Josh Gad is returning to the small screen.
The Book of Mormon Tony nominee has landed the co-starring role opposite Billy Crystal in the FX comedy pilot The Comedians, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The single-camera entry from Fox Television Studios revolves around a superstar veteran comedian (Crystal) who is reluctantly paired with a younger, edgier comedian (Gad) for a late-night comedy sketch show. Gad's young and hip comic resents -- and rails against -- the pairing.
STORY: Billy Crystal to Star in FX Comedy Pilot From Larry Charles
Comedians hails from showrunners Larry Charles (Seinfeld), Matt Nix (Burn Notice) and Ben Wexler (Community, Arrested Development), who will serve as writers and executive producers on the project, along with Crystal and Gad. Joining them are Fabrik Entertainment's Mikkel Bondesen and Henrik Bastin with Kristen Campo as a co-executive producer. Charles is set to direct the pilot, which is based on a Swedish format of the same name from Stockholm-based Efti AB, whose Carl Molinder and John Nordling also exec produce the FX incarnation.
The casting reunites Gad with Charles, with the 1600 Penn star also nabbing the lead role as Sam Kinison in the feature film Charles is directing. He currently can be seen on the big screen as Steve Wozniak in Aaron Sorkin's Ashton Kutcher-starrer, Jobs. Gad, who starred on NBC's short-lived comedy 1600 Penn, next appears in features Wish I Was Here from Zach Braff; Best Man, Inc., opposite Kevin Hart; Thanks for Sharing, with Gwyneth Paltrow; and Frozen.
Gad is repped by ICM Partners, Brillstein Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham.
E-mail: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit
