The last time comedian and Chesterton claim-to-fame Jim Gaffigan played any dates in Northwest Indiana was August 2013 at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville.
And this month, he’ll headline one show in Indianapolis on the Coliseum stage Aug. 17 at the 2014 Indiana State Fair before returning to the Chicago area Oct. 21 for one night at The Chicago Theatre.
Even if fans can’t make any of these performances, there’s still plenty of opportunity to enjoy Gaffigan’s clean comedy and funny slant about everyday family life.
This week, entertainment trade publication Variety reported a pilot TV series developed by CBS last year as “The Gaffigan Show” has been picked up to air as a new series order for cable’s TV Land network.
In a story reported Wednesday by Cynthia Littleton, Variety’s editor in chief, wrote: “The show, which has a 10-episode order for a 2015 premiere, revolves around Gaffigan’s life as a standup comic and father who struggles with an insatiable appetite.”
Peter Tolan and Michael Wimer are executive producers with Gaffigan, 48, and his wife of 10 years, Jeannie Gaffigan, the mother of their five children, daughters Marre and Katie Louise, and sons Jack, Michael and Patrick.
Adam Goldberg, Michael Ian Black and Ashley Williams are set to star in the new series, which also will re-air on sibling network Comedy Central, where Gaffigan is known for his standup specials.
I’m told the inspiration for the show not only comes from his stand-up routines but also from his successful 2013 memoir “Dad is Fat” ($25 Crown Publishers).
The TV Land announcement came the same day the network announced the cancellation of Kirstie Alley‘s latest show, “Kirstie.”
Gaffigan, who describes himself as born and raised in “Dune Acres, a suburb of Chesterton,” even attended Purdue University for his freshman year before transferring to Georgetown.
His high school years were spent at LaLumiere School, the private school in LaPorte, where he graduated in 1984.
Gaffigan’s earliest TV career start was co-starring with Ellen DeGeneres on her 2001 CBS sitcom “The Ellen Show,” and later starring in his own CBS series “Welcome to New York,” which was produced by David Letterman.
In recent years, Gaffigan has tried time on the big screen with roles in “The Love Guru,” “Going the Distance,” “Away We Go,” “It’s Kind of a Funny Story,” “17 Again” and most recently, in 2011, alongside Jennifer Connolly, Ed Harris, Pierce Bronson and Greg Kinnear, in the film “Salvation Boulevard.”
Gaffigan, who lives with his family in New York, also starred in his first Broadway production in 2011, “That Championship Season,” with the rest of the ensemble that included Chris Noth, Brian Cox, Jason Patric and Kiefer Sutherland at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater in New York City.
Read more about him at jimgaffigan.com.