Tracy Morgan is moving from FX to TBS.
Turner-owned TBS has handed out a straight-to-series order for an untitled comedy starring the 30 Rock grad, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Previously developed at FX, which ordered a pilot and ultimately passed on the project after reviewing the first script and before it was produced, the single-camera comedy created by Jordan Peele and John Carcieri became the subject of a multiple-network bidding war with TBS edging out Comedy Central for the series. Peele and Carcieri (Vice Principals) will rewrite the script. TBS has ordered 10 episodes of the untitled show, which it says will capture Morgan’s stand-up persona while also serving as a commentary on race relations, the Gen X/Millennial gap and the American penal system.
Here’s the new logline: After being released on good behavior from a 15-year prison stint, Tracy is shocked to see just how much the world has changed in his absence. Returning to his newly gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood, Tracy discovers that his former girlfriend has married an affable, successful white man, who is helping raise his twin sons that he never knew existed. Wanting nothing more than to connect with his kids, but having neither the money to support them nor himself, Tracy falls back on the skills he learned in prison to make ends meet while treading on unfamiliar territory.
Ordered to pilot in January, the FX version was to be produced by FX Productions and start production in the summer. The new series will be produced in-house at Turner’s Studio T, with Peele, Carcieri, Morgan as well as Principato Young Joel Zadak and Eric and Kim Tannenbaum on board as executive producers.
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“Tracy and Jordan are two of today’s most sought-after and authentically funny comedians, and this show captures all the hilarity you would expect from this brilliant duo,” TBS exec vp programming Brett Weitz said Monday in a statement. “TBS is becoming a home for the most creative and diverse comedy creators in the business, and Tracy and Jordan are a perfect fit for this network.”
The Morgan comedy joins a roster of originals at TBS including Angie Tribeca, The Detour, Wrecked, People of Earth, Search Party and The Guest Book as the cabler continues to look for edgier comedies and cut through under network topper Kevin Reilly.
The comedy marks Morgan’s re-emergence following the devastating 2014 crash that left the comedian in a coma with several broken bones. Before the 2014 crash, which claimed the life of Morgan’s longtime friend, comedian James “Jimmy Mack” McNair, Morgan was readying another FX Networks vehicle that was ultimately scrapped.
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Morgan made his first public appearance in a 2015 interview with Today‘s Matt Lauer, and then surprised Hollywood with an emotional return to the Emmy stage to present the final award of the night. Weeks later, he followed that with a turn hosting Saturday Night Live, the series that birthed his TV career. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in September, Morgan suggested getting back to comedy was of utmost importance to him. Between tears, he insisted it was “going to take more than 18 wheels,” adding, “It’s going to take more than that to stop me from making you all laugh. I’m going to do that until I die.”
Morgan is repped by CAA and Hansen Jacobson. The Tannenbaum Co. is with CAA and Del Shaw. Peele is handled by CAA, Principato-Young and Morris Yorn.
