'Square Roots' as well as 'Chunk & Bean' mark the network's fifth and sixth comedy pilots this season — all of them family fare.
ABC continues to make family comedy a high priority this pilot season.
The network has handed out pilot pickups to Square Roots as well as Chunk & Bean, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Vijal Patel's (The Middle, Black-ish) semiautobiographical Square Roots centers on a man from a family of logic-driven engineers who is determined to use his "gift" to help the people he loves with their everyday issues…whether or not they like it. Patel will pen the script for the single-camera comedy and exec produce for ABC Studios, where he is under an overall deal.
Chunk & Bean, meanwhile, is inspired by writers Ed Herro's and Brian Donovan's awkward childhoods. The dual-family single-camera comedy centers on the unlikely friendship of two misfits, Chunk and Bean, who benefit from having two very different sets of parents living next door to each other. Dave Hemingson (Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23) will exec produce alongside writing partners Herro and Donovan. The comedy hails from ABC Studios, where Hemingson is based.
Square Roots as well as Chunk & Bean come as ABC continues to be committed to exploring new and underrepresented families on the small screen. All four of the network's previously announced pilot orders are in the family vein and explore topics including a woman looking for love and her talking dog who narrates; a mother with cancer who plots her family's life before she dies; a family with a special-needs child; and high-concept CGI/live-action family entry from The Goldbergs boss Adam F. Goldberg.
The network has found success with its Wednesday comedy block that includes Modern Family, The Goldberg, The Middle and Black-ish.
The orders join ABC's nine other pilot orders, which include four comedies (Downward Dog, Pearl, Speechless, untitled Goldberg/Guaracio) and five dramas (Designated Survivor, The Jury, Marvel's Most Wanted, Presence, Still Star-Crossed).
Keep up with all the latest pilot news with THR's handy guide to pilot season.
Pilot Season ABC
