Billy Crystal is set to star in a new pilot titled The Comedians, which received a series order from FX.
Crystal will star, co-wrote and co-executive produce the project. Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Larry Charles executive produce and co-write, notes Deadline. The rest of the writing and executive producing team includes Burn Notice’s Matt Nix and Community’s Ben Wexler.
The plot has Crystal as an older, experienced comedian working with a popular young comic to create a late-night sketch show. It’s based on Felix Herngren and Johan Ulveson’s Swedish series Ulveson and Herngren.
According to The Wrap, Charles is directing the pilot.
“It truly is an honor to be in business with Billy Crystal and Larry Charles, two of the all-time greats in comedy,” FX Networks president John Landgraf said in a statement. “We have also wanted for some time to be in business with Matt Nix, who has done such an amazing job creating and running Burn Notice. They, along with Ben Wexler, are an unbeatable team and we’re incredibly excited about this project.”
Fox Television Studios will produce and the half-hour comedy is set for production in the summer.
Crystal recently announced that he is reviving his one-man show 700 Sundays on Broadway in November. His voice is also featured in Pixar’s Monsters University.
image: Wikimedia Commons/David Shankbone
