Roadies, the first television project from film director Cameron Crowe, will premiere June 26 on Showtime, the network announced today.
The show focuses on a group of roadies for a successful rock group called The Station-House Band, which tours the country playing arenas. Roadies "chronicles the rock world through the eyes of music's unsung heroes and pays homage to the backstage workers who put the show on the road," according to Showtime's description. The show is an hourlong comedy.
Roadies is written, created and directed by Crowe, who also serves as an executive producer. The concept of the show is well-suited to Crowe's background: He began his career in the 1970s as a writer for Rolling Stone magazine — covering artists such as Yes, Led Zeppelin and The Allman Brothers Band — and his 2000 film Almost Famous was inspired by those experiences.
In its debut trailer, Roadies looks like a feel-good present-day version of Almost Famous, or at least a major part of it. The film focuses on a Rolling Stone journalist named William Miller, a character who often interacts with the groupies — or rather, "band-aids" — for the band he's writing about. And since he's on the road with the band, Almost Famous spends a lot of time on backstage antics and other behind-the-scenes glances at a touring rock group in the '70s.
Roadies' ensemble cast is led by Carla Gugino (San Andreas) and Luke Wilson (Old School), and also features Rafe Spall (The Big Short), Keisha Castle-Hughes (Game of Thrones), Imogen Poots (Need for Speed) and Luis Guzman (Narcos). Production is set to begin in March on the series' 10-episode first season, which makes its late June debut a quick turnaround. Roadies is produced by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions, along with Vinyl Films and Dooley & Company Productions; the Star Wars: The Force Awakens director is also an executive producer on the series.
Roadies will premiere at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime, as well as on demand and on streaming platforms.
