Weed Feed: Netflix's New Stoner Series 'Disjointed' Can Open Doors for Future Pot Programming

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WEED FEED / John Ross Ferrara / Monday, July 17, 2017 @ 7:55 a.m.

Weed Feed: Netflix's New Stoner Series 'Disjointed' Can Open Doors for Future Pot Programming

Recreational marijuana is quickly becoming a normal part of American life. So much so that it’s getting its very own TV sitcom.

Back on April 20, while target audiences were preoccupied heating up Totino’s Pizza Rolls, Netflix announced its new original series “Disjointed.“ The workplace comedy, premiering next month, stars Kathy Bates as a lifelong cannabis advocate living out her dream of owning and operating an LA pot dispensary.

While many studios have tried to produce shows aimed at cannabis users in recent years, few have made it to the production stage.

“Humboldt,” a cannabis crime drama starring John Malkovich announced by Sony Pictures last year, is no longer happening, Variety reports. According to the same article, NBC’s proposed pot shop comedy “Buds,” starring Adam Scott, is also off the table.

Various other pot projects that have made it to television in recent years have either struggled to find an audience or gone belly-up. Like MTV’s “Mary + Jane,” a pot-com that was canned last year after one season.

For many God-fearing Americans, cannabis is still a taboo subject, which may be why studio execs are unwilling to take a risk on shows centered around the drug.

But Netflix seems to have a trick up its sleeve.

“Disjointed” is produced by Chuck Lorre, the mastermind behind Middle-America powerhouses “The Big Bang Theory,” and “Two and a Half Men.”

Depending on your taste in television, this may be a major selling point or a total bummer. Either way, there’s no denying that Lorre knows how to make a hit TV series.

Bates is also a safe bet. The Academy-Award Winning actress is beloved for her roles as the chilling Annie Wilkes in “Misery,” and the Unsinkable Molly Brown in James Cameron’s “Titanic” (the second-highest grossing film in box office history.)

It’s always 420 somewhere! @Disjointed @netflix Chuck Lorre @davidjaverbaum August 25th pic.twitter.com/LCyw1JbQR7
— Kathy Bates (@MsKathyBates) April 21, 2017

Bates has also successfully branched out into television, winning an Emmy in 2012 for her guest appearance on “Two and a half Men,” and again in 2014 for best supporting actress on “American Horror Story.” And while she’s not traditionally known as a comedic actor, any child of the ‘90s can quote one of her lines as Mama Boucher in the Adam Sandler comedy “The Waterboy.”

Twenty episodes of ‘Disjointed’ are set to premier on August 25, and like it or not, Netflix is likely aiming for a safe show with mass appeal.

But if the project is successful, it could open doors for new edgier cannabis themed shows, and maybe even help marijuana become as commonplace in American television as sex, alcohol and Charlie Sheen.

And they say stoners can’t accomplish anything! 20 eps in the can, baby! #Disjointed #Netflix @MichaelTrucco @BirdySoderdy @Reddsaidit pic.twitter.com/awC77ja5DZ
— Kevin Shinick (@KevinShinick) June 25, 2017

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The Weed Feed is a weekly column written by John Ross Ferrara.

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