For anyone skewing more towards emotionally charged horror dramas and not fantastical science fiction adventures, actor Paul Wesley is likely best known for his years of portraying the fanged Stefan Salvatore across all eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries. (The sci-fi side perhaps celebrates him more as Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ take on James T. Kirk.) Now, he’s helping bring a new vampire-led project to Fox, albeit one that sounds unlike any other upcoming horror TV show.
The concept for the currently untitled (and unable to cross running water) supernatural-tinged comedy centers on a vampire attempting to attain his dream of becoming an actor, according to Deadline. While it’s definitely a plus that he’s pretty much eternally 25 years old, his concerted efforts are not free from obstacles.
In trying to get his acting career off the ground — loose grave-dirt is probably involved — the bloodsucking thespian-in-training also has to help run the family business. Which is easier to do when one doesn’t have murder-happy, smothering parents who are also vampires.
Paul Wesley Isn't Even What Excites Me The Most
At the moment, Paul Wesley is only lined up as an executive producer, and is not being reported as having any kind of acting role just yet. That can obviously change if and when a part gets written that calls his name, and I'm already hoping for a Grade-A cameo. But for now, he's only working behind the scenes.
However, that's not a reason to fret, since the best thing about this new project is that it was written by Victor Fresco, who also gave the world one of the best horror-comedy TV shows of all time: Santa Clarita Diet. Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant, along with younger co-stars Liv Hewson and Skyler Gisondo, dealt with all manner of horrifyingly hilarious zombie-related, body-munching shenanigans during the Netflix series' three-season run.
The only bad thing about the show is that it was canceled by the streaming service after setting up a totally bonkers cliffhanger with its Season 3 finale. It's a cancellation that still breaks fans' hearts, so it's awesome to know that Fresco will bring his patentedly absurd sense of humor to another kind of undead monster.
To be sure, Fresco also created a bunch of other shows, with arguably the two other crowning achievements being Andy Richter Controls the Universe and Better Off Ted. But let's not forget he also created Sean Saves the World, Life on a Stick and The Trouble with Normal, while also writing for My Name is Earl, Mad About You, ALF, Dinosaurs and more.
Though Victor Fresco served as the writer, the actual pitch came from an idea crafted by Paul Wesley, the pilot director Liz Friedlander, and Aaron Kaplan of Kapital Entertainment. (All of the above are EPs on the project.) Friedlander helmed a trio of Vampire Diaries episodes before reteaming with Wesley on Kapital's streaming series Tell Me a Story, and Kaplan also EP'd on Santa Clarita Diet, adding all kinds of creative connective tissue.
Let’s remember that this isn’t the first time a Vampire Diaries vet looped back around to that particular genre corner for a new series. Wesley’s love-triangle rival Ian Somerhalder served as the lead (and an EP) on Netflix’s V Wars, an adaptation of the anthology series of vampire-centric short stories. That series only lasted a single season before its cancellation, so here’s hoping this untitled series has far better luck with both viewers and execs.
The new comedy landed at Fox after the creatives fielded offers from other platforms, and is currently still in development mode. So unless things come together extremely quickly, it'll likely make its way to audiences sometimes after the 2025 TV schedule concludes.
