The fur is about to fly between Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin in Peacock’s new limited drama series Joe vs Carole, premiering March 3, the streamer announced Friday. Kate McKinnon and John Cameron Mitchell take on the larger-than-life characters introduced to the world in Tiger King in the first look trailer, embodying the feud between big cat enthusiasts that quickly escalated into an alleged murder for hire plot.
The eight 60-minute episodes that drop on March 3 are based on the Wondery podcast Joe Exotic, hosted and reported by Robert Moor, following Baskin’s investigation into the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park owner’s alleged big cat breeding and mistreatment. When Baskin attempts to shut down the venture, Exotic levels his aim at her, digging up her own “checkered past” regarding her long-missing husband Don Lewis. The results soon turn dangerous.
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“Joe vs Carole is a wild ride. It’s a fun and rich journey into the story of people who live very extreme lives,” showrunner and writer Etan Frankel said in a statement. “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.”
Frankel hopes that fans of the original story will see the drama between Baskin and Exotic play out in a “brand-new way,” especially with McKinnon and Mitchell taking on the lead roles. “We knew it would take two extraordinary actors to portray these larger-than-life people as the complex, three-dimensional individuals that they are,” he continued.
“John Cameron Mitchell is one of the most gifted and thoughtful actors I’ve ever worked with. He cares so deeply about the work, and his performance is breathtaking. And Kate McKinnon is simply remarkable. She is able to make us double over with laughter one moment and then break our hearts the next. It was an absolute thrill to watch these two exceptional actors morph into these roles.” Joe vs Carole premieres Thursday, March 3 on Peacock.
