Channel 4 comedy commissions Cumbo from Retort

10 August 2012

hannel 4 has ordered a three-part online sitcom series from Retort (part of FremantleMedia UK) for its popular Comedy Blap online site: channel4.com/blaps.  Cumbo - co-written by David Earl (Extras, Cemetery Junction, Derek) and Brett Goldstein (Derek, Super Bob, Stand Up for the Week, The Knot) - runs 13th, 14th and 15th August 2012 on channel4.com, YouTube, Vimeo and iTunes podcast.

While all his friends are settling down and having children, Steve Gene Cumberland (known as Cumbo, and played by David Earl) is a player who refuses to leave the table, destined to be, in his words "the last of the survivors".  A somewhat dysfunctional character, he sees the world for not just how it is but how he wants it to be. A ‘good-time guy', the three online episodes follow Cumbo as he sets out to demonstrate to his mate Repo (played by Theo Barklem-Biggs) how he can pick up any girl he chooses. Needless to say, things don't go to plan.

Nerys Evans, Channel 4 Commissioning Editor of Comedy, added:"Brett Goldstein and David Earl have created a monster, but thankfully one so entertaining you won't be able to stop watching him. Cumbo is a delicious mix of ego and vulnerability, it's a pitch perfect performance by David Earl. We're thrilled to be working with Brett and David on these Comedy Blaps as well as the clever people at Retort."

David Earl (who plays and created the character, Cumbo) added: "When I perform Cumbo around the house, it really annoys my fiancée so thanks Channel 4 (from her) for getting me out of her hair."

For Retort, Cumbo Producer, Jane Bell added: "Cumbo is packed full of fresh, inventive and explosive humour. David and Brett have between them, created a beautifully well observed comedy character. We've all met a Cumbo at some stage in our life, and if you haven't, take a good long look in the mirror because you are him."

Cumbo was ordered by Channel 4 Commissioning Editor of Comedy, Nerys Evans and is a Retort production for Channel 4 online.

The series is Executive Produced by Jon Rolph, Produced by Jane Bell and Directed by Phil Bowker.

Follow Cumbo on Facebook at steve.cumberland.7 or on Twitter @thecumbo

 

Notes to Editors:

FremantleMedia UK is the UK production arm of FremantleMedia, the global production and content business of the RTL Group, Europe's largest television and radio company.  FremantleMedia UK, comprises of a group of labels, Talkback, Retort, Boundless, Thames and Newman Street, which produce some of the UK's most successful shows. Retort is the newly-established label specialising in scripted comedy. The labels are headed up by some of the UK's leading creative talent including Dan Baldwin, Jon Rolph, Patrick Holland, Richard Holloway and Paul Marquess.  Across the group the labels provide award winning programming for all major terrestrial, digital channels and digital outlets.  With an unparalleled range of programming including:  The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent, Celebrity Juice, Take Me Out, Over The Rainbow, Blockbusters, The Apprentice, You're Fired, Can't Take It With You, Four Rooms, Grand Designs, Great British Railway Journeys, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, The IT Crowd, QI, The Rob Brydon Show, The Sinking of the Laconia, Kidnap and Ransom and Holy Flying Circus  - the Group has aired over 450 hours of programming on terrestrial TV in the past 12 months alone.