Catch-22 is a satirical dark comedy miniseries based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Joseph Heller. It premiered on May 17, 2019, on Hulu in the United States. The series stars Christopher Abbott, Kyle Chandler, Hugh Laurie, and George Clooney, who is also an executive producer alongside Grant Heslov, Luke Davies, David Michôd, Richard Brown, Steve Golin, and Ellen Kuras. The series was written by Davies and Michôd and directed by Clooney, Heslov, and Kuras, with each directing two episodes.
Premise
John Yossarian (Christopher Abbott) is a United States Army Air Forces bombardier in World War II, furious that thousands of people are trying to kill him and that his own army keeps increasing the number of missions he must fly. He is trapped by the bureaucratic rule Catch-22, which considers a willingness to fly dangerous combat missions to be insane, yet a request to be relieved of duty on the grounds of insanity to be the process of a rational mind, so any such request must be denied.
Yossarian chose bombardier, hoping the war would finish before his lengthy training but now sits exposed in the nose of a B-25, dropping bombs on enemy territory who are trying to kill him. He tried to avoid flying by feigning illness, sabotaging his intercom, poisoning everyone at the base or clandestinely moving the bomb line so it appears their target has already been captured.
The events occur in the Mediterranean theatre of World War II while the fictional 256th US Army Air Squadron is based on the (fictionalized) island of Pianosa, in the Mediterranean Sea, and conducting bombing raids over heavily defended fascist controlled Italy.
Cast and characters
Starring
Christopher Abbott as Capt. John Yossarian
Kyle Chandler as Colonel Cathcart
Daniel David Stewart as Milo Minderbinder
Rafi Gavron as Aarfy Aardvark
Graham Patrick Martin as Ivor Orr
Lewis Pullman as Major Major Major Major
Austin Stowell as Nately
Pico Alexander as Clevinger
Jon Rudnitsky as McWatt
Gerran Howell as Kid Sampson
Hugh Laurie as Major — de Coverley
Giancarlo Giannini as Marcello
George Clooney as Major (later Colonel and eventually Brigadier General) Scheisskopf
Also starring
Grant Heslov as Doc Daneeka
Kevin J. O'Connor as Lt. Colonel Korn
Julie Ann Emery as Marion Scheisskopf
Josh Bolt as Dunbar
Tessa Ferrer as Nurse Duckett
Jay Paulson as The Chaplain
Harrison Osterfield as Snowden
Episodes
Production
Development
Around 2014, producer Richard Brown, writer Luke Davies and writer-director David Michôd discussed properties that they would like to tackle in limited series format similar to True Detective, which Brown had just executive produced. Davies brought up Heller's novel, which the trio agreed would benefit from a longer treatment than the two hours of Mike Nichols' 1970 feature film. The screen rights to the novel were held by Paramount Television where Anonymous Content had a deal. Davies and Michôd co-wrote the adaptation, which Brown developed at Anonymous. Michôd was originally set to direct until he became unavailable as a long-gestating feature film of his moved forward in production. The producers asked George Clooney to direct. He, along with his producing partner and frequent collaborator Grant Heslov, came on board as directors and executive producers.
On November 16, 2017, the production was announced. On January 12, 2018, it was announced that Hulu was in negotiations for the series and two days later it was confirmed that the production had been given a six episode order. On March 16, 2018, it was announced that Ellen Kuras was joining Clooney and Heslov in directing. They each directed two episodes, and Kuras also served as an executive producer. On May 7, 2018, it was announced that Italy's Sky Italia was joining the production as a co-producer.