| Creator: | Ben Falcone |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 8 |
| Location: | New South Wales |
| Network: | Netflix |
| Company: | On the Day Productions |
| Language: | English |
| Composer: | Fil Eisler |
| Country: | United States |
God's Favorite Idiot is an American apocalyptic workplace comedy television series created by and starring Ben Falcone for Netflix. The series was supposed to consist of sixteen episodes, and the first batch of eight episodes premiered on June 15, 2022. As of April 2022, the production of the remaining eight episodes is in limbo.[1]
After getting struck by lightning from an unusual angelic cloud, Clark suddenly has the ability to glow. His coworkers, including his friend Amily, believe that this may somehow be related to God. Their fears are confirmed when an angel tells Clark that he is to be God's messenger and must prevent the Apocalypse from happening.
In December 2020, Netflix gave a 16-episode series order to God's Favorite Idiot. Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy were set to star and executive produce via their On the Day Productions. Michael McDonald would direct and executive produce, after previously working with Falcone and McCarthy on Nobodies. Steve Mallory joined as an executive producer in February 2021.
Alongside the series announcement, Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy were cast. In February 2021, Yanic Truesdale, Usman Ally, Ana Scotney, Chris Sandiford, and Steve Mallory were cast.[4] Leslie Bibb and Kevin Dunn were cast a month later.[5]
Filming began in Byron Bay, Ballina and Lismore in northern New South Wales in March 2021.[6] [7] Filming wrapped in early June 2021 after shooting only eight episodes. The series was expected to wrap production in November 2021. The other batch of eight episodes were slated to shoot on a later date, but no further information has been provided as to when.[8]
Fil Eisler is the composer for the series.[9]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 33% with an average rating of 4.6/10 based on 15 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "While it claims to have the Almighty's favor, this silver screen collaboration between Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone is too dunderheaded to win over everyday viewers."[10]
Daniel D'Addario of Variety called it "a waste of precious time in the career of a talented performer, one whose fans will follow her anywhere, and who rewards them with so little of what she can do."[11]