If you’re part of the podcast space, you might just be a little annoyed that celebrities took over that space super quickly—especially during the pandemic when they weren’t generating income— scoring all the celebrity talent, lapping up a lot of the advertising dollars and arguably killing or stymying what many thought to be a podcast goldrush at the end of the last decade. We digress. 😀 One of the podcasts launched during the pandemic that quickly grew in popularity, scoring great celebrity guests, quickly gaining huge numbers, and hoovering up available advertising dollars was The Smartless podcast from friends and comedians Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes (their intentions seemed pure for what it was worth).
If you’ve listened to the show, which is genuinely funny and charming, albeit a little rambly at times, you know these three friends have a lot of natural chemistry together. Furthermore, they’ve been taking their podcast on the road for live shows, and that’s turned into a new documentary series called “Smartless On The Road” that debuts Tuesday, May 23 on Max (formerly known as HBO Max)
Max has released the first official trailer and the series following Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes during the North American tour of their hit podcast. Directed by Sam Jones (“Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed,” “Off Camera with Sam Jones”), the six-part docuseries provides fly-on-the-wall, intimate access of the three friends and beloved actors as they travel through Boston, Brooklyn, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Madison, Wisconsin, and Los Angeles, giving viewers a sneak peek into the minds, conversations, and bonds behind one of the country’s most popular podcasts. Guests that appeared in those live shows and will appear in the doc series include Conan O’Brien, Will Ferrell, Matt Damon, Jimmy Kimmel, Kevin Hart, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and David Letterman.
The trailer was shown today exclusively during Warner Bros. Discovery’s unveiling of the Max streaming service on the Warner Bros. lot in Los Angeles.
Here’s the official synopsis:
Hop on the road with Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes as they take us on an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the sold-out live tour of their wildly successful podcast, “SmartLess.” Traveling from city to city all over the country, the trio is joined by celebrities such as Conan O’Brien, Will Ferrell, Matt Damon, Jimmy Kimmel, Kevin Hart, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, David Letterman, and other surprise guests.
Here’s the Smartless synopsis:
In each episode of “SmartLess,” one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind. The passion project of three friends has turned into a wildly successful podcast, named one of the Best Shows of 2020 by Apple as well as consistently ranking Top 5 Comedy Shows and Top 10 on overall shows on iTunes. “SmartLess” is produced by Michael Grant Terry, Bennett Barbakow, and Rob Amjärv.
It’s Six cities, three friends, and one unforgettable tour. “Smartless: OnTheRoad” is coming May 23 to Max. Watch the trailer below.
