Showtime has picked up the new workplace comedy series Moonbase 8, which follows John C. Reilly (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story), Tim Heidecker (Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!), and Fred Armisen (Portlandia) as a trio of inept NASA astronauts. In development since 2018, the series had previously wrapped filming and was being shopped to potential buyers. Now, it has been reported that the series will land at Showtime with plans for the network to debut Moonbase 8 sometime this fall.

Moonbase 8 is the brainchild of Reilly, Heidecker, Armisen, and Armisen's Porlandia co-creator Jonathan Krisel. Reilly, Heidecker, and Armisen also star in lead roles, while Krisel will be directing. All four are also executive producing alongside Dave Kneebone, Eric Wareheim, and A24's Ravi Nandan and Inman Young. A24 will also be producing alongside Abso Lutely Productions with the former independently financing the show's first season.

Consisting of six episodes, Moonbase 8 "revolves around three subpar astronauts who have high hopes of being chosen to travel to the moon. Set in the isolated desert of Winslow, Arizona at NASA's Moon Base Simulator, it follows eager astronauts Skip (Armisen), Rook (Heidecker) and their leader Cap (Reilly) as they attempt to qualify for their first lunar mission. While working vigorously to complete their training, a series of unexpected circumstances forces the astronauts to question their own mental sanity, trust in each other and whether or not they're cut out for space travel."

Although the series was filmed before life as we all know it completely changed this year, its content will just so happen to be relevant to current events. "In a year when we have all been forced to come to terms with life in close quarters, we are happy to have landed this offbeat take on life in captivity with dreams of escaping to something grander," said Showtime's President of Entertainment, Jana Winograde. "While the show was produced before [2020], its subject matter is timely - and thanks to Fred, Tim, John and Jonathan, its humor is timeless."

Armisen and Krisel found great success with the eight-season run of the IFC comedy series Portlandia, which ran between 2011 and 2018. Earning great critical acclaim, the series won an Emmy and a Peabody Award. Meanwhile, Heidecker is well known for starring on the highly-entertaining sketch comedy series Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, which featured some of the most creative skits ever seen on television. Of course, Reilly is also famous as one of today's funniest movie actors, often appearing alongside Will Ferrell in several of his most famous comedy movies. It would seem that all of the right ingredients are here for Moonbase 8 to be a success.

Word is Moonbase 8 will be premiering on Showtime this fall, but an exact date has yet to be revealed. Now that the series has a home, we should be seeing some sneak peek footage at the show in the near future. Let's hope it's as funny as it clearly has the potential to be. This news comes to us from Deadline.