In the first scene of The Charlie Puth Show, a scripted TV series on the Roku Channel, the titular musician teams up with Will Ferrell.
Charlie Puth explains to the comedian that artists nowadays have to do a lot of work outside their field to ‘stay in the spirit of the times’.
‘I don’t know if anyone feels sorry for you. You’re really famous and rich,” Ferrell replies.
Outside of the show’s fictionalized realm, the real-life Puth told Yahoo Entertainment that he got the idea to create a TV show about his life at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in response to the “terrifying” news that he might not do that. being able to play live in concert again. The show was “just a project to stay creative”, but became a “full-fledged” thing as time went on.
“My life is already ridiculous, why not add a little absurdity to it?” said Put. “It’s a combination of self-deprecation, and I think sometimes quite cleverly, that that’s really just my personality.”
He added that the TV version of himself is still “99% accurate,” and that the humor is an “obvious nod” Limit your enthusiasm.”
The six-episode mockumentary series, streaming on October 4, follows Puth on his quest to maintain relevance in pop culture, aided by his best friend, a ‘Gen Z assistant’, a ‘momager’ and a steady stream of famous guests. stars playing themselves, from Ferrell to John Legend to Courteney Cox.
“Ferrell is definitely a really cool friend of mine,” Puth said. “He didn’t have to do this, he’s just a great person and I really admire his talent.”
Of all the star-studded cameos on the show, he was most surprised that “Weird Al” Yankovic had signed on.
“I grew up on ‘Weird Al’ music, and there’s a part of me that always references his music when I make my own music,” he said. “I’m inspired by how the duration of his career has gone.”
Puth hasn’t been on many sets, aside from his own music videos, so filming was “a little scary,” but he found that being “a little naive” was ultimately good for the spirit of the show. The scripts were relatively short because much of the dialogue involved improvisation, including his opening scene with Ferrell.
“I’m not an actor, but I think I can pull it off because I just act like myself,” he said.
Some episodes feature things that actually happened to Puth, like how grinding his teeth—or “making too much music” with them, as he says in the episode—resulted in four root canals. However, there are some storylines in the show that he would never tolerate in real life.
“I’ve worked with country artists and have a lot of respect [for] but I don’t know if I would ever put on a cowboy hat with Ralph Lauren overalls and push a tumbleweed down the highway,” he said of a scene in one episode.
Although Puth jokes about the pressure to be more than just a musician on the show, he has always gone above and beyond the job description. He has 22 million followers on TikTok, where he has gone viral many times for recording himself making music with unconventional songs, covering other artists and making fun of his “perfect pitch.”
Puth said the show has the same energy as his TikTok, albeit a little more “buttoned up.” He doesn’t worry about fans seeing a different side of him because he always puts his whole self out there.
“You can learn a lot about me by listening to my music,” he said. “But [through the show] they will get to know my sense of humor and creativity.”
All six episodes of The Charlie Puth Show start streaming on the Roku Channel on October 4.