Matthew Broderick is set to star in Daybreak, Netflix’s upcoming high-school apocalypse dramedy series. Additionally, the two-time Tony winner has been tapped for a high-profile guest arc on ABC’s Roseanne spinoff The Conners as a love interest for Jackie, and also will recur on the upcoming season of FX’s praised comedy Better Things.
Co-created by Aron Eli Coleite and Brad Peyton based on Brian Rqlph’s graphic novel, the 10-episode Daybreak finds 17-year-old high school outcast Josh searching for his missing girlfriend Sam in post-apocalyptic Glendale, California. Joined by a ragtag group of misfits including a pyromaniac 12-year-old Angelica and Josh’s former high school bully Wesley, now turned pacifist samurai, Josh tries to stay alive amongst the horde of Mad Max-style gangs (evil jocks, cheerleaders turned Amazon warriors), zombie-like creatures called Ghoulies, and everything else this brave new world throws at him.
In his first TV series regular role, Broderick will play Burr, the cheerful, upbeat principal of Glendale High. Principal Burr knows the name of every kid in school and their favorite character to play in Overwatch. In a hashtag-filled world of #metoo and #blacklivesmatter and #timesup, Burr is genuinely trying to be part of the solution: a good guy, an advocate and ally for all. But let’s face it, kids can be monsters. Executive producing the series are Coleite, who serves as showrunner, Peyton, who directs, and Jeff Fierson.
This marks a return to a high-school setting for Broderick who rose to fame as the star of classic 1986 feature comedy Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
On ABC’s The Conners, Broderick will play Peter, a love interest for Laurie Metcalf’s Jackie. He will make his first appearance in the Halloween episode, titled There Won’t Be Blood, which is slated to air on Oct. 30. The subject of a lot of anticipation and heavy scrutiny following the dramatic cancellation of Roseanne, The Conners got off to a solid ratings start this week.
Other notable guest stars announced so far include Johnny Galecki, reprising his role as Darline’s (Sara Gilbert) ex David, Juliette Lewis as his girlfriend Blue and Justin Long as Neil, a love interest for Darlene.
On the upcoming third season of Pamela Adlon’s FX comedy series Better Things, Broderick will play a counselor. Details about the storyline are being kept under wraps. The series has earned Adlon two lead actress in a comedy series Emmy nominations.
Broderick is next starring in the feature To Dust, which was named Audience Favorite at the Tribeca Film Festival and is set for a January 2019 release. He also is one of the voice stars of Paramount’s upcoming animated film Wonder Park opposite Jennifer Garner and Mila Kunis.
