'Urban Myths' air date, latest news: Sky Arts releases first trailer for comedy series

Sky Arts recently debuted the first trailer for "Urban Myths," the upcoming comedy which features Joseph Fiennes portraying the late pop icon Michael Jackson.

Titled "Urban Myths: A Brand New Collection of Comedies," the series tells various "true-ish stories" from the last century, according to the Independent. One of the mythic tales includes Elizabeth Taylor (Stockard Channing), Marlon Brando (Brian Cox) and Michael Jackson's fabled journey back to the West Coast following the events of 9/11.

One of the stories featured in the series centers on Hitler ("Game of Thrones" actor Iwan Rheon) and "Hitler's friend" ("Harry Potter" star Rupert Grint) as they work on their artwork. Another story involves Bob Dylan (Eddie Marsan) looking for "Dave," and one more storyline features Cary Grant (Ben Chaplin) and Dr. Timothy Leary (Aidan Gillen) apparently taking LSD.

Last year, Sky Arts received backlash when it announced that Fiennes would be playing Michael Jackson in the upcoming series. Many accused the people behind the series of whitewashing, a casting practice in Hollywood in which white actors are cast in historically non-white character roles. Nevertheless, Sky and Fiennes continued on with the project.

After the trailer was unveiled, many were disturbed over the pop icon's depiction, as portrayed by Fiennes. In fact, the King of Pop's own daughter, Paris Jackson, and his nephew, Taj Jackson, expressed their frustration on social media.

"I'm so incredibly offended by it, as I'm sure plenty of people are as well, and it honestly makes me want to vomit," she wrote in a series of posts on Twitter, adding, "It angers me to see how obviously intentional it was for them to be this insulting, not just towards my father, but my godmother Liz as well."

"Where is the respect?" she continued. "They worked through blood, sweat and tears for ages to create such profound and remarkable legacies. Shameful portrayal."

"Unfortunately this is what my family has to deal with. No words could express the blatant disrespect," Taj Jackson also tweeted.

"Urban Myths" is set to debut on Jan. 19 on Sky Arts.