
NBC has bought a single-camera ensemble comedy from blogger/Twitter personality Kelly Oxford. The untitled project, which Oxford will write, centers on a divorcing couple and the wife’s overbearing sister — who try to raise their families together after the sale of their house falls through. Friends alum Ira Ungerleider is supervising the project with Universal TV-based producers Karey Burke and Todd Holland.
The project, produced by Universal TV, originated as an idea by Philadelphia Eagles co-owner Christina Weiss Lurie, producer of the 2010 feature documentary Inside Job, and her partners Alan Barnette and Richard Gelb. A search for a write was launched, resulting in the hire of Oxford, a Calgary blogger and stay-at-home mother of three whose snarky, straight-up observational tweets have garnered more than 266,000 followers, including Howard Stern, Jimmy Kimmel and Roger Ebert. Oxford has pilot experience — last season she had a family comedy in development at CBS based on the blog she launched in 1997 and its companion Twitter feed, with Jessica Alba attached to executive produce. With Oxford on board, the new project was sold to NBC. Free Agents showrunner/executive producer Ungerleider, who became available after the freshman NBC series was canceled, was brought in to supervise the script along with fellow Free Agents executive producers Burke and Holland. Burke and Holland will executive produce the Kelly Oxford comedy through their Dark Toy Entertainment, along with Underleider, Lurie, Barnette and Gelb. Ungerleider is repped by UTA, everyone else is with WME. Oxford’s book of comedic essays, Everything Is Perfect When You’re A Liar, is slated to be released by to HarperCollins next year. Here is a sample of some of her recent tweets:
“That’s you” is one of my favorite games to play with my husband when we see disgusting people.
Just told 3 yr old she looked pretty. She said, “No I don’t. I have vomit in my stomach.” Jesus, kid, take a compliment.
“No one listens to voicemail anymore.” – my outgoing voicemail message.
Having kids makes you look stable to the people who thought you were crazy, and crazy to the people who thought you were stable.
If you take the time to listen to people you’ll realize why most don’t.
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.


Kelly wanted me to come here and write mean things about her in the comment section.
In all seriousness, this is pretty awesome! Woo hoo Kelly!
congrats kelly! this is awesome news for a brazillian fan of your tweeter!
Now I can get my daily dose of cynicism without bothering with the Twitters.
I’m pretty sure the show won’t air daily. Not until syndication, at least.
Looking forward to it, as long as it doesn’t bump off Community
“I expect a lot of you to write terrible things about me in the comment section on Deadline.” (from her twitter feed)
um, you um … murdered my parents?
So, all it takes is 266,000 followers for a TV show now? 265,880 to go!
there are tons of good writers, but she’s a good writer who managed to get enough attention to warrant two script sales to networks and a book sale to a major publisher in one year. good for her.
Yeah & actually be a good writer and then… maybe you’ll get a show.
awesome.
Funny. Witty. Great writer. Looking forward to it failing.
I LOVE her writing & tweets. But unfortunately this comment is true. Look what happened” to S*** My Dad Says”. Different concept – but point being, 90% of America (middle America) doesn’t like that type of humor. Sad but true.
Congratulations Kelly. Very well deserved.
BTW did you hear about the latest?
Osama Bin Laden washes up on Daytona Beach. Dolphins caught playing with turban.
Yay! This is great news.
Kelly is awesome. I’m sure this show will be good. Best of luck to Kelly, I hope it is a success
This is all wonderful news. Congrats to Kelly and NBC.
I will make snarky comments while watching your show!
Great news! If you don’t already follow her, start right now! She is too funny! And always spot on.
By the time Kelly Oxford’s original, sharp, sarcastic wit gets filtered through all those bureaucrats, producers and ‘insiders’, it will end up as stale and unfunny as every other NBC sitcom attempt in the last 20 years.
Really? That’s all it takes to get a TV pilot now? Some mildly humorous tweets sandwiched between plain ol’ dumb snark? I’m finally signing up for Twitter today.
she’s a screenwriter who also tweets.
smart way to get an audience when you have none. take a page?
noooo, she’s a stay at home mother who was handed a pilot commitment because internet buzz is apparently now a substitute for having an actual body of work. she was not a screenwriter before twitter.
Either reading comprehension isn’t your strong suit or you have little idea on how the entertainment business works. Most likely both. Oxford sold a spec pilot to CBS last season. That means she wrote a screenplay that was purchased. This doesn’t seem to be a ‘shit my dad says’ situation, she wasn’t approached by networks because of internet fame. she went to them.
But, I only say this because I read beyond the headline.
Also? I am not a Oxford fan.
#totalfan #suckingup #sallyisadumbfatfart
yes, she sold a pilot last season, which is after she joined twitter. she was not a writer before she joined twitter, both of these pilot sales, which are the sum total of her body of work, are a direct result of her twitter “fame.”
Hey “Sally”, I was enjoying the comments section for once when I came across this. If we are now judging ‘bodies of work’ based on what someone is able to sell, then yes 2 scripts and a book sold is Oxford’s body of work. And yes, she was able to sell these after people realized her writing could be marketable and able to gain an audience. Not sure what your point is here, other than being petty and snarky yourself. But humorlessly so.
I’m sure it will be a great show, I absolutely love Kelly’s humor.
I heard Kelly called Santa the n-word.
Also, this TV season is really turning into a chick-fest. Can’t we give white guys a break. Jeez.
True, white guys have it rough. They only have 99.9999% of everything there. What about that other 0.0001%?!
White guys had the last 10 years. Shut up and let us have this year, pretty soon you’ll have it all back.
I am legitimately excited for this. NBC usually has a good eye for comedy (not counting whitney). She’s a shiny ray of hope on the oft dim, miserable internet. Hopefully she can be the same for TV.
This is going to be awesome! Because twitter shows keep killing it! I love that Bleep My Dad Says – it’s soooo Good!
I hope they make more twitter shows! Twitter is the funniest thing ever!!
And “snark” – Snark is the best! We need more shows with snark! Snark is the new Pizzaz!
“The untitled project, which Oxford will write, centers on a divorcing couple and the wife’s overbearing sister — who try to raise their families together after the sale of their house falls through.”
Sounds like a “twitter show” (wtf does that mean?) to me.
Congratulations to a funny writer!!
It better not replace Community.
Here’s hoping that a smart, irreverent comedy will have a chance.
Well you already knoooooow it’s gonna be better than ‘Whitney.’ Wait… no… that’s not really saying much, is it?
Dumb premise, but it can’t be a worse show than Whitney, right?
We already have Kelly Oxford on NBC – her name is Tina Fey.
Oh – and Kelly Oxford fired me for stealing jelly beans from her.
haha!
Good for her. Too bad it’s on NBC do no one will see it.