NBC continues to get an aggressive jump-start on pilot season.
The network on Thursday added three more comedies to its 2020-21 slate, doubling its total haul. Not including straight-to-series orders, NBC has picked up six comedy pilots to date.
What’s more, the network is looking to proven hit-makers — Matt Hubbard (30 Rock), Brooklyn Nine-Nine co-creator Dan Goor and Saturday Night Live alums Seth Meyers and Lorne Michaels — as its comedy brand stands to be rebuilt following the conclusion this season of the hits Will & Grace and The Good Place.
Ordered to pilot are Someone Out There, written by Hubbard and Josh Siegal (30 Rock, The Good Place); an untitled ensemble from Goor and Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s Phil Jackson; and Crazy for You, a female-driven comedy from Michaels’ Broadway Video and written by Rachele Lynn (Silicon Valley, Saturday Night Live). All three are being produced in-house at Universal Television, where Hubbard, Goor and Broadway Video are all under overall deals. All three are also single-camera comedies. Thus far this season, NBC has only two multicamera comedy pilots — the Night School reboot and the recently ordered Jim Jefferies entry.
Here are details on all three pilots:
Someone Out There is a romantic comedy about two set-in-their-ways adults who are challenged by very unexpected strangers to become the best versions of themselves in order to find love and possibly each other. It is based on the format Pequeñas Coincidencias, created by Javier Veiga. Hubbard, Siegal and Dylan Morgan (30 Rock, The Good Place) are all writing the script and will executive produce alongside Emiliano Calemzuk, Gonzalo Sagardia and Veiga.
The untitled Jackson and Goor comedy is described as an ensemble about black people, dating and wine. Jackson will pen the script and exec produce. Goor will supervise in addition to exec producing. The order arrives as Brooklyn Nine-Nine is already renewed for the 2020-21 broadcast season, where, in its eighth season, it will be NBC’s longest-running comedy series on the air.
Crazy for You is a comedy about Daisy who, with her life stalling, re-enters the dating scene only to discover that while she was out of the game, the game sort of, totally, completely changed. Realizing she is a bit rusty at being “normal” and “appealing” on first dates, she’ll need the support of her friends as she strives to succeed while being her true self in today’s quick-to-dismiss dating culture. Lynn will pen the script and exec produce alongside Broadway Video’s Michaels and Sethmaker Shoemeyers Productions’ Meyers and Mike Shoemaker. Both the latter companies previously teamed on the NBC-turned-Peacock comedy A.P. Bio.
Crazy for You is Michaels’ second scripted comedy in the works for NBC next season. He also exec produces The Kenan Show, starring Kenan Thompson. That project was developed last pilot season and picked up to series for the 2019-2020 season. NBC brass announced earlier this month that the comedy will be pushed to next season.
The Kenan Show is one of three comedy series orders already on NBC’s schedule for next season. It joins the untitled Ted Danson L.A. mayoral comedy from 30 Rock creators Tina Fey and Robert Carlock and Young Rock, the Dwayne Johnson semi-autobiographical entry. It’s also worth noting that all of NBC’s comedy orders thus far are produced in-house as the network looks to own its schedule.
Keep track of all of this season’s pilot orders with The Hollywood Reporter‘s handy guide.
