go to one place of worship on Christmas Day: the movie theater. I'll be there this year, plunging myself into the Gothic darkness of Robert Eggers' Nosferatu remake, watching Nicole Kidman submit to unspeakable carnal pleasures in Babygirl, and witnessing the birth of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown.

For as long as I can remember, I've gone to the theater on Christmas and watched three or four movies, usually from different genres, and it's always been the one present to myself that's satisfied me the most. But there was one year when my holiday movie marathon hit a perfect score, all 10s, and no notes: 1999. That was a great movie year, so it stands to reason its Christmas Day offerings would tower over the rest.

Read more