Category: TV Writing Deals

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 10/15/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

  • Diablo Cody (UNITED STATES OF TERRA) is writing a Fox teen drama pilot called PRODIGY, about a home-schooled teenage genius who enters public high school, upon which, well, all hell breaks loose. (We aren’t Diablo Cody fans, but she does seem to know how to write high school kids – JUNO, remember – so here’s hoping.)
  • Shana Goldberg-Meehan & Scott Silvari (FRIENDS) & David Mandel (SEINFELD) are writing an NBC comedy pilot about a couple with grown children. (Yeppers, really, that’s the logline. So the next time somebody tells you TV only goes for “high concept” you can tell them to…heh, you know.)
  • Justin Spitzer (THE OFFICE) is adapting the ancient comedy film THE MONEY PIT into an NBC sitcom. (Proving that NBC has deftly targeted the geriatric demo. This definitely will give my grandparents something to live for.)
  • Jon Sherman (FRASIER) is writing an untitled TVLand comedy about “a 30-something woman as she navigates the executive ranks among her old-school male counterparts while her 20-something male assistant tries to make it amid his female-dominated peers. (Cuz…oops, sorry, turns out we can’t think of one single reason, real/fake/serious/funny for going with a premise like this. Maybe Jon’s related to somebody important?)

  • Neil Goldman & Garrett Donovan (COMMUNITY) are writing the pilot for an ABC project to star comedian Kevin Hart. (Well, not actually to star him. He’s just the producer but says that if the network really, really, really wants him he might be willing to play a recurring role. Don’tcha love it when stars you’ve never heard of have so much leverage?)

  • Ehren Kruger (TRANSFORMERS) is writing the NBC pilot TIN MAN, about a fugitive robot accused of murder and the young woman public defender forced to fight for his cause. (LB’s praying for the success of this one cuz he’s already counting the money from a plagiarism suit based on the fact that one of his first published short stories was about a robot accused of murder too. We, frankly, are dubious about both possibilities.)

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 10/14/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

  • Aaron Stockard (GONE, BABY, GONE) is writing the ABC drama pilot CONVICTION, about a woman convicted of murder who, it appears, refuses to accept that and, um, “sees no alternative but to take matters into her own hands.” (And if that slim description doesn’t capture the tone of the U.S. today – for better or for worse – we don’t know what does.)
  • Paul Downs Colaizzo (TV/film newbie) is writing the drama pilot JUST REWARDS, about a bankrupt divorcee and her millennial neighbors who make ends meet by solving crimes and collecting the rewards, for ABC. (Sounds cool, but we gotta warn you: It comes from Shonda Rimes’ company, which could mean – soap! So we suggest lowering the ole expectations a tad.)
  • Roman Coppola (THE DARJEELING LIMITED) & Jason Schwartzman (MOONRISE KINGDOM) & Alex Timbers (PETER AND THE STARCATCHER) have sold the comedy MOZART IN THE JUNGLE to Amazon Studios. (Is this a good thing or a bad one? Discuss.)
  • Jeremy Garelick (THE BREAKUP) & Jon Weinbach (sorry, we don’t know which of the many famous Jon Weinbachs this is) have also sold a comedy to Amazon, the not-so-originally titled, THE OUTLAWS. (Good thing? Bad? We really want to hear from you on where you think Amazon will take, you know, TV.)

  • Brad Garrett (yeppers, that Brad Garrett) & Chuck Tatham (ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT) are adapting Brad’s upcoming bestseller, When The Balls Drop into an ABC comedy series about surviving middle age. (It would’ve been about surviving old age, of course, but Brad’s still insisting he’s 35.)

  • Brian Bradley & Steven Cragg (HAPPY ENDINGS) are writing the pilot for WINNERS, a comedy about three “overly ambitious” siblings who crater their lives, for Fox. (We’d like to point out that the announcement emphasizes that the sibs are “millennials” – as does the JUST REWARDS announcement above – cuz, hey, being under 30 is, you know, hot. Um, we millennials are under 30 still, right? Please?)
  • The self-same duo of Bradley & Cragg is also writing an NBC comedy. It’s called THE BRIGHT SIDE is about a man whose wife leaves him with their young son and a business that was her dream, not his. (So the lead here definitely isn’t a millennial cuz everybody knows that our generation’s distinctive trait is our utter selfishness and sense of entitlement, and the guy here is sorely lacking. C’mon, NBC, give us a hero we can all related to, willya?)

