Michael Bolton: SNL Jack Sparrow Sketch Opened The Door For My New Sitcom

Michael Bolton surprised “Saturday Night Live” viewers in 2011 with his impressive comedic skills playing Captain Jack Sparrow alongside The Lonely Island’s Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer.

The hilarious musical spoof not only exposed the singer’s sense of humor, it opened the door for a multitude of small screen opportunities almost immediately.

“I did ‘Two and Half Men’ shortly afterwards,” Michael told Access Hollywood in a new interview, of one of the opportunities the “Jack Sparrow” digital short (that now boasts upwards of 99 million views on YouTube) helped create. “You suddenly get on the radar of a lot of television and film writers… [who] go, ‘Oh, I didn’t know he would do something like this. Would he consider this? Would he consider that?’ and that’s all coming to me now.”

One project in the pipeline for Michael is a new sitcom pilot, currently in development at ABC.

“If they like what they read, we shoot the pilot in the spring,” he said. “If they like the pilot, I’m on the air in the fall and it’s hysterical – it is so funny. The working title is ‘Michael Bolton’s Daughter is Destroying My Life.’”

The star – whose new memoir “Soul Of It All” is in stores now — will be playing a “psychologically challenged” extreme “caricature” of himself in the pilot, who wants to nurture a relationship with his estranged daughter.

“I’m like a 12 year old. So [I find] this girl, this young 24, 25-year-old journalist who’s really well grounded and really smart and I bring her in and I want her to be the bridge in this relationship between me and my daughter,” he explained of the sitcom plot. “She accepts the job, realizing after the first day that she’s going to have to babysit for both my daughter and me.

“That’s how the series starts – it’s really funny stuff,” he added. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

— Erin O’Sullivan

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