Jim Parsons is Producing a New Sitcom About a Gay Couple Who Run a Bed and Breakfast
The end of The Big Bang Theory is nigh, but Jim Parsons is producing a new show — this one with a very queer setup.
The Inn Crowd, which Parsons is producing for NBC with Young & Hungry creator David Holden, is based on a 1999 New Yorker article about a gay couple who opened up a successful inn in small-town Virigina in the late 1970s. The population of Little Washington, Virginia, wasn’t sure whether to antagonize Patrick O’Connell and Reinhardt Lynch for being gay or embrace them for bringing big business — and celebrity guests — to town. (Spoiler alert: They split up, but O’Connell still runs the inn today.)
Parsons, currently the highest paid actor on TV, has been wistful about Big Bang Theory‘s demise. In August he announced he turned down a contract worth $50 million for seasons 13 and 14 of the long-running show. In an open letter, he praised his cast mates.
“You are my playmates when we don’t feel like playing but have to because it’s our job to get out there and communicate our job to get out there and communicate and pretend we’re these other fictional people and we look into each other’s eyes and say these words and end up creating this weird, other reality that has enriched my life more than I will fully ever understand.”
Parsons recently completed a revival of The Boys in the Band on Broadway. He also appeared in the indie film A Kid Like Jake, about a couple (Parsons and Claire Danes) who struggle with they realize their 4-year old child might be transgender.
The Inn Crowd isn’t the only thing Jim Parsons is producing: He’s also expressed interest in a film adaptation of Michael Ausiello’s heartbreaking memoir, Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies. The book recounts the final year of Ausiello’s husband, Kit Cowan, who was diagnosed with neuroendocrine cancer in 2014.
Parsons optioned the film rights in 2017 and is reportedly looking to star.
