Liz Meriwether is staying put at 20th Century Fox TV.
The New Girl creator has inked a one-year extension of her overall deal with the studio behind her recently concluded Fox comedy New Girl.
Under the new deal, Meriwether will continue to create and develop new projects for the studio, which will soon become a Disney-owned brand as the network and studio split.
Meriwether developed multiple projects this past season, with one — ABC’s Single Parents, starring Taran Killam, Leighton Meester and Brad Garrett — picked up to series. The comedy Daddy Issues, starring Erin Foster and Don Johnson, was passed over, while Bless This Mess was ordered for off-cycle consideration. Lake Bell (who co-writes and directs), Dax Shepard (who just signed on to host a game show on Fox) and Ed Begley Jr. star in the single-camera comedy about a newlywed couple who move from New York to Nebraska to live a simpler life. It remains in consideration for midseason.
“20th gave me my first job before I even owned Final Draft, and they’ve been an incredibly supportive home for me as an artist for almost a decade,” Meriwether said Tuesday in a statement. “I’m thankful I get to continue making television with them — I wouldn’t want to be on conference calls with anyone else.”
Meriwether joins a roster of writers and producers who, amid the Disney deal, have chosen to renew deals with 20th TV including Lee Daniels (Empire), Tim Minear (911) and Kurt Sutter (Mayans MC), among others.
“Liz is the greatest, and we all hope she will stay at this studio forever,” said 20th TV president of creative affairs Jonnie Davis. “She’s a spectacular talent and an incredibly special person.”
Meriwether is repped by WME and McKuin Frankel.
