Eddie Murphy Takes Aim At First Live-Action TV Series With The Chairman

Eddie Murphy is preparing to lead a scripted TV drama for the first time in his career. The comedian and movie star is attached to The Chairman, a series in development at Peacock from Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner.

If Peacock orders the show, it would give Murphy his first starring role in a live-action scripted series. That distinction matters: Murphy has been a television star before, and he has already led an animated show.

Variety reports that Murphy will star in and produce The Chairman. Weiner will write and produce the drama, while Universal Television and 101 Studios will make it. Nobody has revealed the plot, Murphy’s character or a premiere date. Peacock has not announced a full series order.

Murphy first became a household name on Saturday Night Live, where he spent four seasons from 1980 to 1984.

He then built a movie career that ran from 48 Hrs. and Beverly Hills Cop to Coming to America, Dreamgirls and Dolemite Is My Name. An Oscar nomination for Dreamgirls showed his dramatic range, but he never took a regular, on-camera role in a scripted TV series.

He did make his mark on television after SNL. Murphy created The PJs and voiced its lead character, building superintendent Thurgood Stubbs.

The animated comedy debuted in 1999. He also helped create The Royal Family, the CBS sitcom starring Redd Foxx and Della Reese, but he did not star in it. So calling The Chairman his first TV series without that detail would erase work he has already done.

Weiner brings a long TV résumé to the project. He created Mad Men, wrote and produced The Sopranos, and later created The Romanoffs.

His involvement points to a different setting for Murphy than the movie comedies that made him famous, though the team has given no clues about what The Chairman will ask him to play.

Murphy has stayed busy on screen. He starred in the 2025 heist comedy The Pickup with Keke Palmer, and his Netflix documentary Being Eddie looked back at his career. AllHipHop reported that he has also left the door open to performing stand-up again.

For now, The Chairman remains a project in development. A series order would make Murphy’s first live-action scripted TV lead official.