Showrunner Mitch Hurwitz has tapped three stars of his short-lived FOX series, Arrested Development, to provide voices for his upcoming FOX primetime toon series, Sit Down, Shut Up. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Henry Winkler will play screwed-up teachers in the animated reinvention of an Australian sit-com.
Sit Down, Shut Up takes place at a dysfunctional, small-town high school where self-indulgence on the part of the faculty interferes with the educational process. Hurwitz is writing and exec producing the project for Sony Pictures Television, Granada USA and Tantamount, a co-venture between Hurwitz and fellow exec producers Eric and Kim Tannenbaum.
Following a table read, FOX will decide whether or no to take the show to series. A star-studded cast is a good sign that things might work out. Also signed on to voice characters are Saturday Night Live veterans Cheri Oteri and Will Forte, as well as Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), Regina King (The Boondocks), Nick Kroll (Cavemen), and Maria Bamford (Barnyard).
Sit Down, Shut Up is one of several projects being groomed to join FOX’s successful lineup of animated shows, led by The Simpsons, Family Guy and King of the Hill. Also in development at the network are the Family Guy spin off Cleveland, the animated reincarnation of the short-lived sitcom The Pitts, Relative Insanity from exec producer Jack Black, and Mothballs from Drawn Together creators Matt Silverstein and Dave Jeser.
