Hulu is adding a Phony to its lineup of original series.
The Disney-owned streamer has greenlit Phony, a half-hour mystery starring Connie Britton and Sam Nivola. The show comes from creator Nick Paley (Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, Broad City), who will serve as co-showrunner with Anthony King (The Afterparty, Silicon Valley).
Phony, which Hulu ordered as a pilot in October 2024, centers on Sonny (Nivola), a high school student who wakes up in the hospital after a car accident and discovers his mom, Ellen (Britton), has seemingly been replaced by an impostor. Hulu describes the half-hour show as a “coming-of-age mystery.”
Nivola’s Sonny is the most beloved student at his school, but the only person who really knows him is Ellen, a single mom who also happens to be the principal of the school.
Phony will continue Nivola’s breakout run on American TV, following roles in The Perfect Couple for Netflix and season three of The White Lotus on HBO. Recent credits for Britton — also a White Lotus alum, having starred in the first season — include Zero Day and The Life List at Netflix and Apple TV+’s Dear Edward.
Disney’s 20th Television is producing Phony. Paley and King executive produce with Britton, Charlie Alderman (via Charlie’s Production Company) and Drew Goddard and Sarah Esberg of Goddard Textiles. The latter’s Andrea Massaro is co-EP.
Britton is repped by CAA, Untitled Entertainment and Hansen Jacobson; Nivola, by UTA and Narrative; Paley, by UTA, Entertainment 360 and Frankfurt Kurnit; and King, by WME, Mosaic and Ziffren Brittenham.