• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, May 23, 2024

Will Ferrell is adding professional golf to the list of sports he has spoofed in a string of hit movies with a new comedy TV series announced at Netflix’s Upfront last week.

One of those sports was professional basketball, which is the arena for another new comedy series announced by Netflix starring Kate Hudson.

In the show, titled “Running Point” Hudson’s character becomes the unlikely CEO of her family business, a basketball team. The show will premiere next year, Netflix said.

Ferrell’s new Netflix series, titled simply “Golf,” represents his first-ever TV comedy series. Netflix announced few details at the Upfront, other than saying Ferrell will play a “fictional golf legend.” There was no word on when the show would premiere.

Ferrell’s basketball comedy was “Semi-Pro,” released in 2008. His other sports spoofs were the NASCAR-based “Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby” (2006) and “Blades of Glory” (2007), which is about competitive ice skating.

Along with his other classics such as “Elf,” “Old School,” “Step Brothers,” “The Other Guys,” “Get Hard” and “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” it is easy to see why the TV Blog considers Ferrell to be America’s greatest living actor.

Like Amazon last week, Netflix announced a handful of sports-related content, including an as-yet untitled docuseries about the Dallas Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones; and “Simone Biles: Rising,” which will document the star gymnast’s return to worldwide competition this year.

One of the major announcements at the Upfront was a new deal with the NFL giving Netflix two exclusive NFL games coming in December on Christmas Day -- the Chiefs vs. the Steelers, and Ravens vs. Texans.

These will be the first NFL games ever to stream live on Netflix. Indeed, the three-year deal represents the first time Netflix has ever formed a partnership with any professional sports league.

In addition to this coming Christmas, the deal gives Netflix one game on Christmas Day in 2025 and one in 2026.

The NFL on Netflix is part of a new push into live events in both sports and entertainment for the streaming service. 

“Last year, we decided to take a big bet on live -- tapping into massive fandoms across comedy, reality TV, sports, and more,” said Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria in a press release.

“There are no live annual events, sports or otherwise, that compare with the audiences NFL football attracts. We’re so excited that the NFL’s Christmas Day games will be only on Netflix.”

No spectacle underscores Netflix’s new surge into live events better than the live clash of Jake Paul, 27, a boxer, some-time actor and full-time self-promoter, vs. Mike Tyson, 57, coming exclusively to Netflix on July 20.

In other content announcements from Netflix, Adam Sandler fans will be getting a new, original sequel to “Happy Gilmore,” the golf comedy best known for the scene in which Bob Barker socked Sandler in the face.

The first “Happy Gilmore” was released way back in 1996. The new “Happy Gilmore 2” comes nearly 30 years after the original. Netflix did not say when the new movie will premiere.

With its list of upcoming series and original movies coming soon or in development, Netflix is continuing in its efforts -- noted from time to time in the TV Blog -- to be all things to all viewers.

The service is doing this by casting a wide net to produce content in all genres, including some that are taken directly from the playbooks of others.

For example, two upcoming made-for-TV movies are the kind of wholesome Christmas holiday rom-coms that are the mainstay of Hallmark Channel.

The two, original Netflix movies -- “Hot Frosty” and “The Merry Gentleman” -- even star Lacey Chabert and Chad Michael Murray, respectively, both stalwarts of Hallmark Christmas movies.

Netflix also announced “The Waterfront,” a new adult family drama set in a seaside town, and another drama described only as “a contemporary cowboy saga” starring Tim McGraw.

The latter show may be in the pipeline to take advantage of the success of the modern westerns in the “Yellowstone” universe on Paramount+.

Another upcoming western series on Netflix is “American Primeval,” described as an “action-thriller western limited series.”