By now, all of the cool cats and kittens are well aware ofTiger 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 bymore than 34 million peoplein the U.S. within its first 10 days on the streaming service, making it one of Netflix’s most popular shows of all time.
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 theTiger Kingroared onto Netflix. If you haven’t had enough ofJoe 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 12pic.twitter.com/8fbbNdaiDA
— Netflix (@netflix)July 22, 2025
Netflix capitalized on the success of itsTiger Kingseries 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.Communityactor Joel McHale hosted the reunion episode — dubbedThe 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 afterTiger King.
Now available on Netflix,The Tiger King & Ipremiered April 12.
Tiger King — What Really Went Down?
Officially titledTMZ 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 onHulu.
Investigating the Strange World of Joe Exotic
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 willtake a deeper diveinto 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
Several months beforeTiger Kingdebuted on Netflix,SNLactress Kate McKinnon agreed toexecutive produce and star ina series based on the feud between Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic. The project was first announced in November 2019, and was inspired by theJoe Exotic: Tiger Kingpodcastproduced 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
A post shared by Rob Lowe (@roblowe)
Parks and Recreationactor 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-createdAmerican Horror StoryandGlee(among other popular series), already have a professional relationship due to Lowe’s starring role in Murphy’s911: Lone Starseries, and it’s expected thatLowe will star in the scripted seriesif 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.
