HILDY THE BARBACK AND THE LAKE OF FIRE - Melissa McCarthy, Glenn Close & More Starring in New Scripted Podcast

Lemonada Media has announced a new scripted comedy podcast, “Hildy the Barback and the Lake of Fire,” starring award-winning actress Melissa McCarthy as Hildy. Written by Ben Falcone and Steve Mallory, the 8-episode fictional series will premiere on October 25, with new episodes airing every Friday. 

When an evil force threatens to incinerate the fantastical land of Golgorath, it's up to Hildy the Barback and her friends to kick some ass on a comedic epic quest to save the world. Oh – also, there are lots of dragons. The new podcast will feature a star-studded lineup of celebrity voices including Octavia Spencer as the narrator, Glenn Close as the announcer, Allison Janney as “Gorwan the Dragon,” Joel McHale as “Dra-ell The Usurper,” Jim Rash as “Drith,” Ben Falcone as “Urgrall the Horned One,” and more. McCarthy and Falcone’s daughters Vivian Falcone and Georgette Falcone also appear in the series as “Oracle of Two.” Listen to a preview below!

In a joint statement from Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone, they shared, “When Ben pitched me Hildy the Barback and the Lake of Fire he said, ‘It’s a medieval comedy where you battle dragons and an evil sorcerer, while still running THE FAMILY tavern - and deal with issues like sexually narcissistic centaurs.’ I said, “That will look amazing!” and he said, ‘No, it’s a podcast/radio play, so you’ll only hear it. Also, each episode will have an original song, so it will be a tremendous amount of work and we’ll be lucky to break even.’ I looked at my hubby and said, ‘That sounds bats crazy. I’m in!’ So, we suckered in a bunch of our talented friends, and Hildy was born! We are so excited to share it with the world!”

“Melissa and Ben had us on the edge of our seats with this series, which is so fun and fresh and merges incredible talent and comedy with a female heroine – all our favorite things!” shares Lemonada’s CEO and Co-Founder Jess Cordova Kramer. “We are so eager to support the launch of this series, which brings such an unexpected vibe to shake up the world of audio fiction. It’s so clear what a passion project it is for Melissa and Ben, and we have had so much fun working with their team,” adds Lemonada’s Senior Vice President of Marketing, Lizzie Breyer Bowman. 

The first two episodes of “Hildy the Barback and the Lake of Fire” will be available on Friday, October 25 on all major podcast platforms, with new episodes released weekly. Listen to the trailer HERE.

ABOUT LEMONADA MEDIA

Founded in 2019 by Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs, Lemonada Media is an award-winning, independent, audio-first podcast network, with a mission to make life suck less. In 2024, The Hollywood Reporter named both Cordova Kramer and Wittels Wachs among the ‘The Most Powerful People in Podcasting.’

Lemonada has created hit original series’ including Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, which spent 29 days straight at #1 overall on the Apple Podcast charts and was named Apple’s 2023 Show of the Year; Blind Plea, which launched to #1 overall on the Apple Podcast charts; Fail Better with David Duchovny, which launched to #1 in Society & Culture on the Apple Podcast charts; The Pink House with Sam Smith which launched to #1 in Arts; Gracie award-winners Last Day, Believe Her and Choice Words with Samantha Bee, as well as Webby award-winners, Add to Cart with Kulap Vilaysack & SuChin Pak and BEING Trans. The company is also the creator of the audio reality™ podcast genre, and launched BEING Studios, where reality TV meets podcasting. In 2023, Lemonada partnered with Apple Books to launch The Lemonada Book Club -- a first-of-its-kind, free-to-join digital program that unites fans of nonfiction storytelling across books and podcasts. The network also recently announced Lemonada Books, a new imprint and co-development partnership with Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.

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