Upfront
Central: Complete Coverage from B&C
With next
week's
broadcast network upfront
presentations just days away, it's decision-making time. NBC and Fox are
first up to present their new season lineups to advertisers, with events
scheduled for May 17 in New York. Pickup news came out of both outlets
Wednesday (May 12). ABC, which presents May 18, also had a pick-up, and
FX ordered a pilot for a new comedy.
NBC announced on Wednesday
that it green-lit the new
romantic comedy Perfect Couples for its 2010-11 season.
The show is the sixth scripted series to get an order for the new season
on
NBC. The network describes the show as depicting the misadventures
of three couples as they struggle to find out what makes the ideal
relationship. Jon Pollack (30 Rock) and Scott Silveri (Friends)
are the executive producers while Andy Ackerman (Seinfeld, The
New
Adventures of Old Christine) is the director. The series is produced
by Universal Media Studios.
Fox renewed Lie to Me and Human Target and
picked up five pilots Wednesday, according to reports, including posts
on The
Hollywood Reporter's The
Live Feed blog.
Fox declined to comment on or confirm any of the pick-up news in advance
of
their presentation Monday. The new shows reportedly getting the go-ahead
at Fox
include: Mitch Hurwitz's latest comedy Wilde Kingdom, starring
Will
Arnett as a jerk who falls in love with a nice girl; Shawn Ryan's
Chicago-set
police drama RideAlong; a drama set in the oil world industry in
Texas
that is likely to be called Midland or Lone Star; and
single-camera comedies Traffic Light and Keep Hope Alive.
ABC
ordered No Ordinary Family, about a family with new-found superpowers
starring Michael Chiklis, to series. The project, from ABC Studios, is
written and exec produced by Jon Feldman and Greg Berlanti. Morgan
Wandell and David Semel also are exec producing and Semel
directs.Continuing its push into the comedy business,
FX ordered
pilot production of the live-action comedy Wilfred, the network
announced Wednesday. It is based on the Australian series of the same
title and
was adapted for FX by David Zuckerman (Family Guy). Jason Gann,
who
co-created and starred in the Australian series, has signed to star in
the
pilot.
"Wilfred is about a guy, the girl next door, and
[a]
mixed-breed dog, Wilfred, who is part Labrador retriever and part
Russell Crowe
on a bender," said Zuckerman in a statement. He wrote the adapted pilot
script and serves as executive producer, along with exec producers Rich
Frank,
Paul Frank and Jeff Kwatinetz of Prospect Park (Royal Pains), and
Joe
Connor and Ken Conner of Renegade, producers of the Australian version
of
Wilfred. Gann will serve as co-executive producer.
