ABC ordering two projects by ‘Friends’ co-creator Marta Kauffman

ABC will soon order two television projects by Marta Kauffman, who co-created the hit sitcom Friends.

First up is Red Band Society, which will be produced by DreamWorks TV and is a unique hospital drama that focuses on the patients rather than the doctors like most traditional medical shows. According to Deadline, it is based on a Spanish program called Polseres Vermelles. Kauffman will write the show and act as the show runner.

The second project is Avalon, a musical drama set in a restaurant. Kauffman will be a writer on the show, working with Gossip Girls’s Jessica Queller. ABC Studios and Electus will produce the show, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Like Red Band Society, it too is based on a foreign program. Avalon is based on the Asian show The Kitchen Musical. It sounds like ABC is hoping that the series will be as successful as Glee has been for Fox.

Kauffman recently worked for Lifetime on Five. Both of these projects are her first work outside of Warner Bros. TV in close to 20 years.

According to Deadline’s sources, ABC has agreed to a seven-figure deal with Kauffman, which means that it is likely that both shows will receive pilot orders.