Very Young Frankenstein Snags Pilot Order With Zach Galifianakis, Kumail Nanjiani, and a Monster Cast

FX is poking the monster with a stick. The network has ordered a pilot for 'Very Young Frankenstein,' a potential series riff on Mel Brooks' classic. And yeah, the team involved is stacked enough to make even the purists raise an eyebrow instead of a torch.

What FX is cooking

The pilot is officially a go at FX, with Zach Galifianakis, Kumail Nanjiani, Dolly Wells, Spencer House, and Nikki Crawford set to star. Plot details are locked down for now, but Variety reports Galifianakis is playing Dr. Frankenstein. Earlier this month, Cary Elwes joined the pilot too, and he is not just popping by — he is playing the President of the United States.

Who is making it (aka the good kind of inside baseball)

• Mel Brooks: gives the project his blessing and serves as executive producer
• Stefani Robinson (What We Do in the Shadows): writer and showrunner, also executive producer
• Taika Waititi: directing the pilot, executive producer
• Garrett Basch: executive producer
• Kevin Salter: Brooks' long-time producing partner, executive producer
• Michael Gruskoff: executive producer, and yes, he produced the original 'Young Frankenstein'
• Cast so far: Zach Galifianakis (reportedly Dr. Frankenstein), Kumail Nanjiani, Dolly Wells, Spencer House, Nikki Crawford, Cary Elwes as the President

Why this is interesting

On paper, following a stone-cold classic usually ends in groans. But FX already pulled off the impossible once with 'What We Do in the Shadows' — a TV adaptation that plenty of fans now rank higher than the movie. This new show pulls from some of that same brain trust, and Brooks is not just blessing it from afar; he is in the EP trenches.

Quick refresher on the original

'Young Frankenstein' is widely considered top-tier comedy and a loving send-up of the old-school Universal monster movies. The movie follows Dr. Frederick Frankenstein — he insists it is pronounced 'Fronk-en-steen' — who heads to Transylvania after inheriting his grandfather's castle and gets sucked into Victor Frankenstein's reanimation experiments. Gene Wilder starred as the very stressed doctor (and co-wrote the script with Brooks), with Peter Boyle as the Monster, Marty Feldman as Igor (sorry, 'Eye-gore'), Teri Garr as Inga, and Cloris Leachman as Frau Blucher. Gene Hackman pops in for one unforgettable scene as the blind hermit.

My read

Messing with a classic is risky, but with Brooks involved, a Shadows-adjacent team steering, and Galifianakis as the doc, this has real potential. The fact that Cary Elwes is playing the President is the kind of weird swing I want from a Frankenstein comedy. Cautiously optimistic, with a dash of 'please be great.'