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What to watch after Tiger King, the spinoffs streaming now and on the way

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Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness | Official Trailer | Netflix

By now, all of the cool cats and kittens are well aware of Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, the Netflix documentary series that explored the weird, wild world of zookeeper Joe Exotic. The seven-part series was viewed by more than 34 million people in the U.S. within its first 10 days on the streaming service, making it one of Netflix’s most popular shows of all time.

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That kind of success typically merits a follow-up act, and multiple spinoff projects — both scripted and in documentary form — went into development shortly after the Tiger King roared onto Netflix. If you haven’t had enough of Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin, “Doc” Antle, and the rest of the story’s eccentric characters, here are the projects to look for now and down the road.

The Tiger King & I

The Tiger King and I — a Tiger King after show hosted by Joel McHale and featuring brand new interviews with John Reinke, Joshua Dial, John Finlay, Saff, Erik Cowie, Rick Kirkman, and Jeff and Lauren Lowe — will premiere April 12 pic.twitter.com/8fbbNdaiDA

— Netflix (@netflix) April 9, 2020

Netflix capitalized on the success of its Tiger King series early on by adding an extra episode to the series that explored the aftermath of the show’s success for many of the people involved in the story. Community actor Joel McHale hosted the reunion episode — dubbed The Tiger King & I — and spoke to Jeff and Lauren Lowe, John Reinke, Joshua Dial, John Finlay, Saff Saffery, Erik Cowie, and Rick Kirkham about their lives after Tiger King.

Now available on Netflix, The Tiger King & I premiered April 12.

Tiger King — What Really Went Down?

Best shows on Netflix Tiger King
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Officially titled TMZ Investigates: Tiger King — What Really Went Down?, this hourlong special produced by TMZ aired April 13 on Fox. The investigative feature is hosted by TMZ’s Harvey Levin and focuses on whether Joe Maldonado-Passage (aka Joe Exotic) is “really” guilty of the murder-for-hire charges that sent him to federal prison, while also diving into the disappearance of Carole Baskin’s former husband.

If you missed the special when it aired, you’re in luck: It’s still available to watch on Hulu.

Investigating the Strange World of Joe Exotic

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Investigation Discovery network will have its own true-crime series dedicated to Joe Exotic’s saga, and thus far, it’s the only project that has confirmed the involvement of Joe Exotic himself. Given that Joe Exotic is currently serving time in federal prison, it’s uncertain what form his involvement will take, but ID has promised that the series will take a deeper dive into his crimes, as well as the mysteries surrounding Jeff Lowe, Antle, and Baskin, among others.

There’s currently no premiere date announced for the series, but it’s expected to debut on ID later this year.

Kate McKinnon’s untitled Joe Exotic series

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Several months before Tiger King debuted on Netflix, SNL actress Kate McKinnon agreed to executive produce and star in a series based on the feud between Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic. The project was first announced in November 2019, and was inspired by the Joe Exotic: Tiger King podcast produced and hosted by journalist Robert Moor. McKinnon will reportedly portray Baskin in the series.

There’s no word on when the show will air or where it will debut.

Rob Lowe & Ryan Murphy’s untitled project

Parks and Recreation actor Rob Lowe sparked some excitement April 5 when he posted a photo on Instagram of himself dressed like Joe Exotic. The image was captioned “Rob Exotic. UPDATE: Ryan Murphy and I will be developing our version of this insane story. Stay tuned!”

Lowe and RMurphy, who co-created American Horror Story and Glee (among other popular series), already have a professional relationship due to Lowe’s starring role in Murphy’s 911: Lone Star series, and it’s expected that Lowe will star in the scripted series if it’s actually developed. There’s no word on when we can expect to see the project, or whether it will be a TV series or movie.

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Rick Marshall
Rick Marshall
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A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
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