Netflix’s wildly popular docu-series Tiger King introduced the world to Joe Exotic’s story. A story of “murder, mayhem, and madness” that took him from a zoo to a prison cell. Really, though, the show was about a total train wreck. One that people couldn’t help but gawk at even when they knew looking was wrong. But morally dubious source material has never stopped Hollywood from cashing in before. And it isn’t stopping it now. NBC has shared the first images, release date, and teaser for its upcoming Peacock series starring John Cameron Mitchell and Kate McKinnon as the two big cat-loving enemies. Now we have a full look at the series with its official trailer. And Joe vs Carole looks as absurd as the real people it’s based on.
If we only know “half the tale” of Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin’s feud there’s nothing that will surprise us on this show. Nothing.
The limited series, which boasts eight 60-minute-long episodes, will premiere on Peacock on March 3. The network also shared an official synopsis. Notably, the Netflix series is not the source material for the Peacock show.
Based on the Wondery podcast ‘Joe Exotic,’ hosted and reported by Robert Moor, the limited series will center on Carole Baskin, a big cat enthusiast, who learns that 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.
The first two official images for Joe vs Carole also focus on its two stars. Each of whom is a perfect choice for their part.
“Joe vs Carole is a wild ride,” said showrunner and writer Etan Frankel in a press release. “It’s a fun and rich journey into the story of people who live very extreme lives. When I took on this project a year and a half ago, I found Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin to be utterly fascinating, and this crazy tale about two big cat lovers quickly became an important story for me to tell. I hope that when people watch Joe vs Carole just maybe they’ll see these people that they thought they knew in a brand-new way.”
Casting Hedwig and the Angry Inch star John Cameron Mitchell and SNL‘s Kate McKinnon will certainly allow viewers to see those two infamous animal enthusiasts in a brand-new way.
Everything about this story is strange. But the weirdest might be that for a time, it wasn’t the only series about the sworn enemies we’re getting. Nicolas Cage was, at one point, set to play the Joe Exotic in a show for Amazon. Although, for now at least, that project is not going forward.
Originally published on August 25, 2020.
