…that would be Morgan Spurlock.

In one of the more interesting press releases we read this week (surpassed only by the “American Horror Story: Freak Show” news), it turns out the sometimes controversial producer Morgan Spurlock pitched a pretty creative idea to Showtime.

Several headlines described the project as “Super-Size Me” meets “Se7en”, which sounds like it has potential to be cool but also borderline-disgusting*, and isn’t entirely accurate (and we don’t know if I’d really want to see that show, see footnote).  Turns out it’s closer to “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”, with Spurlock as the host.  Spurlock is also exec producing under his Warrior Poets production banner along with producing partner Jeremy Chilnick (they also collaborated on “The Other F-Word”–fatherhood for middle-aged rock stars– and “Knuckleball!,” about retired baseball player Tim Wakefield and Mets pitcher RA Dickey). Here’s how he describes the series and how it came about:

Spurlock: “For years, I’ve wanted to do an ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents’ style show comprised completely of non-fiction stories …a series just as dark and twisted as anything fiction could imagine, and now I’m thrilled to have that dream come true with ‘Seven Deadly Sins.’ With Showtime as a partner, we’re going to make this as depraved as any scripted program  as we dive head first into lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. You won’t believe it until you see it … and even then, you may not believe it.”

The release also says there will be seven episodes, each based on …well, you get the idea.  This high-concept series could, of course, go badly wrong, but so far, we’re in! “Seven Deadly Sins” will premiere on Showtime June 19th. More as it develops!

Not a good combination, but fortunately, the ‘Supersize Me Meets Se7en” concept was just used to make attention-grabbing headlines for the series.

*not to mention, impossible to do as a non-fiction series. What, every day Spurlock will team up with John Doe from Se7en  (for the record, Kevin Spacey’s performance as Doe scares the shit out of us to this day) every day for a month to eat somewhere unhealthy, then go murder someone horribly? Guess the documentary crew would have to sign a confidentiality agreement before they started shooting, among other things.

(Source: Entertainment Weekly, Variety)