Weezer Frontman Rivers Cuomo Gets Sitcom Deal With Fox


Rivers Cuomo, singer and guitarist for rock band Weezer, is teaming up with Psych creator Steve Franks for a single-camera sitcom based on Cuomo’s real-life experience taking a hiatus from rock stardom to attend Harvard University. DeTour will star Rivers as a fictional character who leaves behind a successful music career for a simpler life out of the spotlight. The show, which will be produced by Franks with Tagline Television’s Chris Henze and Willie Mercer, will also have Cuomo and his manager Dan Fields attached as executive producers.

Cuomo, whose band is known for such singles as “Beverly Hills,” “Buddy Holly,” and “Say It Ain’t So,” attended Harvard periodically for a 10-year period starting in 1995, and took a sabbatical from his music career to finish his education. Cuomo reportedly chose to have a normal college experience, living on campus and even meeting his wife at the university. Rivers was elected to Phi Beta Kappa during his time at Harvard, and graduated Cum Laude from the Ivy League school with a Bachelors degree in English.

It seems, according to Rivers Cuomo himself, that the announcement of the show may be a bit misleading. Rivers tweeted following the buzz surrounding the project, saying, “I think someone from FOX jumped the gun w/their press release. From what I understand, a ‘put pilot’ means they *might* make a pilot.”

The news of the TV project comes on the heels of Rivers and his Weezer bandmates releasing the first single from their forthcoming album Everything Will Be Alright in the End. “Back to the Shack” made a splash after its initial release for its direct and seemingly apologetic lyrics relating to the band’s change in direction through the years. Cuomo addressed the subject of the song recently, and admitted to making mistakes along the way when it came to some of the band’s musical experimentation.

“Lyrically I’m talking about how I feel bad about some of the musical experiments I took Weezer on and how I want to make a classic alt-rock record”, the frontman stated. “Sometimes I’ve gone over the edge.” Rivers has also said that the album will focus on relationships with father-figures.

In addition to the sitcom and the new Weezer album, Cuomo is also celebrating the band’s 20th anniversary. Weezer, whose 1994 self-titled debut went triple platinum and was met with critical acclaim, has sold upwards of 20 million albums and hosts a fan-centric cruise that had its second outing earlier this year. Additionally, Cuomo has participated in a number of side projects including, most recently, a duo with Scott Rivers of punk band Allister called Scott & Rivers.

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