Shiver me timbers, Fred Armisen joins Taika Waititi’s HBO Max pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death
Armisen and Samba Schutte join the ensemble comedy created by David Jenkins
TV News Fred Armisen
Ahoy matey! The latest swashbucklers to join HBO Max’s pirate-themed comedy, Our Flag Means Death, are seasoned television comedians Fred Armisen and Samba Schutte. The Saturday Night Live alum and the Sunnyside star will serve as recurring guest stars in the forthcoming series.
Our Flag Means Death is loosely based on the true adventures of Stede Bonnet, a pampered aristocrat who abandoned his life of privilege to become a pirate. Bonnet will be played by Flight of the Conchords alum Rhys Darby. The ensemble cast includes: Ewen Bremner, David Fane, Guz Khan, Matt Maher, Joel Fry, Kristian Nairn, Nathan Foad, Samson Kayo, Rory Kinnear, Con O’Neill and Vico Ortiz.
David Jenkins (People Of Earth) serves as the show’s writer, showrunner, and executive producer. Garrett Basch, Dan Halsted, and Taika Waititi also serve as executive producers. In addition to serving as an executive producer on the series, Waititi is directing the pilot and playing the buccaneer Blackbeard who’s described as “a legend, a lover, a fighter, a tactical genius, a poetic soul, and quite possibly insane.” There’s not a more perfect role for him.
In addition to his time as an SNL cast member, Armisen is also known for his roles in variety sketch show Portlandia, Los Espookys, and IFC’s Documentary Now! His most recent roles include Elliot Birch in the animated comedy Big Mouth, and Reverend Layton in the musical comedy Schmigadoon!
In the last few years, Schutte’s taken on small roles in She’s In Portland, 9-1-1, and The Tiger Hunter. He’s also served as a voice actors on several video games, including Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4 and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, as well as helped write Battlefield V.
There’s no word on when Our Flag Means Death will hit HBO Max, but the series was originally ordered back in September of 2020.
19 Comments
I’m so mad that Taika Waititi keeps getting so much work because I can never pronounce his name correctly when I want to tell people about a really funny thing they need to see.
It’s gonna take a long time for Rhys Darby to call roll for an entire pirate ship!
Especially if he gets sidetracked by any Leggy Blonde pirates.
Not going to lie, while the story of Stede Bonnet is equally funny and sad, it’s going to be hard to top this. Although Taika certainly is talented enough.
That channel along with oversimplified have become my favorites.
The weirdest part is for a joke, its really accurate. I love that footnotes and sources are used constantly. Its genuinely impressive.
For sure. The guy definitely puts the work in. His most recent one on the costa Concordia was pretty good too. Even the ads in his videos are fun. There’s basically a whole narrative to them at this point.
This is an immediate must-watch. I had not heard a thing about it but… Rhys Darby as Stede Bonnet? Even without Taika, I’m on board. That’s amazing casting.
Bugger me with a marlin spike, else!
Well that’s too bad. Fred Armisen only has one note and it’s an awful note.
Agreed. He’s never been funny in anything, and I’ve seen him in so many things because actual funny people keep working with him.
the best use of him is Seth Meyers having him wave and not talk
I think this will be more of the same: unassuming blithe characters doing “tuff stuff”. I might be done now.
Man that project sounded amazing until just now! I wonder if Waititi knows all the scuttlebutt about this dude being a skeevy creep. He clearly doesn’t know how one-note his performances always are. Can’t wait to see what accent he clearly wasn’t asked to do he does!
The story with this guy was that he strings along multiple women on the side then dumps them all at once, right? Elizabeth Moss said he basically does a good impression of a human? Weird that we’re cool with him but mad about the Jeopardy guy at the same time, I guess AVClub must have REALLY loved Portlandia.
Seriously it’s not like he’s actually funny. I’ll never understand how some of these people continue to get work.
Always one of you scum bags in every comment section.
note to casting directors and producers:I will watch literally anything with Rhys Darby in it.
A lot of Armisen haters on here. Apparently they have not seen Documentary Now