George Clooney’s Hulu limited series “Catch-22” is dropping just in time for Emmy consideration: Friday, May 17. The streaming service revealed the date Monday at the Television Critics Association press tour, along with a teaser trailer (watch above).
Instead of employing its usual weekly episode release, Hulu will premiere all six episodes of “Catch-22” that day, ensuring that the project is eligible for September’s Emmys by the May 31 deadline.
Based on the acclaimed 1961 Joseph Heller novel and directed by Clooney, the series follows Capt. John Yossarian (Christopher Abbott), a World War II U.S. Air Force bombardier who is enraged by the bureaucratic rule known as Catch-22, which stipulates that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that are real and immediate is the process of a rational mind.
SEE Hugh Laurie joins George Clooney’s Hulu series ‘Catch-22’ — is this his ticket to an overdue Emmy?
Clooney, who is executive-producing alongside Grant Heslov, was originally set to play Col. Cathcart, but later gave himself the smaller role of Scheisskopf to accommodate his directing duties; Kyle Chandler replaced him as Cathcart. The cast also includes Hugh Laurie, Oscar nominee Giancarlo Giannini, Daniel David Stewart (“Spring Awakening”), Tessa Ferrer (Clooney’s cousin), Lewis Pullman (Bill’s son), Rafi Gavron (aka Ally’s dick manager in “A Star Is Born”) and Heslov.
With “The Handmaid’s Tale” sitting out this Emmy cycle, “Catch-22” will likely be Hulu’s priority, especially with this pedigree in front of and behind the camera. Chandler is already an Emmy champ, having upset Jon Hamm (“Mad Men”) for Best Drama Actor for “Friday Night Lights” in 2011, but neither Clooney nor Laurie has won a competitive Emmy. Clooney, who received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award in 2010, went 0-2 for “ER” and also lost as a producer on “Hope for Haiti Now.” Laurie, his fellow TV doctor alum and “Tomorrowland” co-star is 0-10, losing six times as an actor (including to Chandler) and once as a producer on “House,” once each as a performer and producer on “The Night Manager,” and once for his guest turn on “Veep.”
Last year, Hulu’s limited series “The Looming Tower” earned four Emmy nominations: actor for Jeff Daniels, supporting actor for Michael Stuhlbarg, directing and casting.
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