NBC announced several comedy pick-ups at the Television Critics Association Press Tour, likely in an attempt to rebuild the network’s once-famous comedy brand. Two of the major projects come from writers with long associations with the network.
The first is a currently untitled project that will be executive produced by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, the duo behind 30 Rock and the NBC-rejected Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. It is about a mother and daughter whose relationship is challenged when the mother gets an internship at the cable news network her daughter works at.
The project was written by Emmy winner Tracey Wigfield, another 30 Rock vet and a current writer on Hulu’s The Mindy Project.
Up next is a project from Mike Schur, who co-created NBC’s Parks and Recreation and the Universal TV production Brooklyn Nine-Nine (which airs on Fox). According to EW, this one is titled A Good Place and is about “a woman wrestling with what it means to be good,” NBC Entertainment chief Bob Greenblatt said.
NBC also announced today that it will produce two pilots from writers who won its NBC Playground. Karissa Miller has written Imaginary Friend, a project about an unmotivated woman with a unique way to get through life. Writing team Aaron Colom and Adriano Valentini created Sunset PPL, which is about a group of friends with a set of rules they hope will lead them to success.
Miller and Colom & Valentini were chosen among the 2,100 applications NBC received for the NBC Playground initiative. Eight finalists were picked and given the opportunity to pitch their ideas.
All these comedy projects are necessary if NBC hopes to rebuild its once-powerful comedy brand. After all, this fall, the network is only premiering one new sitcom - People Are Talking, which was renamed Truth Be Told and is airing on Fridays. The only other comedy appearing on NBC this fall is the returning Undateable.
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