The upcoming Netflix adaptation of “A Series of Unfortunate Events” has found its key player.

Patrick Warburton will star as Lemony Snicket in the television series, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The character is a fictional, albeit bestselling, author (who in real life is Daniel Handler).

The show, which will run for eight episodes, is based on the 13-book Lemony Snicket children’s series. The novels follow three orphan siblings, the Baudelaires, who are adopted by their evil uncle, Count Olaf, who wants desperately to get his hands on their inheritance. The character Lemony Snicket is the narrator of the books.

Warburton is known for playing the title role in the cult television hit “The Tick,” co-starring in “Rules of Engagement,” and for his role as David Puddy, Elaine Benes’ hockey-loving, Christian-music-listening boyfriend on “Seinfeld.”


He joins Neil Patrick Harris, who was previously cast as Count Olaf, and Louis Hynes and Malina Weissman, who will play two of the Baudelaire children.

This isn’t the first adaptation of Snicket’s spooky book series. A film based on the books was released in 2004, with Jude Law as the voice of Lemony Snicket and Jim Carrey as Count Olaf. The movie, which also featured Meryl Streep and Billy Connolly, was a critical and commercial hit.

Netflix has found success with literary adaptations before. Their hit show “Orange Is the New Black” is based on Piper Kerman’s memoir of the same name, and their horror series “Hemlock Grove” is an adaptation of a novel by Brian McGreevy.

Lemony Snicket fans will have to be patient to see what Warburton, Harris and the cast and crew cook up: there’s no word yet on a possible premiere date for “A Series of Unfortunate Events.”