Comedy Central continues to lean hard on the Broad City talent pool, ordering a new series from one castmember and developing projects from several of its scribes.
The network on Tuesday unveiled its 2018-19 development slate, coinciding with cable upfronts, and it includes two series orders — one for a comedy vehicle from Broad City alum Arturo Castro and another for a weekly stand-up series set at New York’s famous Comedy Cellar.
Alternatino With Arturo Castro is described as a sketch show based on Castro’s own experiences as a Latino millennial in the U.S., while This Week at the Comedy Central aims to make a quicker turnaround than typical stand-up specials in offering up a mix of the week’s most timely sets.
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“With an exciting mix of established and emerging talent, our current development slate continues Comedy Central’s rich legacy of working with the most distinct and talented comedic voices,” said Sarah Babineau and Jonas Larsen, executive vice presidents and co-heads of talent and development. “Arturo’s abilities as an actor knows no bounds, which combined with his stellar comedic instincts and unique point of view, makes Alternatino With Arturo Castro a potent and hilarious series in the grand tradition of Comedy Central’s sketch shows. We’re thrilled to partner with the Comedy Cellar and provide fans of comedy a look at the hot button issues of the week through the lens of the best comics in the world straight from the legendary and beloved NYC comedy club.”
As it often does, the network has also put out an aggressive development slate — with projects toplined by rapper Awkwafina (Awkwafina), David Spade (Verified With David Spade) and comedian Rory Scovel (Robbie), as well as ones created by Broad City writers Gave Liedman (previously announced Mall Town USA) and Kevin Barnett and Josh Rabinowitz (Kevin vs. Josh).
See the full rundown from Comedy Central below.
Series Orders
Alternatino With Arturo Castro — Created by and starring Arturo Castro (Broad City, Narcos) and directed by Nick Jasenovec (Detroiters, Broad City), the sketch show is based on Arturo’s experiences as a Latino millennial in the U.S. The series is being executive produced by Castro, Jasenovec and Sam Saifer for Avalon Television, with Avalon Television producing. Arturo is repped by WME, Avalon and Melissa Fox at Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush and Keller. Jose Acevedo and Ari Pearce are the executives in charge of production for Comedy Central.
This Week at the Comedy Cellar — The show takes an unprecedented look inside New York City’s hottest comedy club and the country’s top comedians as they tackle all the freshest topics of the week. Each 30-minute episode will showcase the best topical jokes generated in the Comedy Cellar in the days immediately leading up to premiere. Accompanying the stand-up is a one-of-a-kind behind-the-scenes look at the prestigious “comics’ table,” where comedians debate the week’s topics and discuss the origins of their material. Plucked straight from the headlines and filtered through the eyes of the country’s best comics, this is a front-row seat to where the best stand-up comedy begins. Executive producers include Noam Dworman (for Comedy Cellar), Ray Ellin, Michael Hirschorn and Jessica Antonini (both for Ish Entertainment) and Ian Gelfand. Christian McLaughlin and Anne Harris are the executives in charge of production for Comedy Central.
Pilot Development (all working titles)
Mall Town USA, which was recently announced, is an animated comedy that follows the afterschool misadventures of a 13-year-old girl navigating the complexities of life in the classic microcosm of American culture that is The Mall. Mall Town USA is written and created by Gabe Liedman (Broad City, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and executive produced by Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer.
Awkwafina is a half-hour scripted narrative inspired by Nora Lum’s experiences as a twenty-something woman in Queens who strives for a larger-than-life existence. The show stars Lum, also known as rapper Awkwafina, and includes musical set pieces to embellish the story. Nora has a lead role in the upcoming studio films Ocean’s 8 and Crazy Rich Asians. Awkwafina is written by Lum and Teresa Hsiao and is being showrun by Karey Dornetto. The series is being executive produced by Lum, Dornetto, Peter Principato, Itay Reiss and Principato-Young Entertainment and co-executive produced by Hsiao. Awkwafina is repped by UTA, Principato-Young Entertainment and Schreck Rose.
Robbie is a half-hour scripted comedy about an overzealous church-league basketball coach who aspires to restore glory to his rural Georgia town by following in his father’s footsteps as the infamous coach who won two high school basketball championships in the 1990s. Rory, who co-stars alongside Amy Schumer in the upcoming film I Feel Pretty, will play the lead. Robbie is written by Scovel and Anthony King. Scovel, Scott Moran, King and Gary Sanchez Productions will executive produce.
Kevin vs. Josh is created, written by and stars Kevin Barnett (Broad City, The Carmichael Show) and Josh Rabinowitz (Broad City, The Carmichael Show), and is being executive produced by Jerrod Carmichael, Ari Katcher, Avi Gilbert, Barnett and Rabinowitz. Based on the real-life friendship of Barnett and Rabinowitz, the show follows two childhood best friends whose dreams are falling apart. Reunited by their separate but equal failure, they do everything they can to simply make sure their lives are at least better than the other.
Verified With David Spade is a weekly comedy series that skewers pop culture and news all through the lens of social media. Relying on his legendary wit and sardonic worldview, Sapde, in front of a small studio audience, utilizes a mix of original in-studio bits, panel discussion and field pieces to take viewers on a tour of the best (and worst) social media had to offer that week. The series is being executive produced by David Spade, Free 90 Media’s Brad Wollack and Tom Brunelle and Brillstein Entertainment’s Alex Murray and Marc Gurvitz.
