B.J. Novak's Hulu Series The Premise Gets a Release Date & First Photos

It has been over a year since FX has granted an official series order to B.J. Novak’s comedy anthology series, and now they have finally released the first-look images of the upcoming FX on Hulu original series titled The Premise, providing us a glimpse at the all-star cast. In addition, official episode details and release date have also been revealed, confirming that The Premise has been slated to make its debut on September 16, with the first two episodes premiering.

I am so excited to announce the premiere of my long awaited comedy anthology series. (long awaited by me)

B.J. Novak Presents: The Premise

Sept. 16. @FXNetworks @hulu pic.twitter.com/g5CkhAK9hE

— B.J. Novak (@bjnovak) July 26, 2021

Hosted by B.J. Novak, The Premise is a fearlessly ambitious new series that uses comedy to engage with the biggest issues of our unprecedented modern era. The first installment will be consisting of five episodes. Each episode will feature a different cast with a drastically different tone. This includes Ben Platt, Tracee Ellis Ross, Daniel Dae Kim, Lola Kirke, Lucas Hedges, Kaitlyn Dever, Jon Bernthal, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ed Asner, George Wallace, Boyd Holbrook, Beau Bridges, Soko, Jermaine Fowler, Ayo Edebiri, Eric Lange and more.

The official cast and synopsis for the five episodes are as follows:

The episode titled “Social Justice Sex Tape,” is directed by Kitao Sakurai from a screenplay written by Novak and Josie Duffy Rice. It will feature Ben Platt, Ayo Edebiri, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jermaine Fowler, and Melissa Saint-Amand.
“When a white, woke, twenty-something ally to social justice causes discovers video evidence of a disputed police incident in the background of his highly embarrassing sex tape, a savvy young lawyer and her mentor strategize on how to best use the tape and witness to save an innocent man from prison. Also starring Melissa Saint-Amand.”
The episode titled “Moment of Silence,” is written and directed by Novak. It stars Jon Bernthal, Boyd Holbrook, Beau Bridges, and Amy Landecker.
“After losing his daughter to gun violence, a grieving father pursues a new job as a PR director at the National Gun Lobby, where he’s befriended by a coworker who starts to suspect the man’s motives may be far more dangerous than they seem.”
The episode titled “The Ballad of Jesse Wheeler,” is written and directed by Novak. It stars Lucas Hedges, Kaitlyn Dever, O’Shea Jackson Jr., George Wallace, Ed Asner, Brendan Scanell, and Grace Song.
“A pop megastar returns to his high school to pledge a donation to build a new library, but instead promises to have sex with the school’s valedictorian as an academic achievement prize. The promise inspires the disillusioned Abbi along with the rest of the student body, while the star’s manager and the school’s principal desperately try to walk back the promise.”
The episode titled “The Commenter,” is directed by Darya Zhuk from a screenplay written by Jia Tolentino and Novak. It stars Lola Kirke, Soko, Sylvia Grace Crim, and Benjamin Clement.
“A young woman with a happy life and loving partner becomes obsessed with a critical anonymous comment online, eventually upending her life in a quest for the commenter’s approval.”
The episode titled “Butt Plug,” is directed by Jake Schreier from a script written by Novak. It stars Daniel Dae Kin, Eric Lange, and Bryan Batt.
“A once-poor child of immigrants who has now become one of the world’s richest men presents a chance at redemption to his former school bully: an uninterrupted hour with his board of directors to pitch a very specific product.”

The Premise is created and executive produced by Emmy nominee B.J. Novak (The Office). It is also produced by FX Productions with Oscar winner John Lesher serving as an executive producer.

Novak starred as temp-turned-executive-turned-temp Ryan Howard on the first eight seasons of The Office, as well as serving as a writer, director and producer on the show. He left in the final season along with Mindy Kaling to focus on The Mindy Project, which ran on-air for six seasons from 2012-2017.