‘Naught For Hire’: Early Buzz for Noir Sci-Fi Romp

Tubefilter doesn’t often write about shows that have release dates far in the future. But every once in a while, a show comes along that has that little extra bit of oomph that gets us really excited and wanting to put the word out as soon as possible. Naught For Hire, a sci-fi/noir romp about a private detective and his relationship with the inanimate objects in his life, is one of those series.

Naught For Hire is created by screenwriter and producer Jeffrey Berman and produced by Berman’s production company RDRR Productions, which also created The Write Environment, which featured intimate interviews with a series of writers, the most popular episode featuring the fan-favorite, Joss Whedon. The series is based off a book of the same name by award winning writer, John E. Stith, who also co-writes on the series.

The series will consist of six minute episodes with a 13 episode season planned. Episodes echo the spirit of pulp-style serialized detective stories, with each episode ending on a cliffhanger. Not forgetting the sci-fi side of the series, the show is set in a world 20 years in the future where humans co-exist with A.I. embedded objects, leaving hard-boiled, down-on-his-luck Private Detective Nick Naught to try to do his job while competing with a car that is in love with him, an elevator that won’t cooperate, and an answering machine that wants to do nothing but pull pranks on him. Imagine what his gun must be like…

A lot of great talent is already on board, including SyFy star Ben Browder (Stargate SG-1, Farscape, for which he won two Saturns, the leading industry award given by the Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy & Horror films) in the title role as well as signing on as an Executive Producer of the series. Some other notable names include Juliet Landau (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel) as the voice of The Smart Chip installed in Naught’s car that doubles as his personal secretary, Samm Levine (Vamped Out), who is quickly becoming a staple in the web series talent pool, and Phil LaMarr. The show promises even more big sci-fi stars “whose deals are currently pending”.

Though production on the series doesn’t begin until this summer, with a premiere scheduled in December, there are already some fun nuggets floating around the internet to get the buzz train for the series leaving the station early. The first is a fun and interactive website which introduces you to a few of the objects in Naught’s life as well as character bios, links to some show art as well as a link to where you can purchase the novel the show is based on. There is also a mailing list for those who want to stay informed of the show’s progress. The show’s Twitter feed is also unique: taking advantage of the show’s timeline, it boasts news headlines from the future, including “Roomba Lawnmower Runs Amuck: Mows “Bite Me” in Giant Letters” and “President Madonna to Wed Again”. With the show still in pre-production, there is hopefully a lot more surprises down the road. Tubefilter will be keeping an eye out for them!