Eddie Murphy to Star in Peacock Drama The Chairman
Eddie Murphy will star in The Chairman, a drama series in development at Peacock. The series was created by Matthew Weiner. If Peacock orders it to series, it would be Murphy's first live-action scripted series role, as reported by Variety.
Murphy will also produce alongside Weiner. Both hold executive producer credits, the title for the senior figures who guide creative and business decisions. The series will be produced by Universal Television and 101 Studios. No episode count has been finalised.
101 Studios is run by David Glasser, an executive producer of Yellowstone. The Chairman is the first project to emerge from Chris McCarthy's deal at NBCUniversal. Under that deal, McCarthy acts in a consulting role on the studio's relationship with Glasser and 101 Studios, according to Variety.
Murphy began in television. He spent four seasons on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984. His only scripted series role since was in voice acting. He co-created and voiced the animated series The PJs.
The attachment was reported on 1 October 2026. That report is the latest word on the project. Peacock has not announced a premiere window or additional casting.
Weiner is known for long-running cable drama. He created Mad Men and served as its showrunner, the lead writer who runs day-to-day production. The AMC series ran for seven seasons from 2007 to 2015. He was earlier a writer and executive producer on The Sopranos.
He later created The Romanoffs, a 2018 anthology series for Amazon Prime Video built around standalone stories. An anthology tells separate tales in each episode. That structure differs from a serialised drama that follows one cast across a season.
The Chairman is still in development. That means Peacock has not yet ordered it to series. A straight-to-series order, meaning no pilot is shot first, or a pilot order would be the next step to watch.
For fans, this means patience. The show has a star, a creator and studios attached. It does not yet have an order, a date or episodes to watch.
