Despite wrapping and selling his hit quarantine web series to CBS earlier this month, John Krasinski will return to host ‘Some Good News’.
While chatting with fellow ‘The Office’ alum Rainn Wilson on Instagram Live, Krasinski explained his decision to hand off the feel-good show and revealed that he will still appear on “a couple” new episodes as host, though the faux news program is moving forward with a different lead anchor.
“We have a lot of really fun stuff planned, and I can’t wait to dig in,” Krasinski said. “I’m going to be a part of it whenever I can, and I’m going to host a couple [episodes] and bring on a different community of people. ... We’re really, really excited about it.”
Krasinski also is staying on as executive producer of ‘Some Good News’, which will debut future installments on CBS All Access. It’s also expected to air on the company’s linear TV channels, including Comedy Central, which is producing the show through its Comedy Central Productions shingle.
Before the CBS acquisition, Krasinski ran the entire ‘Some Good News’ production from his home office and posted the episodes on YouTube. Some highlights from the first season included a surprise ‘Hamilton’ cast reunion, graduation speeches from Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, and a virtual prom featuring Billie Eilish, the Jonas Brothers and Chance the Rapper.
“I was only planning on doing eight of them during quarantine because ... I have these other things that I’m going to be having to do very soon like ‘Jack Ryan’ and all this other stuff,” Krasinski explained to Wilson. “But more than that ... writing, directing, producing and all those things with a couple of my friends was so much. I knew it wouldn’t be sustainable with my prior commitments.
“The two options always were going to be that I leave it off at eight [episodes] in my office which, I would love to keep doing this show from my office forever it wasn’t sustainable.”
The ‘A Quiet Place’ mastermind also offered a glimpse into the project’s inception, spurred by a suggestion from Krasinski’s wife, actress Emily Blunt, as a way to lift spirits amid the coronavirus crisis.
“I was starting to get bummed out and trying to figure out how I was going to wade through this weird, uncertain time,” Krasinski said. “I had this idea a few years ago to start a good-news network, and [Blunt] said, ‘You should do it right now.’
“Like I said in the first episode of the show, I think it is something that we have always needed, and I’m so glad that we were able to bring it ... because we’re so excited to keep doing it. But I think that at the end of the day, it’s just something that was so amazing. I felt like I was a part of a really, really special community of people.”
A premiere date for CBS’ ‘Some Good News’ has not been announced.
