Woody Harrelson & Matthew McConaughey Apple TV+ Comedy Series Paused as Showrunner Exits

Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles on August 25, 2014
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Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles on August 25, 2014

A behind-the-scenes shake-up has halted production of the upcoming Apple TV+ comedy series starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.

On Friday, Deadline reported that filming was suspended late last week in Austin, Texas, and that the cast — which also includes Holland Taylor, Natalie Martinez, and Brittany Ishibashi — was sent home.

With eight out of the 10 ordered episodes filmed, former showrunner David West Read has reportedly left the production over creative differences about the season’s ending. Now, Lee Eisenberg is in negotiations to assume showrunner duties for the last two episodes and the season’s “likely” reshoots, according to the outlet.

The half-hour comedy series stars McConaughey and Harrelson as themselves as the actors and their families try to cohabitate on McConaughey’s Texas ranch. Apple TV+ announced the project more than two years ago, calling the show “a heartfelt odd couple love story revolving around the strange and beautiful bond between Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.”

Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey

David Livingston/Getty Images; Noam Galai/Getty Images for HISTORY

Read was billed as the creator of the show, and he served as an executive producer alongside, McConaughey, Harrelson, Bill Bost, Jeremy Plager, Jason Winer (who directed multiple episodes), and Skydance Television’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Matt Thunell, according to Variety.

Oona Yaffe, Highdee Kuan, Nolan Almeida, Ella Grace Helton, and Noah Carganilla will also star in the show, playing McConaughey and Harrelson’s children, according to Deadline.

Previously, Read wrote the books for the stage musicals & Juliet and In Dreams, wrote for and executive-produced Schitt’s Creek, and adapted the M.O. Walsh novel The Big Door Prize into an Apple TV+ comedy series.

Eisenberg also has history with Apple TV+, as an executive producer of Stick and a creator or co-creator of the TV shows Little America, WeCrashed, and Lessons in Chemistry. He also co-created Jury Duty for Freevee.

McConaughey and Harrelson’s upcoming comedy series — which has gone by the titles Brothers and Brother From Another Mother— is the latest of their many collaborations. The two actors previously costarred in the films Welcome to Hollywood, EDtv, and Surfer, Dude; the TV show True Detective; and, lately, a series of Salesforce TV commercials, including a Super Bowl 2025 spot.

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