Fox is bulking up its John Mulaney comedy.
The network has ordered an additional 10 episodes for the comedy starring the Saturday Night Live writer/comedian, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
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The Universal Television vehicle hails from Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video and 3 Arts. Stand-up comedian Mulaney created, writes and stars in the multicamera comedy that is based loosely on his life. The comedy, developed last season at NBC, is based on Mulaney's life and follows an aspiring comedian coming of age under the influence of his boss (Martin Short), his roommates and his neighbors. Michaels, David Miner, Dave Becky, Jon Pollack, Andrew Singer and Andy Ackerman executive produce, with the latter directing the pilot.
Fox initially picked up the series with a six-episode commitment in October. SNL's Nasim Pedrad, Elliott Gould, Seaton Smith and Zack Pearlman co-star.
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The early back-episode pickup comes after Fox declared the traditional pilot season dead. Instead, the network has handed out several straight-to-series pickups with series prototypes and additional scripts and series bibles in a bid to schedule year-round and get a jump on the pricey development season that sees about 100 pilots competing for talent all at the same time.
It's unclear if SNL cast member Pedrad will now be able to do both the live sketch series and Mulaney, which will film in Los Angeles. NBC did not immediately respond to THR's request for comment. When she signed on, Pedrad -- SNL's longest-running tenured female cast member -- was said to be able to maintain her presence on the sketch Michaels-produced series as the production schedules for both series were said not to overlap. It's unclear if that will change with the back-10 order.
Mulaney joins a roster of new comedies that also includes Last Man on Earth and Weird Loners.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
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