Nellie Andreeva

This is a case of art imitating life times two: NBC has bought a single-camera comedy written by brothers Tim and Micheal Hobert based on their experience working together. The single-camera comedy, produced by Warner Bros TV, centers on Mike, a twentysomething man who lands a dream job as the assistant to a commercial director — his older brother Tim — only to learn that his job is mostly about keeping his brother’s hectic home life running smoothly. The project stems from a script deal Tim Hobert had with Warner Bros TV, where he works as a co-executive producer on the studio’s ABC comedy The Middle. It is inspired by real-life events.

Years ago, comedy writer-producer Tim Hobert had a development deal with NBC that provided a little money for him to hire an assistant. His baby brother Mike, 12 years his junior, had recently graduated from USC and was interested in a career as a writer, so Tim tapped him as his assistant. But the job quickly turned to Mike doing chores and babysitting his brother’s four small kids. “I wanted to get into writing, but I was being used as the guy who cleaned his house, served as a nanny to his kids and made sure his life was running smoothly,” Mike Hobert recalled. Added Tim Hobert, “I basically bait-and-switched him. I duped him into becoming another me.”

Tim and Mike Hobert, the middle and the youngest of five brothers, are writing and executive producing the project. This actually is the fifth time the two have worked together; Tim also hired Mike as a production assistant when he served as executive producer/showrunner on the Fox comedy series ‘Til Death. Additionally, Mike had recurring roles on two series where ICM-repped Tim worked as a writer-producer, Scrubs and Spin City. Mike Hobert’s experience, which he describes as a lot of “random stuff,” also includes producing a documentary on malaria for the UN and recently producing his friend Sam Jaeger’s indie Take Me Home, which is doing the rounds at the festival circuit.

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