Rhys Darby is set to play the lead role in the CBS comedy pilot “Regency,” Variety reports.
A pilot for the multi-cam comedy was originally ordered in December. The official logline describes the film as “a historical twist on the classic multi-cam family comedy, centering on the Tilbrooks, an upper-middle-class family navigating life, love, and scandal in 19th-century England.”
Darby will star as Arthur Tilbrook, described as the “head of the Hertford Park family home.” Arthur is the heir to a vast cheese empire, but prefers to think of himself as a “man’s man.” He goes to great lengths to prove his masculinity, but his privileged upbringing is revealed at every turn. ”
If “Regency” airs, it will be the second season of the comedy series that Darby has starred in in recent years. He previously starred in the HBO Max series “Our Flag Means Death,” in which he played a fictional version of real-life 18th century pirate Stead Bonnet. The show aired two seasons on the streamer.
Darby is best known for playing band manager and consulate official Murray on the HBO comedy Flight of the Conchords, but he has also appeared on shows such as Shipwreck, The X-Files and Fresh Off the Boat. In film, he is known for his appearances in the mockumentary “What We Do in the Shadows”, the rebooted “Jumanji” series, “Guns Akimbo”, and “Yes Man”.
He is repped by UTA, Artist First, and Yorn Levin Barnes.
Tara Hernandez is the writer and executive producer of “Regency.” The studio is Warner Bros. Television.
“Regency” is currently one of only two pilots CBS is vying for next season. The other is “Eternally Yours,” a vampire comedy from “Ghost” co-showrunners Joe Port and Joe Wiseman.
