Apple TV is developing Bad News Dads, a half-hour comedy starring and executive produced by James Marsden, based on an upcoming novel by Adam Frost (Deadline, 6 August 2026).

The story follows Ben, played by Marsden, a member of an inept men's recreational baseball team. When one of the players' wives dies in what looks like a suspicious accident, Ben leads two teammates in a bumbling, often misguided investigation — because they become increasingly convinced it was murder.

Stephen Falk — creator of the FXX series You're the Worst and a writer on Orange Is the New Black, Weeds and Apple TV's Hello Tomorrow! — is behind the adaptation. He executive produces alongside Marsden, Frost, and the Berlanti Productions team of Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Leigh London Redman and Robbie Rogers. Berlanti is under an overall deal at Warner Bros. Television, which produces the project.

The source novel will not even reach shelves until 6 April 2027, when Simon & Schuster's Atria imprint publishes it under the Emily Bestler Books banner. That means Apple is acquiring and developing the title well before readers can buy it — a common move in the current rights market, where producers increasingly option books before publication to avoid competing bids.

For viewers, the show sits in familiar company. Apple TV's own The Afterparty and Hulu's Only Murders in the Building both helped establish the current appetite for mystery-comedy hybrids that treat a whodunit as a vehicle for character-driven comedy rather than procedural suspense. Bad News Dads leans into that same tonal territory.

Marsden has been building a steady relationship with Apple TV. He recently came off a season-long arc on the streamer's Your Friends & Neighbors, and he also stars in and executive produces the upcoming Apple TV action thriller Disavowed. Beyond the platform, he earned Emmy nominations in both drama and comedy — for Paradise and Jury Duty, respectively — and is set to reprise his Cyclops role in Marvel's Avengers: Doomsday.

Falk, meanwhile, has a separate series titled Hit Man — inspired by the 2024 Glen Powell film — in the works at Netflix.

Berlanti Productions continues to stack projects across the major platforms. Recent green lights include Stillwater, a horror drama at Amazon MGM Studios based on the Skybound graphic novel, and Afterlife With Archie, a horror adaptation at Disney+. The company also has an upcoming live-action Scooby-Doo! series at Netflix and the HBO drama pilot How To Survive Without Me. On the CW, Berlanti Productions and WBTV's All American is currently airing its eighth and final season.

For now, Bad News Dads remains in development — meaning no episode count has been confirmed, no premiere window has been set, and a formal series order has not been announced. Those decisions typically come after a script and pilot or straight-to-series commitment are finalised.