The Earliest Show
| The Earliest Show | |
|---|---|
 Official promotional poster | |
| Genre | Improvisational comedy[1] parody[2] |
| Directed by | Ben Schwartz |
| Starring | Ben Schwartz Lauren Lapkus |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 11-13 minutes[2] |
| Production company | Funny or Die |
| Original release | |
| Release | October 27 – December 6, 2016 |
The Earliest Show is an American comedy web series starring Ben Schwartz and Lauren Lapkus. Produced by Funny or Die, the series was sponsored by Cap'n Crunch cereal as a form of branded content. It follows morning show co-hosts Josh Bath and Sam Newman who must deal with the aftermath of Josh's failed on-air wedding proposal. The show is largely improvised. The Earliest Show premiered on October 27, 2016 and consisted of six episodes.[1][3] A television adaptation of the series was announced in 2025.
Synopsis
[edit | edit source]Josh Bath (Ben Schwartz) and Sam Newman (Lauren Lapkus) are co-hosts of The Earliest Show, which broadcasts at 3:00AM.[2] Josh surprises his girlfriend (Jessica Meraz) with an on-air proposal and begins to unravel emotionally after she rejects him. Each episode follows Josh going through a different stage of grief on-air.[4]
Cast
[edit | edit source]- Ben Schwartz as Josh Bath, co-host[3]
- Lauren Lapkus as Samantha Newman, co-host[3]
- Jessica Meraz as Emily Fernandez, Josh's ex-girlfriend[5]
- Joe Hartzler as Mark the producer[6]
- Eugene Cordero as Chef Tommy[2]
- Betsy Sodaro as Katie Veal[2]
- Arielle Vandenberg as Janice Crawl
- Ryan Stanger performs the in-show commercials for fake products
Guest starring
[edit | edit source]- Jake Johnson, Thomas Middleditch, Reggie Watts, Reggie Miller, Pedro Pascal, and Jane Levy as themselves[6]
Production
[edit | edit source]Development
[edit | edit source]Cap'n Crunch had previously worked with Funny or Die and approached Schwartz with an idea for a series meant to target a young demographic.[1][2] He pitched a parody of a morning show based around a co-host whose rejection proposal causes him to spiral. Schwartz also served as the series' director and recruited former Asssscat improv team member Lapkus as his co-host.[7][6] Schwartz studied Today and Live with Kelly to get a sense of morning talk show format, camera work, and set design.[7] Each episode consisted largely of improvisation. Schwartz said his favorite part of this series were the interviews because they got people who don’t normally improvise to try improv.[8] An additional episode of over an hour of improvised bloopers was released as episode seven of the series.[2]
Release
[edit | edit source]The Earliest Show premiered on Funny Or Die on October 27, 2016, and one episode was released each Tuesday thereafter.[2] The episodes were also released on YouTube. Each episode runs for 11 to 13 minutes. Two additional episodes, one of bloopers and one with extended interviews, were also released.[2]
Accolades
[edit | edit source]Schwartz and Lapkus received 2017 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards nominations for acting in the Short Form Comedy or Drama Series category.[9]
Television adaptation
[edit | edit source]In November 2025, Deadline Hollywood reported that Amplify Pictures had commissioned a full season of a television series remake of the show. Schwartz is set to write, direct, and star in the half-hour comedy, with Lapkus reprising her role as co-host.[10]
References
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External links
[edit | edit source]- The Earliest Show on IMDB
- The Earliest Show Archived 2021-07-11 at the Wayback Machine on Funny or Die