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 10/11/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

  • Richard Kramer (THIRTYSOMETHING) is writing the pilot for THESE THINGS HAPPEN, based on his comic novel of the same name, for HBO. (We’d tell you more, but the description we saw was so convoluted that we couldn’t make heads r tails of it. Which probably says enough all by itself.)
  • Dan Fogelman (THE NEIGHBORS) is developing ABC’s musical comedy series GALAVANT. (Which is basically INTO THE WOODS without being INTO THE WOODS. Oh, ABC, you’re so darn clever that way!)
  • Will Forte (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE) is writing a Fox comedy pilot about the last couple left on earth having to learn to put aside their differences and, you know, repopulate the place. (Cuz the survival of the human race has become quite a joke, right? Who’d a thunk?)
  • Josh Siegal & Dylan Morgan (30 ROCK) are developing an untitled CBS comedy about a dysfunctional investigative team. (And we double dog dares ya to come up with how in hell it’ll be different from all the CBS dramas about the same thing.)

  • Michael Lisbe & Nate Reger ($#*! MY DAD SAYS) have sold an untitled spec comedy-mystery pilot about five, um, young people to CBS. (Which is bigger news than you might think at first cuz “young people?” At CBS?)

  • Time for one more comedy. Pete Huyck & Alex Gregory (THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW) are developing THE PRO, about a former tennis great now reduced to teaching and hustling as a tennis and golf club pro. (Rob Lowe is attached to star which means, hey, we believe in this premise cuz we definitely believe him as anything that, you know, hustles.)

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 10/9/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

  • Reed Agnew & Eli Jorne (WILFRED) are writing MAN/CHILD, a comedy about two single dads trying to balance their lives, for Fox. (It’s a Damon Wayans, Jr. vehicle, so who knows? It might turn out really good.
  • Pending a last-minute disaster in the deal, Carlton Cuse (BATES MOTEL) will be adapting the French zombie drama, THE RETURNED for A&E. (Whoa, two in a row that we find ourselves looking forward to. We must be in way too good a mood.)
  • Blake McCormick (COUGAR TOWN) is also writing the pilot for CHASING SKIPS, an “adventure comedy,” for Fox. Oops, there goes our good mood. Another series about bounty hunters? We can hardly wait…to stop yawning.)
  • Don Todd (SAMANTHA WHO?) writing the pilot for the ABC drama, BEVERLY KILLS, about – wait for it – a hit woman who tries to clean up the corruption et al in Beverly Hills. (And, yeppers, we find this a very attractive idea cuz we aint’ never seen an unattractive hit woman on TV yet. Starting to feel a little better about TV life again.)
  • Chris Romano (BLUE MOUNTAIN STATE) has sold TORCHED, a comedy project, to Fox. (With Johnny Depp as one of the producers. We love Depp’s overall creative sensibility although not his recent specific choices. But, now that we’re being all positive again, we’re allowing ourselves to have high hopes for this one.)
  • Matthew Sand (NINJA ASSASSIN) is writing the pilot for CLANDESTINE, a female CIA agent series,  for ABC. (The good news is female CIA agent series, a concept right up there with hit women. The bad news is that does a network that has MARVEL’S AGENTS OF SHIELD have room for another kickass lady spy. You’re watching Ming Na on SHIELD, right? Of course you are.)
  • Rina Mimoun (DAWSON’S CREEK) is writing the ABC pilot, SISTERLAND, based on Curtis Sittenfeld‘s novel about twin sister with psychic powers. (Hey, it’s better than twin sister bounty hunters, no? Way better. Look, Ma, we’re beaming!)

Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 10/8/13

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are

  • Scott Prendergast (WILFRED) is writing a comedy about two brothers who’ve grown up hating each other for ABC. (Where, from what we hear, hating on others is quite well understood. Ooh…did we really say that?)
  • Jordan Young & Elijah Aron (IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA) are writing a comedy pilot for Fox about a romantic guy trying to rise to the challenge after falling in love with a “super cynical woman.” (Oh, hey, this one’s said to be autobiographical. We’ll root for it cuz we kinda know Jordan and Elijah, and we’re major fans of  fun TMI.)
  • Tim McAuliffe (BAD TEACHER) is also writing a Fox comedy pilot. And this one’s based on his experiences with three roommates. (One of whom is – gasp! – a babe. Yes, kids, that’s what passes for “interesting” in most writers’ lives.)
  • Albert Kim (NIKITA) writing an untitled drama about a woman imprisoned for – gasp! – a double murder she didn’t commit who earns her law degree while behind bars, proves herself innocent, and joins a high-powered law firm “that she believes is at the center of the conspiracy that framed her.” And that’s just backstory! (No word on how she gets sprung without being able to pinpoint the conspirators, or how she gets a license to practice or…so maybe there’re be something to watch after all.)

  • David Goyer (BATMAN et al) & Daniel Cerone (THE MENTALIST) are writing the pilot for NBC’s CONSTANTINE, another DC Comics hero joining the herd that’s currently invading TV. (The good news, as far as we’re concerned, is that the comic book CONSTANTINE is, well, one of our personal faves. So here’s hoping…)

  • Wendy & Lizzie Molyneux (BOB’S BURGERS) are writing WORKS WITH JERKS, a comedy pilot for ABC. (And we admit it. With a title like that, we’ll definitely watch cuz who knows, maybe we’ll see some of our friends?)