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Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
- Lauren Iungerich (AWKWARD) has sold DAMAGED GOODS, a sitcom about “sexual politics,” to ABC. (Ah, sexual politics. The buzz phrase of 2013. Who cares if nobody knows what it means? )
- Mike O’Malley (SHAMELESS) is writing the pilot for Starz’ SURVIVOR’S REMORSE, a sitcom about sports stars and how they adjust to no longer living in, you know, a bad neighborhood. (It stars NBA all-star LeBron James, who should know…but how do you make this funny yet grounded in the real world at the same time?)
- Jessica Sharzer (AMERICAN HORROR STORY) has the pilot for ABC’s NO WAY BACK, based on the bestselling novel by Andrew Gross. (The book is all about a “web of treachery,” so television definitely should get at least that part right.)
- Sam Shaw (MASTERS OF SEX) is developing a WGN America drama series called MANHATTAN, about that thing they did in New Mexico that created the atom bomb. (So if you’re hoping for an adaptation of the old Woody Allen film – sorry.)
- Todd Jones & Earl Richey Jones (JOHNSON FAMILY VACATION) are writing an untitled Fox sitcom about Judge Greg Mathis. (Cuz His Honor’s already famous, don’tchaknow, thanks to his own syndicated series, and since audiences are addicted to fame, well, everybody’s gonna watch, right?)
- Michael Schur (PARKS & RECREATION) has extended his Universal Television deal through 2016. (And inasmuch as we lurves P&R we’re, um, thrilled not only for him but for ourselves as viewers.)
Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
- Justin Spitzer (THE OFFICE) is writing an NBC pilot for a sitcom about events at a Detroit auto company. (Detroit? The American car biz? Funny? If Justin can pull off he’ll prove what a genius he is!)
- Jonathan Nolan (PERSON OF INTEREST) is set to adapt Michael Crichton‘s old film WESTWORLD into a series for HBO. (No Yul Brynner scary robot gunslinger stuff here. We hear that the show will dig into what already is PERSON OF INTEREST territory – the beginning of consciousness for artificial intelligence. One trick pony time? We hope not.)
- Brian Gallivan (THE McCARTHYS) is writing an unnamed sitcom about a guy who takes a long vacation with his family in New Hampshire…(Eh? What? Sorry, we fell asleep just typing that. Sheesh.)
- Brandon Schwartz (newbie) has written the pilot for an untitled Fox sitcom. (Although Brandon has written a couple of scripts at Nickelodeon, this is his first official network sale. Kudos, dude!)
- Chris Black has the gig to redevelop SAGA an ABC drama pilot written by Andrew Miller that the network rejected last year. (These are always tough jobs cuz everybody’s expecting the new writer to “save” a project that didn’t come from that writer’s gut.) Good luck, dood.)
Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
- Cody Heller & Brett Konner (WILFRED) have a 10 episode commitment from Hulu for their new series DEADBEAT, a sitcom they created about a medium who helps ghosts finish their unfinished business. (We’ll give this one a try cuz we can’t help it – we’re crazy about ghosts and those they hang with.)
- Breckin Meyer (MEN AT WORK ) is co-writing a sitcom pilot called THURSDAYS with Jesse Stern (NCIS) for NBC. (What we find interesting about this deal is that not only is Breckin known primarily as an actor (FRANKLIN & BASH) as well as the creator of MEN AT WORK, but Jesse is primarily a procedural writer getting a chance to do comedy. Are genre walls finally starting to tumble?)
- John Wells & Jack Orman (ER) are developing OUTBREAK, based on the 1995 film, for NBC. (And they already have a pilot production commitment cuz, well, ER, you know?)
- Brian Koppelman & David Levien (OCEAN’S THIRTEEN) have been set as showrunners of an untitled “rock’n’roll drama” series at HBO created by Martin Scorsese, Mick Jagger, and Terence Winter. (But there’s absolutely no certainty that the series will get picked up, so what are Brian and David really signing on for?
- John Scott Shepherd (SAVE ME) has sold BROKEN GIRL, a series about “an emotionally damaged” female superhero, to Fox. (Cuz Fox executives love them those hot babes in spandex, no? At least, we hope that isn’t the reason.)
- Shepard Boucher (MEN AT WORK) has written the ABC Family pilot MYSTERY GIRLS a drama about stars of a TV mystery show who also solve real crimes. (Let’s see now. TV’s been in homes since about 1948, right? So that means that some version or other of this concept has been worked on in every development season for 65 years. And still hasn’t succeeded. Hmm…)
- Grant Levy & Dominik Rothbard (BUNHEADS) have written a sitcom pilot, also for ABC family, about a young woman who hires her mother to be her assistant. (That sound you just heard was our super long yawn. Or, to put it another way: Somebody thinks that’s interesting? WTF?)
- Also on ABC Fam, David Holden (ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE) has written the pilot for YOUNG & HUNGRY, a comedy about a tech entrepreneur who hires a “feisty young woman” blogger as his personal chef. (Completing ABC Family’s Trifecta of Meh very nicely, we think.)
- Chris Carter (um, a little thing called THE X-FILES) is writing an After the Apocalypse pilot for a show called, not surprisingly, THE AFTER for…Amazon? (Okay, that part is surprising. Has Chris’s career been so deeply down the toilet that this is the only place he can go to get flush again?)
- Adam Fierro (JUSTIFIED) is writing the Fox pilot GRINGO about an American cop who gets caught up in a Mexican drug war when he moves to Mexico with his Mexican wife. (Okay, this one definitely reminds us of various arcs on NCIS. But at least it isn’t for ABC Family.)
Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
- Jana Sinyor (BEING ERICA) & Aaron Martin (THE BEST YEARS) are writing a CBS pilot for a rebooted LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE. (Don’t worry, funny love fans, the only thing related to the original series is the title. This one’s just another sitcom about 4 hopefully adorable couples. Yi-yi-yi-!)
- John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein (BOSSES) are writing PUNCHING OUT, a sitcom for CBS about a couple of guys who hate their jobs and to do what they always loved best: working at a mall. (Nothing to see here, folks. Click on, click on.)
- Jay Baruchel & Jesse Chabot (KATH & KIM) are developing an ABC comedy about an actor who moves back east so he can stay real in a house down the street from his mother. (We’re not going to mock this one because we don’t want to hurt the writers’ feelings. See, this is supposed to be “autobiographical.” And of course we believe that. For sure.)
- Call your agents cuz Lionsgate needs a writer for a drama series to be called SEX, LIES AND HANDWRITING. Have your people get in touch with Lionsgate and its German partner, Tandem Communications. (Good luck! Let us know if you get it.)
- Terry Matalas & Travis Fickett (TERRA NOVA) have sold a pilot based on the cult classic s-f film 12 MONKEYS to Syfy. (And we all know what that means: Has anything on Syfy ever become any kind of classic? Oh, wait, we loved EUREKA once upon a time, and LB’s wife was a big STARGATE: SG-1 fan so maybe this has a chance at actually being good after all. Stay tuned, genre fanboys and girls.)