Author: Live Feed

November 22, 2016 10:47am PT by Lesley Goldberg

Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Meriwether

The single-camera comedy marks Liz Meriwether’s first project since she developed ‘New Girl.’

Fox is turning to Liz Meriwether for its next comedy.

The network announced Tuesday that it has handed out a pilot order to single-camera comedy Thin Ice from the New Girl creator.

Thin Ice centers on a woman who reclaims her dreams when she finds herself at the end of the earth — in Antarctica — surrounded by a group of brilliant misfits. Meriwether, Ed Macdonald and Mark Grimmer will co-write the comedy alongside Katherine Pope who will exec produce with the New Girl creator. Macdonald and Grimmer will co-exec produce. The comedy hails from 20th Century Fox Television, where Meriwether is under an overall deal. Production on the pilot will begin in early 2017, right when most broadcast network pilots are being picked up.

New Girl ranks as Fox’s longest-running comedy and is awaiting word on its future beyond its current sixth season.

“Fox has been and continues to be such a great home for me with New Girl. And now I’m looking forward to making a pilot about the sexiest place on earth — Antarctica. And, yes, we will be shooting on location, so I think we’re going to find a cast very soon,” Meriwether joked.

Added Fox Entertainment president David Madden: “Liz is a great friend of ours, and her take on the important genre of South Pole comedy is as brilliant, specific and hilarious as New Girl. Thin Ice takes place in a world that half-hour television has never touched, and does it with original characters, an inimitable voice and Liz-style surprising romance. It’s as fresh and distinctive as anything we’ve read this year, and we’re excited to move forward with Liz and her fantastic team of Ed, Mark and Katherine.”

This marks Fox’s first comedy pilot order for the 2017-18 broadcast season. The network previously handed out a 13-episode straight-to-series order to Seth MacFarlane comedy Orville, starring MacFarlane and Adrianne Palicki. 

Pilot Season

November 22, 2016 9:15am PT by Lesley Goldberg

Kirk McKoy

Parsons

Called ‘The Monarchy Is Going to Sh*t.’

Freeform is looking to Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons for its next comedy.

The former ABC Family is teaming with the Emmy-winning actor to develop single-camera comedy The Monarchy Is Going to Sh*t, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The comedy, developed on spec and scoring a script commitment from Freeform, centers on the Monarchy of Andova, which is thrust into disarray when the king’s newly discovered illegitimate son is named as the rightful heir to the throne, effectively seizing the title from the king’s daughter, who has prepared her entire life to become the nation’s first reigning queen.

Parsons and his husband and That’s Wonderful partner Todd Spiewak will exec produce the comedy, which will be written and co-executive produced by Amy Reed. From Warner Horizon Television, That’s Wonderful head of development Eric Norsoph will oversee the project for the company.

This marks the latest sale for Parsons’ and Spiewak’s That’s Wonderful. The WBTV-based company also has single-camera comedy Lakeside VA set up at ABC and drama The Terranauts set up at The CW. Parsons additionally is attached to exec produce CBS’ Sheldon, a potential Big Bang Theory prequel series set up at CBS. That’s Wonderful is repped by CAA; Parsons is with CAA, Principal Entertainment and Gang Tyre. Reed is with CAA and Mosaic.

TV Development Freeform

November 22, 2016 8:55am PT by Michael O’Connell

Courtesy of NBC

‘The Voice’

A steady ‘Kevin Can Wait’ tops the night’s scripted offerings.

With the approaching Thanksgiving holiday about to take a bite out of broadcast’s primetime viewership, Monday brought another win for NBC’s The Voice — albeit down a shade from last week’s outing.

The two-hour singing competition averaged a dominant 2.1 rating among adults 18-49, off two-tenths of a point in the key demo. That gave it a narrower-than-typical margin of victory over Dancing With the Stars. The ABC competition fetched a 1.8 rating in the demo, likely slightly bolstered by NFL preemptions in San Francisco. Still, its nearly 12 million viewers will leave it far and away the night’s most-watched telecast.

The two networks were far more spread out during the 10 p.m. hour, when Conviction held its 0.8 rating on ABC — and Timeless scored a 1.2 rating in the key demo on NBC. CBS drama Scorpion matched NBC in the hour, tying among adults 18-49 and easily winning overall audience with nearly 7 million viewers.

Elsewhere on CBS, comedies Kevin Can Wait (1.5 adults), Man With a Plan (1.3 adults), 2 Broke Girls (1.4 adults) and The Odd Couple (1.1 adults) all held steady with last week.

Speaking of steady, both Gotham and Lucifer saw little movement on Fox, with respective demo scores of a 1.1 and 1.0 rating among adults 18-49.

The CW also saw lifts from NFL preemption, making early scores from Supergirl and Jane the Virgin too preliminary.

TV Ratings