Eddie Murphy is attached to star in “The Chairman,” a drama series in development at Peacock created by Matthew Weiner. If greenlit, the project will mark his first-ever role in a live-action scripted series.
Plot details for “The Chairman” are yet to be announced. The series will be produced by Universal Television and 101 Studios, which is run by “Yellowstone” executive producer David Glasser and is under a first-look film and television deal at NBCUniversal that began in January. “The Chairman” will also be the first project to come out of ex-Paramount boss Chris McCarthy’s deal at NBCUniversal, which was first reported in November 2025 and put him in a consulting role on the studio’s relationship with Glasser and 101. Murphy and Weiner serve as producers on “The Chairman.”
Murphy is among the world’s all-time greatest comedians, having launched his career as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” for four seasons from 1980 to 1984. Since then, he has focused on comedy specials and movies; his only scripted TV role before “The Chairman” was voice acting on “The PJs,” an animated series he co-created. On the big screen, his credits include the “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise (1984-2024), “Coming to America” (1988), “Harlem Nights” (1989), “Dr. Dolittle” (1998), “Dreamgirls” (2006), “Dolemite Is My Name” (2019) and more.
Weiner is best known for creating and serving as showrunner on “Mad Men,” which ran for seven seasons on AMC from 2007 to 2015 and is widely regarded as one of the best TV series of all time. He was also a writer and executive producer on “The Sopranos.” Other credits include writing and producing on CBS’ “Becker” (1999-2002) and the 2018 Amazon Prime Video anthology series “The Romanoffs,” which he created.