On Sunday, during its Television Critics Association press tour panel, NBC gave a much-needed update on its plans to bring comedy legend Bill Cosby back to the small screen. NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke revealed that actor Mike O’Malley is heavily involved with the project and will even be credited as co-creator.
The show, which is still untitled could start as early as next summer, or NBC could wait for a traditional fall launch in 2015. Entertainment Weekly reports that Salke described it as essentially a typical family sitcom, with Cosby as the patriarch dealing with multiple generations. He’ll have three daughters with husbands and grandchildren.
“It’s just a classic family sitcom,” Salke said.
As for the show’s staff, Deadline reports that O’Malley created the show with Mike Sikowitz and Sony TV is producing. O’Malley could also take one of the lead roles, such as the husband of one of Cosby’s daughters.
The new Cosby show will be multi-camera, as the network tries desperately to gain a foothold in the format. Of course, last year’s Sean Saves The World with Sean Hayes was a flop, but that’s not stopping NBC.
Cosby going back to NBC is also the continuation of last season’s theme. Hayes and Michael J. Fox also returned to the peacock network, but their shows failed.
NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt said that he thought Fox alone would be able to get people to watch The Michael J. Fox Show, but they didn’t tune in. Hopefully, things will end differently for Cosby.
Plans for a Cosby comedy were first announced in January.
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