Nellie Andreeva

TBS continues its shift to hourlong comedies with the pickup of 2 more one-hour pilots: Hound Dogs and The Wedding Band. Hound Dogs, from feature writer/ director Ron Shelton (Bull Durham) and Sony Pictures TV, draws from his experience as a baseball player and is set in the world of minor league baseball. It centers on a minor league team and its general manager as they try to handle life’s ups and downs, both in and out of the locker room. In addition to writing, Shelton serves as executive producer with Michele Weisler, Andrea Buchanan and Todd DeLorenzo. The Wedding Band, from writers-executive producers Josh Lobis and Darin Moiselle (South Park), FremantleMedia and Mike Tollin’s Tollin Prods., follows a group of guys anchored by 2 lifelong best friends – a perennial bachelor and a married father of two – who try to escape the stress and craziness of their lives by performing in a wedding band.  “Ron Shelton is one of America’s favorite storytellers, and Hound Dogs is another wry, sharp look at one of America’s favorite pastimes from a master of the genre,” TNT and TBS’ head of programmig Michael Wright said. “The Wedding Band mines great humor from its four very likable, and occasionally reckless, young men who have figured out that weddings are often the wildest parties in town. Both pilots affirm TBS’ enthusiasm for irreverent, smart comedy and the storytelling advantages of the one-hour form.” Hound Dogs and The Wedding Band join another recently picked up hourlong TBS pilot, the Dean Devlin-produced Brain Trust.

TBS started its switch from half-hour sitcoms to hourlong comedies at the beginning of this year when it greenlighted 4 pilots: Glory Daze, Franklin & Bash, Uncle Nigel and In Security. Two of them, Glory Daze and Franklin & Bash, made it to series, with Franklin & Bash migrating to sister network TNT. Glory Daze, from creators Walt Becker and Michael LeSieur, premieres Nov. 16 on TBS.

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.