Dress him up in enough spotted animal prints and the student will finally become the teacher dean. That’s the only rational and/or moral takeaway from the news that one week after Community hit Netflix, its star Joel McHale will host a Tiger King aftershow called The Tiger King and I. Just when you thought the Tiger King discourse was as dead as the roadkill Joe Exotic fed to his tigers, Netflix figures there’s definitely more to unpack in its zany seven-episode docuseries. In a video announcement on Netflix’s Twitter, a shirtless McHale wears leopard print, a cowboy hat, earrings, and a giant Sharpie (hopefully?) Netflix logo tattoo where John Finlay once had “Property of Joe Exotic†tatted. McHale says that in this aftershow, he speaks to Jeff and Lauren Lowe, Saff, Erik Cowie, John Finlay, John Reinke, and Rick Kirkham “to see what’s happened in their lives since the release of the series. It’s eye opening and hopefully funny.†If we were wary of this eighth Tiger King installment to begin with, “hopefully funny†isn’t easing our concerns.
Did someone tell Netflix that the concept of an “aftershow†generally means something that takes place directly after a show, as in “the following episode,†not “three weeks later?†Oh well. The Tiger King and I premieres on Netflix on April 12, which is Easter Sunday, to remind us that there is one true (tiger) king, his name is Joe Exotic, and he is risen (in Netflix’s viewership numbers).