Jim Carrey is making a return to television in his first series-regular role in more than two decades. The In Living Color alum will be headlining Kidding, a new half-hour comedy series for Showtime, where he executive produces drama I’m Dying Up Here, recently renewed for a second season. Carrey is reuniting with his Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind director Michel Gondry on Kidding, which has received a 10-episode straight-to-series order from Showtime with Jason Bateman among the executive producers.

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Created by Dave Holstein (Weeds, Raising Hope) and to be directed by Gondry, Kidding stars Carrey as Jeff, aka Mr. Pickles, an icon of children’s television, a beacon of kindness and wisdom to America’s impressionable young minds and the parents who grew up with him – who also anchors a multimillion-dollar branding empire.But when this beloved personality’s family – wife, two sons, sister and father – begins to implode, Jeff finds no fairy tale or fable or puppet will guide him through the crisis, which advances faster than his means to cope. The result: a kind man in a cruel world faces a slow leak of sanity as hilarious as it is heartbreaking.

Carrey will executive produce with Gondry, Jason Bateman (Arrested Development, Ozark), Jim Garavente (Bad Words), Raffi Adlan (The Green Hornet) and Michael Aguilar (I’m Dying Up Here). Holstein wrote the pilot and will serve as showrunner.

“No one inhabits a character like Jim Carrey, and this role – which is like watching Humpty Dumpty after the fall – is going to leave television audiences wondering how they went so long without him,” said David Nevins, President and CEO of Showtime Networks. “With his Eternal Sunshine partner Michel Gondry on board to direct, we are on our way to a magnetic, volcanic and emotional viewing experience.”

Carrey has won two Golden Globes as a lead actor, for features The Truman Show and Man on the Moon. This is his first major TV series gig since his stint on Fox’s sketch comedy series In Living Color, which helped launch his movie career.

Gondry won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in which he directed Carrey and Kate Winslet. Gondry’s other screen credits include Microbe & Gasoline, Mood Indigo, The We and the I, The Green Hornet, Be Kind Rewind, The Science of Sleep and Human Nature.