ABC has picked up seven comedy pilots, including an untitled Johnny Knoxville project.
Hailing from ABC Studios, the family comedy based on Knoxville’s life will follow a 12-year-old Johnny in his hometown of Knoxville, Tenn.; The series, which Knoxville will narrate, will expose the childhood experiences that inspired him to become the prankster that he is today. Knoxville will also exec produce with Michael Rotenberg and Dave Becky of 3 Arts. Comedy vet Victor Fresco wrote the pilot and is exec producing.
The net also ordered a pilot for multicamera comedy “Delores & Jermaine,” based on the life of comedian Jermaine Fowler. Fowler stars as a millennial who moves in with his strict estranged grandmother, a football-loving former cop who needs Jermaine’s youthful enthusiasm just as much as he needs her parenting. Rotenberg (3 Arts) will also produce this laffer through ABC Studios, along with Fowler, Danny Chun and Avi Gilbert. Fowler and Chun wrote the pilot.
Also from ABC Studios is an untitled NBA project, a buddy comedy set in the basketball world following a non-English speaking rookie and a non-basketball speaking translator. Written by David Windsor and Casey Johnson, the series will be exec produced by Dan Fogelman of Rhode Island Ave. Prods. along with Mike Tollin, Peter Gruber of Mandalay Sports Media and Aaron Kaplan of Kapital Entertainment. The NBA is also officially attached.
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“The King of 7B,” an ensemble comedy also hailing from ABC Studios, follows an agoraphobic recluse, Prentiss Porter, who ventures outside for the first time in 20 years, only to find his potential soulmate moving into the building across the street. Written by Howard Franklin, this comedy will be produced by Fogelman (Rhode Island Ave. Productions) as well.
“The 46 Percenters,” an “anti-romantic” rom-com about the 46% of the population who choose to stay married is told through the perspectives of three different couples. Sherry Bilsing-Graham and Ellen Kreamer wrote and will exec produce for Warner Bros. TV.
From 20th Century Fox TV comes an untitled Judah Miller project that will be written and exec produced by Miller. The single-cam series will center on a couple who’s forced outside their comfort zone into the world of youth sports when they realize their son is a natural-born competitive athlete. Tom Lassally and Jonathan Berry of 3 Arts will exec produce with Miller.
“The Brainy Bunch,” also from 20th Century Fox TV and Imagine TV, is a single-cam comedy about couple Kip and Mona Lisa Mitchell, who find themselves raising extremely intelligent children thanks to genetics and dynamic home schooling. However, when Kip returns home from the military to be a stay-at-home dad, he experiences the parenting challenges of fathering a socially limited genius. The project is inspired by Kip and Mona Lisa Harding’s book of the same name. Wendy and Lizzie Molyneux wrote the pilot and exec produce with Imagine’s Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo.
