Stephen Merchant is stayin in business with HBO.
After getting a pilot order for a new comedy in July, the Office and Extras co-creator has been given the greenlight for a full seaon of Hello Ladies.
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A HBO rep confirms to The Hollywood Reporter that the pilot, co-written with former Office writer-producers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, has received an eight-episode order from network. The series, loosely based on a 2011 standup routine, follows Merchant as an awkward, overly confident Englishman trying to date in Los Angeles -- where his attempts to infiltrate the world of beautiful people are not successful.
HBO is producing the series with ABC Studios, where Eisenberg and Stupnitsky are currently under an overall deal. All three will serve as EPs on the series.
Merchant, whose Extras aired stateside on HBO, currently has two other series on the network which he stars in and produces: The Ricky Gervais Show and Life's Too Short.
Christine Woods, Nate Torrence and Kevin Weisman co-star in the Hello Ladies pilot.
Merchant is repped by WME and United Agents in the UK, with Eisenberg and Stupnitsky at WME and Mosaic.
