Prepare to be Spoiled Again - 'The Spoils of Babylon' is Renewed

Well, okay it is isn't quite 'The Spoils of Babylon'. Since that mini-series ended, we'll get a new 'Spoils': 'The Spoils Before Dying'.

Don't know what 'Spoils' is? It's probably the funniest show you're not watching on IFC or the Internet. The first series was created by the people at Funny or Die and is a parody of those big-budget 'Winds of War'/'The Thorn Birds' epic miniseries from the 70s and 80s. It's presented by the fictional Eric Jonrosh, the author and auteur of the 'Spoils' novels. Jonrosh, played by Will Ferrell, is a drunken out-of-work director/actor/writer/microbiologist/birdwatcher/racecar driver (imagine Orson Welles) who hangs out in a bar and films rambling intros and outros for the presentation of his epic work, cut down from twenty-three hours to six half-hour episodes.

Since the studios wouldn't finance Jonrosh's filming of his magnum opus novel, 'The Spoils of Babylon', Jonrosh filmed it himself in the 60s and only now brings it to the screen. Since he was financing it personally, his model work consists of toy submarines and Matchbox cars pulled along on strings through "scenery" made from a train set. The actors are his ex-wife, his personal entourage, people he found wandering the desert on mescaline, and washed-up actors desperate for a part. Or the overacting Jonrosh himself, playing the Shah of Iran in the final episode and wearing a pair of Elton John glasses.

The series is in the tradition of 'Airplane', 'Top Secret'!, and the 'Police Squad!' TV series. There are deadpan recitations of ludicrous lines ("Time was measured in work, and also on clocks and watches. But mostly work."), overly dramatic declamations that go nowhere, and insanely ridiculous plot points like the main character marrying a talking mannequin and no one noticing. The first series featured the talents of Kristen Wiig, Tobey Maguire, Tim Robbins, and Val Kilmer.

The first series spanned the period from the Depression to the 1970s in a tale of love, oil, and incest, complete with a theme song by Steve Lawrence. According to the IFC press release, 'The Spoils Before Dying' will feature, "A new all-star cast will round out the comedic miniseries, which will take viewers into the seedy underbelly of the 1950s jazz scene, in a detective story positively buzzing with erotic charge. It follows a jazz-pianist turned private eye who becomes embroiled in a murder investigation that spins out of control and leads him down paths – romantic and otherwise – he never expected."

So we've got almost a year until it premieres in "Summer 2015." But check it out on IFC reruns, pay-per-episode on Amazon, the eventual DVD release, or the Internet. And here on TVRage.