Nellie Andreeva

Comedy Central is betting mostly on up-and-coming comedic talent and alternative voices with its 2010-2011 development slate, which features nine pilot/presentation orders and a dozen more projects in development. The projects, which range from an animated show about modern-day Jesus to sketch/variety to scripted narrative, are toplined by Jon Benjamin, Patrice Oneal, Nick Kroll, Jon Daly, Brian Posehn, Slovin And Allen, Reggie Watts, Whitney Cummings, Jim Jefferies as well as Broken Lizard and veterans Kevin Hart and Bill Burr.

“It’s really about trying to find material that we think is funny and has a strong point of view,” said Comedy Central’s head of original programming Kent Alterman, who joined the network in January “The strongest comedy is unfiltered and comes from place of brutal honesty.” Alterman said Comedy Central’s slate is a mix of projects he put in development and projects he inherited from his predecessor, Lauren Corrao. “I’m planning to take credit for them if they work and distance myself if they don’t work,” he quipped. As for Conan O’Brien’s pending move to basic cable with a late night show on rival TBS, “I think the world of Conan and I think he will be unleashed, targeting new things, which is great for cable television.”

Comedy Central also has set summer and fall premiere dates for 601-Crew-Skeletonspreviously announced new series; Futurama (June 24), Big Lake (August), Nick Swardson’s Pretend Time (October), The Onion Sports Network (January 2011), Workaholics (February 2011) and Russell Simmons Presents: Stand-Up at the El Rey (July 11).

Pilot/presentation orders:

Highdeas Comedy reality show based on the Web site  highdeas.com. Executive produced by Michael Davies’ Embassy Row.

Jon Benjamin Has a Van Newsmagazine style sketch show starring Jon Benjamin as an investigative reported doing human interest stories. Executive produced by Benjamin, Andrew Steele and Funny or Die.

Live Sex Show Live late-night interactive panel talk show hosted by Bert Kreischer and Maxim model Layla that takes a comedic look at all things sex. Executive produced by Jesse Ignatovic  and written by Mat Harawitz

Patrice Oneal’s Guide to White People Comedian Patrice Oneal’s take on race relations  in a classroom setting and on the street. Executive produced by Michael Hirschorn and Gideon Evans

Rich Dicks Based on the popular Funny or Die web short. Nick Kroll and Jon Daly  star as two obnoxious rich dicks who party it up in Los Angeles with the help of their nanny Consuela, creating a mess in their wake.  Directed by Jon Krisel  and executive produced by Krisel, Kroll and Daly.

Steel Panther Loosely scripted docu-reality show that follows the outrageous and popular ’80′s style hairband. Created by Brian Posehn, Jeff Tremaine and Shane Nickerson.

This Show Will Get You High Sketch show of video shorts featuring performers from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. Written by UCB co-founder Matt Besser and Eric Zicklin

Untitled Andre Hyland Project Mockumentary-style sketch show featuring the characters of Andre Hyland and the animations of Mike Mayfield.  Executive  produced by Bob Odenkirk

Untitled Bill Burr/Kevin Hart Pilot Half-hour scripted series starring real-life friends Burr and Hart as a modern-day take on
“The Odd Couple.”  Executive produced by Bruce McCulloch and
3Arts.

Scripted projects is development:

A**Holes Half-hour comedy  that tells the story of the two biggest assholes in the entire world, two twenty-something roommates spend their days scamming on girls, bilking Alzheimer’s patients out of money, and generally being the opposite of model citizens. Written by Steve Koren and Nick Malis.

The Fuzz Police procedural show set in a corrupt city where humans and puppets co-exist. Written by Waverly Films (Chris Ford, Duncan Skiles and Jon Watts) and executive produced by Dave Becky, Tom Lasally, and Greg Walter, the series has also been greenlit for five Webisodes to air on Comedy Central’s sister network, Atom.com, later this year.

Intercourse with Whitney Cummings Half-hour scripted narrative comedy that follows Cumming’s adventures in dating and sex.  Based on Cummings’ stand-up.

JC Half-hour animated show about JC (Jesus Christ) wanting to escape his father’s enormous shadow and to live life in NYC as a regular guy. Executive produced by Reveille, Henrik Basin, Brian Boyle, Jonathan Sjoberg and Andreas Ohman.

The Jim Jeffries Show Half-hour narrative about Australian stand up comedian Jim Jeffries’s new life in the US Executive produced by Jeffries, Chris Case, Mindy Schulteis and Michael Hanel.

Joe Squad Animated action-comedy about the Joe Squad, the most elite fighting squad hell-bent on saving the world. From writer Blake McCormick and executive producer Marty Adelstein.

Mars Officecomedy set on a space station from Eric Slovin and Leo Allen.

Midnight Drop Box Stoner-horror anthology from writer Rob Schrab and executive producer Erin O’Malley.

Nocturnal Mission Live-action show starring Chris D’Elia and Moshe Kasher as guys trying to save Earth. From veteran comedy writer Les Firestein and 3 Arts.

Supermax Animated series set at a maximum security prison in Colorado. From writer Lew Morton.

Untitled Broken Lizard Minor League Umpires Project A series about four minor-league umpires from the minds of Broken Lizard.  Written by Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Erik Stolhankse, Paul Soter and executive produced by 3Arts.

Untitled Reggie Watts Project: Stars usician/comedian Reggie Watts, currently opening for Conan O’Brien on his nationwide tour.  Executive produced by James Biederman

Waiting… Based on the popular movie of the same name.  Written by the film’s Rob McKittrick  and executive produced by McKittrick, Thomas Augsberger and Jeff Balis.

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.