In The Know

Al Franken to play a senator in new Netflix series

Former Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) speaks at the 92nd Street Y in New York on Tuesday, May 31, 2022.

Former Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) is poised to join the upper chamber again, at least on the small screen — Franken is playing a senator in a forthcoming Netflix series.

The “Saturday Night Live” alum turned lawmaker will play a fictional senior senator from Washington state named Aaron Filkins in Netflix’s “The Residence.”

The Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers-executive produced dramedy is described by the media company as a “comedic whodunit revolving around the most disastrous state dinner in history.”

Franken resigned from the Senate in 2017 amid accusations of sexual misconduct. The 72-year-old former comedian denied the accusations and has since not ruled out another potential run for office, saying in 2022 that “it would be tempting.”

The show, inspired by Kate Anderson Brower’s 2015 book, “The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House,” explores the “upstairs, downstairs, and backstairs realms of the White House, shining a light on the eclectic staff of the famous presidential mansion,” according to Netflix.


The series will also star “Orange is the New Black’s” Uzo Aduba as a Metropolitan Police Department detective, Giancarlo Esposito as a White House chief usher — who assumed the role following the death last year of “Homicide” star Andre Braugher — and Bronson Pinchot as the White House’s executive pastry chef, among others.

Netflix has yet to announce a release date for “The Residence.”