Kevin Hart, T.I. to produce, guest star on Showtime’s upcoming music biz comedy

Given the massive mainstream success of Fox’s Empire, you just knew that the never-ending quest to create more stories and produce more content would spawn a slew of imitators. So it’s no surprise that Showtime and Lionsgate TV are currently developing a new music-biz-based show. And the network seems to have an interesting angle to explore, and a couple of big names on board to boot.

According to Deadline, comedian Kevin Hart and rapper T.I. (aka, Clifford Joseph Harris Jr.) will executive produce and occasionally guest star in an upcoming comedy called The Studio. The show will reportedly center around the unusual lifestyle led by those in the recording business and the charismatic, often offbeat characters who are drawn to it. In other words, get ready to turn the standard workday on its head with a little 5-to-9 action.

While T.I.’s music industry chops are unassailable, Hart’s involvement in this one seems slightly less obvious. Devoted fans of the comedian will note, however, that his alter ego is an MC by the name of Chocolate Droppa, and that he has collaborated on tracks with the likes of Trey Songz and — you guessed it — T.I. The two men have also appeared on the silver screen together, linking up for both Ride Along 2 and Get Hard.

Everybody Hates Chris scribe Aeysha Carr will be the show’s primary writer and will executive produce alongside Hart and T.I. As the series is still in the early stages of development, its release date is still to be determined. We’ll be sure to update you as information becomes available.

Hart fans can catch the actor in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle later this year and the comedian also lends his vocal talents to the recently released animated film Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie. As for T.I., the rapper/actor recently appeared in a Roots remake and is set to reprise his role as Dave in an upcoming Ant-Man sequel.