Vice TV is poised to launch a new TV series based on a viral Twitter feed. Called Super Maximum Retro Show, the series is produced by Jimmy Kimmel’s production company Kimmelot and ITV America, and will launch on Tuesday March 7.
The new series is based on theSuper70sSports Twitter feed, created by Chicago-based college teacher Ricky Cobb. Launched in 2013, the feed currently has around 500,000 followers. Its core premise is to take a comic-nostalgic look at the 1970s, focusing primarily on sport and popular culture from the era.
The TV adaptation will be hosted by comedian Chris Distefano and includes a series of guest panelists. They will use videos, photos, ads and games from the pre-Internet era as the basis of comic reflections. Commenting, Kimmel said: “I love Ricky Cobb’s Twitter feed and Chris DiStefano is one of my favourite comics. I cannot wait for ‘the youngs’ to see how ridiculous everything was when I was growing up.”
Vice Media Group global TV president Morgan Hertzan added. “Bringing to life Ricky Cobb’s incredible Twitter feed alongside Kimmelot and ITV America has been an incredibly fun and nostalgic experience and we are excited for the audience to travel back with the show.” The series will be distributed by Vice Distribution.
Twitter to TV adaptations are relatively rare but not unheard of. Justin Halpern’s Shit My Dad Says was turned into a CBS sitcom while Channel 4 and Alaska TV had some success with a fact ent adaptation of Rob Temple’s Very British Problems. Most recently, A24 Films’ crime film Zola (2020) was based on a true story Twitter thread by Aziah ‘Zola’ King. The story of two strippers taking a wild trip through Florida, it started life as a thread of 143 tweets before spawning a Rolling Stone article.
