Ever since the name change, Freeform has been trying to make itself known to those who aren't in the 15 to 25 year old white girl demographic. They snatched up a late night show, are adding new comedy shows, and now they have a series from Veep's Jon H. Ryan -- Timothy Simons. He wrote the script with Blacklist writers Derek Elliott and Jack Donaldson. Deadline reports the show is titled Bad Dates and will feature reenactments of real life bad dates. From the description, it sounds like 1000 Ways to Die but for dating. Freeform can add as many new shows as it likes; it'll always be known as "the network that is stuck playing The 700 Club forever."
Aubrey Plaza will be spending 'Nightmare Time' on a TBS pilot
Aubrey Plaza is one of the funniest people in comedy right now. She's not afraid to cross the line; hell, she sends it to Mars. Now, she'll maybe be doing it for 22 minutes at a time on TBS. Well, she's at least producing those 22 minutes. Deadline reports that the actress is creating a pilot for the network called Nightmare Time. Celebrity guests will take part in Aubrey Plaza's Nightmare Clinic in which their worst dreams are exposed. The show is written by Plaza, Darcy Fowler, Kieran Valla, and Seth Kirschner and will reportedly be an anthology series featuring two nightmares per episode.
Mindy Kaling gets a put pilot on NBC about gym brothers where one of them is hot af
Look who can't stay away from broadcast TV! Mindy Kaling returns to her NBC roots with a show co-created/co-written in conjunction with Charlie Grandy. The show, yet to be titled, is about an unenthused gym owner and his super hot brother whose lives of sexual promiscuity are put on hold when they have to take in the older brother's son. Deadline says the show comes from a deal that Kaling struck with Universal TV earlier this summer. And of course she rubs it in the face of Fox -- the same network that canceled the now Hulu favorite and recently syndicated Mindy Project.
‘Peep Show’ is coming to America
The US television market can’t stop taking shows from across the seas and remaking them. The latest show to join the Americanized trend is Peep Show, a comedy that takes the POV of one of the two main characters. It ran for nine seasons. Now, the Hollywood Reporter has learned that deep pay cable channel Starz is preparing an American version. The original series creators Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong will be a part of the new show as consulting producers. Blunt Talk and Wilfred writer Eli Jorne will pen the pilot as well as showrun and executive produce. All episodes of the original series can be streamed on Hulu.
The Lonely Island’s pilot ‘Alone Together’ gets a greenlight
Those Lonely Island boys sure are enjoying comedic success in their post-SNL lives. Sure, it’s not complete monetary success but it’s success none the less. And today it has been announced that Freeform has officially greenlit the Lonely Island produced pilot Alone Together. Deadline reports that the Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer produced series will star and be written by Esther Povitsky, (Lady Dynamite, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) and Benji Aflalo (Not Safe with Nikki Glaser). For those not in the know, Alone Together is about two millinneal outsiders try to navigate the strange waters of LA. There’s also a heavy emphasis on the two being opposite genders. And with this being on Freeform (RIP ABC Family), you know an annoying love storyline is coming up.