In the first scene of The Charlie Puth Show, a scripted TV series on the Roku Channel, the titular musician is working out with Will Ferrell.
Charlie Puth explains to the comedian that in this day and age, artists have to do extensive work outside of their craft to “stay in the zeitgeist.”
“I don’t know if anyone feels sorry for you. You’re really famous and rich,” Ferrell replies.
Outside the fictionalized realm of the show, the real-life Puth told Yahoo Entertainment that he got the idea to make a TV show about his life at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in response to the “terrifying” news that he might not be 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 just attach a bit of absurdity to it?” Puth said. “It’s a combination of self-deprecating, and I think at times pretty smart, that really is just my personality.”
He added that the TV version of himself is still “99% accurate,” and the humor is an “obvious nod to Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
The six-episode mockumentary series, which starts streaming Oct. 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 celebrity guest stars playing themselves, from Ferrell to John Legend to Courteney Cox.
“Ferrell is definitely a very cool friend of mine,” Puth said. “He didn’t have to do this, he is just a wonderful person and I admire his talent greatly.”
Of all the star-studded cameos on the show, he was most surprised that “Weird Al” Yankovic signed on.
“I grew up on ‘Weird Al’ music, and there’s a part of me that always references his music when I’m making my own,” he said. “I’m inspired by how the span of his career has gone.”
Puth hasn’t been on many sets aside from his own music videos, so filming was “a little terrifying,” but he found that being “a little naive” was ultimately good for the spirit of the show. The scripts were relatively short because so much of the dialogue involved improv, including his opening scene with Ferrell.
“I’m not an actor, but I guess I pull it off because I’m just acting as myself,” he said.
Some of the episodes include things that really 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. There are some storylines on the show that he’d never put up with in real life, though.
“I’ve collaborated with country artists and I have great respect [for] them, but I don’t know if I would ever put a cowboy hat on with Ralph Lauren overalls and push a tumbleweed across a highway,” he said of a scene in one episode.
Though Puth jokes about the pressure to be more than just a musician on the show, he has always gone beyond the job description. He has 22 million followers on TikTok, where he has gone viral many times over for recording himself making music using unconventional songs, covering other artists and poking fun at his “perfect pitch.”
Puth said the show has the same energy as his TikTok, though a little more “buttoned-up.” He’s not worried about fans seeing another side of him, because he’s always put his whole self out there.
“You can find out a lot about me through listening to my music,” he said. “But [through the show] they’ll get to know my sense of humor and creativity.”
All six episodes of The Charlie Puth Show start streaming on the Roku Channel on Oct. 4.
