HBO Orders Duplass Brothers’ Comedy ‘Room 104’

HBO has ordered the series Room 104 from brothers Jay and Mark Duplass. The show, described as an anthology comedy, will begin production later this year for a 2017 debut. It’s set in a single hotel room, telling a different story about the inhabitant(s) each episode.

“Jay and Mark Duplass are two of the most inventive talents in TV today,” said Casey Bloys, president of HBO programming. “We’re excited to see what they do with this unique concept.”

The brothers Duplass, along with Steve Zissis, created the HBO comedy Togetherness, which ran for two seasons. They’re also executive producers on animated comedy Animals, which returns for its second season on HBO in 2017.

 “We’ve all seen stories set in seedy motels and high-class international resorts, but for years we’ve been fascinated by the funny, weird, sad, scary, absurd things going down in that corporate chain hotel near the airport,” said the Duplass brothers. “That’s what Room 104 is after… finding some magic in the seemingly mundane.”

The brothers are executive producers and showrunners, with Xan Aranda also in the executive producer ranks.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.