Bette Midler and Judith Light Join Ryan Murphy’s ‘The Politician’ on Netflix

By Jordan Moreau

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Bette Midler and Judith Light will guest star on “The Politician,” the first series Ryan Murphy will launch on Netflix after he inked a deal with the streamer last year.

Murphy made the announcement at the end of Saturday’s PaleyFest panel for his FX series “Pose,” and noted that Midler and Light will both appear in Seasons 1 and 2 of the upcoming political comedy. He also revealed that Janet Mock, a writer, director and co-executive producer on “Pose,” helmed an episode of the new show.

“” is the first series to debut on Netflix after the streaming service tapped the prolific “Glee” and “American Horror Story” creator for a five-year, $300 million deal in 2018. Outbidding several other companies, Netflix ordered two seasons of the show, with another series titled “Hollywood” on the way.

Prior to “The Politician,” Light also worked with Murphy on two episodes of “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” the second season of Murphy’s hit “American Crime Story” anthology on FX. This will be Midler’s first collaboration with Murphy.

On the upcoming show, Ben Platt stars as Payton Hobart, a wealthy student from Santa Barbara, Calif., who has known since age seven that he is destined to be the president of the United States. The two seasons will examine his high school student body president election, his enrollment at Harvard and eventual path to becoming the nation’s president.

The two new guest stars will join previously announced cast that includes Platt, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Lange, Zoey Deutch, Lucy Boynton, Bob Balaban, David Corenswet, Julia Schlaepfer, Laura Dreyfuss, Theo Germaine, Rahne Jones and Benjamin Barrett.

“The Politician” premieres on Netflix on Sept. 27.