(Story continues …)
Lowe has already wrapped production on “You, Me and the End of the World,” which NBC picked up. As to how Lowe could do both, Fox co-CEO and co-chairman Dana Walden explained it to a reporter on conference call about the network’s fall schedule, as quoted in a story at the Business Insider:
[NBC’s] show has wrapped production. I believe it’s a limited series event and he’s done his obligation. He’s in first position to “The Grinder.”
In showbiz parlance, “first position” means that an actor is committed to more than one show, but his contract states that, in the 
event of more than one of the shows getting picked up, he’s obligated to do one rather than another.
There’s no trailer or pilot available yet for “You, Me and the End of the World” — which appears to be a U.K. production and will also air overseas — but the NBC description reads:
In this bold, adrenaline-fueled new comedy drama, the news that a comet is on an unavoidable collision course with Earth sets in motion the most hilariously unexpected chain of events imaginable. Set against the backdrop of apocalyptic chaos and starring Rob Lowe (“Parks and Recreation”), Jenna Fischer (“The Office”), Megan Mullally (“Will & Grace”) and Mathew Baynton (“Yonderland”), the story follows an eclectic group of seemingly unconnected characters around the world as their lives start to intersect in the most unexpected ways. And when we say “eclectic,” we mean a rebellious priest, an unhinged white supremacist, a mild-mannered bank manager, a germophobic cyber terrorist and an American five-star general. Some of these misfits are destined to make it to a bunker deep beneath the English suburb of Slough, and as a result will become the hugely unlikely (and totally unsuitable) future of mankind. Wouldn’t that be a disaster!
I checked with the NBC publicist to confirm whether Lowe was playing a Catholic priest. He didn’t have that answer available, but he did provide a bit more detail on Father Jude Sutton:
Beneath his irreverent exterior, he is a deeply moral man with a profound and passionate faith. But his world is turned upside down by news of the impending apocalypse.
The U.K. publication The Guardian — using the show’s other title, “Apocalypse Slough” — has an article which lists Father Jude as “the Vatican’s most rebellious priest,” but one hesitates to take the British media at its word on subjects touching the Church.
The picture also shows what appears to be a Catholic female religious. She’s named Sister Celine Leonti, played by Gaia Scodellaro.
The executive producer/writer is Brit Iain Hollands, whose previous credits include “Beaver Falls,” a comedy about three British lads working in an American summer camp; and an adaptation of “Dark Lord: The Early Years,” a novel about a Tolkein-ish character with powers of domination and destruction, who finds himself suddenly stranded as a boy in a U.K. town.
I’m a big fan of the BBC sitcom “Father Ted,” but these days, the thought of a British comedy featuring a Catholic priest does not inspire confidence. But, after a wild youth, Lowe is now a long-married husband and father of two young-adult sons. He’s also taken some conservative political stands. I’ve met and interviewed him a few times — for the first time in 2004, for a short-lived show called “dr. vegas,” and then on the sets of “Californication” and “Killing Kennedy” — and he appears to be bright, well-read and thoughtful. So, one hopes he wouldn’t take on a role that would unfairly bash a priest or the Church.
One hopes.
Images: Courtesy Fox, NBC
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