HBO Greenlights Gay-Themed Dramedy Series

HBO is heading to San Francisco.

The premium cable network has handed out series orders to its untitled San Francisco comedy project, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The eight-episode dramedy hails from Andrew Haigh, who directed the pilot that is based on Michael Lannan‘s feature script Lorimer. Haigh will executive produce alongside Bored to Death‘s Sarah Condon and Brothers and Sisters‘ David Marshall Grant, with Lannan receiving a co-EP credit. 

PHOTOS: 40 Years of HBO

The untitled entry will revolves around the three friends in San Francisco who explore the fun and sometimes overwhelming options available to a new generation of gay men. Groff stars alongside Frankie J. Alvarez and Murray Bartlett. Production will begin in the fall in San Francisco for a 2014 premiere.

The Groff vehicle joins recent additions Getting On (six episodes from the creators of Big Love) and Stephen Merchant’s Hello Ladies (eight episodes) as HBO bulks up on half-hours to join comedies Girls and Veep. Christopher Guest entry Family Tree also bowed this month to lackluster returns.

For HBO, the news comes a day after it reversed course and ordered James Gandolfini drama Criminal Justice as a seven-episode limited series.

The gay-themed comedy also comes at a pivotal time for the LGBT community, which recently lost scores of gay characters on TV in last week’s wave of network cancellations.  

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit