Nellie Andreeva

It’s Official: Fox Renews ‘Breaking In’
It looks like comedy Breaking In has done the impossible, beating cancellation for a second time. I hear Fox is about to give the single-camera comedy starring Christian Slater and Bret Harrison a 13-epiosde midseason order in a complex deal with series producer Sony Pictures TV, which is still being finalized. It also includes a script commitment with penalty to a comedy pitch by Breaking In co-creator Adam F. Goldberg. The untitled 1980s family comedy, which like Breaking In is co-produced by Sony TV and Happy Madison, hit the market last week and had been pursued by all Big 4 networks.

When all is said and done, this would mark a second improbable return from the dead for Breaking In. The entire cast is expected to come back, including Odette Annable, who recently joined House as a new regular with a deal that includes provisions allowing her to also appear on Breaking In. Created by Goldberg and Horrible Bosses director Seth Gordon, Breaking In was ordered to pilot during the 2009-10 season. Despite raking as Fox’s highest testing pilot back then, the network passed on the workplace comedy set at a digital security firm. Sony kept the project alive by extending the options on the cast. Fox then ordered 2 additional scripts, and in November, the network gave Breaking In a seven-episode midseason order and a post-American Idol time slot. But in May the network canceled the show before it had finished its freshman run. Sony once again fought on. And, in a promising sign that the network had faith in the show and was open to reconsidering its decision, it joined Sony TV is shouldering the cost for extending the cast’s options and then put Breaking In on the list of contenders for its 2-hour midseason comedy block. “We all liked Breaking In but…we had to make a judgment call,” Fox’s entertainment president Kevin Reilly said at TCA last month. “It still has a shot. You know what?  Stranger things have happened.” By surviving cancellation twice, Breaking In would join Family Guy as the only shows ever to do it.

As for Goldberg’s new project, it is described as an autobiographical show about growing up in the 1980s with a highly screwed up but loving family. Given the Breaking In renewal, the time frame for the show’s development is still in flux as Goldberg, who is under an overall deal at Sony TV, is expected to concentrate his immediate attention on restarting Breaking In. With the deal, Fox is doubling down on Goldberg and his voice in an effort to make the network his home. Goldberg started off in TV as writer of Syfy’s 2001 comedy pilot Area 52 and as writer-producer on CBS’ sitcom Still Standing. He segued into movies, writing Fanboys and also working on the DreamWorks animated comedies Monsters vs. Aliens and How to Train Your Dragon. WME-repped Goldberg continues to be busy in features, writing Simon Bloom: The Gravity Keeper. Additionally, he recently penned the How to Train Your Dragon special, a followup to the hit feature.

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