Kelsey Balance said the dungeon crawler carl live-action series is moving into soft prep and will start shooting next year. Matt Dinniman pressed for a premiere update at New York Comic Con on Saturday, but the clearest news was about production, not release timing. That keeps the Peacock adaptation in motion while the team finishes the parts that usually decide how fast a TV project can move.
Balance said the team is seeing drafts and outlines and has the full series pitch, which means the material has moved beyond a simple option stage. She added, “We are starting to see drafts and outlines, and we’ve gotten the whole series pitch, which is really exciting, but it’s continued to evolve.”
Balance on soft prep
“we’re into soft prep,” Balance said during the panel, then laid out the practical next steps: the team is hiring HODs, line producers, production designers, directors, and casting. She also said, “We’re going to be locking in all of those key things, which will be fun to share with you guys.”
The same panel made clear the adaptation is still being assembled in pieces. Balance said, “While that’s happening, we are building the ship, or building the plane, as we fly.” That is the kind of comment that tells viewers the project has crossed into a real production phase, but the final package is not fully locked.
Universal TV for Peacock
Chris Yost and Eric Heisserer are executive producing the series, while Seth MacFarlane, Erica Huggins, and Rachel Hargreaves-Heald are executive producing for Fuzzy Door. Matt Dinniman is a co-executive producer, and the project is being developed by Universal Global Television. For a franchise adaptation, that roster suggests the studio is treating the property as a serious TV build rather than a quick novelty pass.
The official logline gives the show a wide canvas: an alien invasion has wiped out most of humanity, survivors are forced to fight for their lives on a sadistic intergalactic game show, and Carl is partnered with his ex-girlfriend’s award-winning show cat, Princess Donut the Queen Anne Chonk. The story also includes monsters, aliens, an insane A.I., and other survivors, which leaves the production with a heavy effects lift even before cameras roll.
Within the next few weeks
Balance said extra details are coming “very soon, within the next few weeks,” but she also warned that “the project is just in the middle of the chaos of the storm that not all of that has landed officially yet.” That split is the real story here: the series is advancing, yet the public-facing package is still incomplete.
“We’re constantly brainstorming all the time on when and how we can share things,” Balance said. “Then we’ll start actual real prep in the new year and shooting next year.” For Fans of Matt Dinniman, the practical takeaway is simple: the adaptation has moved from development talk into scheduling, staffing, and camera-readiness, and the next concrete information should arrive before production does.
