Jim Jefferies is headed to NBC.
The comedian and erstwhile Comedy Central late-night host will star in and co-write a comedy for the network in which he plays a version of himself. NBC has also given a pilot order to a workplace comedy about the auto industry from Superstore creator Justin Spitzer.
Jefferies will play a fictionalized version of himself in the multicamera show, titled Jefferies. The character is a comedian with a unique and often controversial take on modern life, relationships and co-parenting with his best friend.
Universal Television, Hazy Mills and Brillstein Entertainment Partners are producing the pilot. Jefferies is writing with sitcom veteran Suzanne Martin (Hot in Cleveland, Frasier, Will & Grace) and will executive produce with Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner of Hazy Mills, Tim Sarkes and Alex Murray.
Jefferies is coming off The Jim Jefferies Show at Comedy Central, which ended its three-season run in November. He also has a first-look deal with the ViacomCBS cable network.
NBC’s other pilot order is American Auto, from Superstore‘s Spitzer, Universal TV and Kapital Entertainment. The show is set at the Detroit headquarters of a major American car company, where a floundering group of executives tries to rediscover the firm’s identity amidst a rapidly changing industry.
Spitzer, who has an overall deal at Universal TV, handed over showrunning duties on Superstore to Gabe Miller and Jonathan Green ahead of the comedy’s current season to focus on development. He is writing American Auto and executive producing with Kapital’s Aaron Kaplan.
The two pilots join an NBC comedy roster that also includes the straight-to-series projects Young Rock from Dwayne Johnson and the Tina Fey-Robert Carlock L.A. mayor comedy. The network also has a series adaptation of the 2018 movie Night School from executive producers Kevin Hart and Will Packer. The Kenan Show, starring Saturday Night Live mainstay Kenan Thompson, has also been rolled to 2020-21 after an initial order for the current season.
