Harrison Ford is getting his funnybone on.
The 66 year-old has signed on to star in Morning Glory, a tee-hee-titled comedy which will be produced by JJ Abrams and directed by Roger Michell.
So what’s the story, Morning Glory? Well, Ford will play an anchor on a fading morning news show (presumably titled Morning Glory, although it’s hard to imagine a TV show in America getting away with such a provocative name, given that Morning Glory is – cover your eyes, children – slang for a man’s involuntary early stirrings) who’s at war with his fellow – and female - anchor.
Rachel McAdams will play an ambitious producer drafted in to settle their differences and get the show back on track. The role of the other anchor has yet to be cast, but we’re guessing that she’ll be played by an older actress, thus cutting off any fears that there may be a slightly icky May/December romance between Ford and McAdams, who’s fully 36 years Henry Jones Jr’s junior.
So, it’s a cross between Broadcast News and that short-lived Kelsey Grammer sitcom Back To You, with possible shades of Anchorman. With Abrams, who can do no wrong, and the assured hand of Michell (Changing Lanes, Venus) at the tiller, this sounds good to us, even if Ford doing comedy has rarely been a sure thing.
Aline Brosh McKenna, who wrote The Devil Wears Prada, will write the script – another sign of a more-than-decent pedigree. And that’s it – somehow we’ve made it to the end of this story without making any puerile jokes about morning glories. Heaven knows, it’s been hard-on us.