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Billy Crystal-Starring Comedy From Matt Nix & Larry Charles Lands At FX With Pilot Order

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday May 22, 2013 @ 11:30am PDTTags: Big Deals TV, Billy Crystal, FX, Larry Charles, Matt Nix, The Comedians
Nellie Andreeva

The hot cable comedy project, which has Billy Crystal attached to star, co-write and executive produce, Burn Notice creator Matt Nix co-writing/executive producing and Curb Your Enthusiasm and Borat‘s Larry Charles directing/co-writing and executive producing, has been picked up by FX with a pilot order. Titled The Comedians, the single-camera comedy, which was taken out earlier this month, is produced by Fox TV Studios, marking the first FX pilot to not come out of the in-house FX Prods.

In The Comedians, Crystal plays a superstar veteran comedian who is reluctantly paired with a younger, edgier comedian for a late-night comedy sketch show. It is based on the 2004 Swedish series Ulveson And Herngren, starring comedians Felix Herngren and Johan Ulveson as they put together a sketch program. Charles is set to direct the pilot, which is said to be in the documentary style he perfected on another cable comedy starring a veteran stand-up comedian, HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. Charles, Nix and Crystal are co-writing with comedy writer-producer Ben Wexler, who previously worked with Nix on Nix’s Fox dramedy The Good Guys. The four executive produce with Nix’s manager, producer Mikkel Bondesen and Henrik Bastin, both of Fabrik Entertainment (formerly Fuse), which, like Nix, is under a deal at FtvS. Carl Molinder and John Nordling of Stockholm-based Efti AB, which is behind the original series, also executive produce. Fabrik’s Kristen Campo co-exec produces. READ MORE »

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Billy Crystal To Topline Comedy Series From Matt Nix, Larry Charles & Fox TV Studios

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday May 3, 2013 @ 4:03pm PDTTags: Big Deals TV, Billy Crystal, Fox TV Studios, Larry Charles, Matt Nix
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: A hot comedy project is expected to hit the cable marketplace next week. I hear the untitled comedy has Billy Crystal attached to star, co-write and executive produce, Burn Notice creator Matt Nix co-writing/executive producing and Curb Your Enthusiasm and Borat‘s Larry Charles directing/co-writing and executive producing. Fox TV Studios, where Nix is under an overall deal, is producing. Details about the premise are sketchy but I hear the project is based on an European format and is described as an edgy comedy. Charles and Crystal are co-writing with comedy writer-producer Ben Wexler, who previously worked with Nix on Nix’s Fox dramedy The Good Guys. The four executive produce with Nix’s manager, producer Mikkel Bondesen and Henrik Bastin, both of Fabrik Entertainment (formerly Fuse), which also is under a deal at FtvS. Fabrik’s Kristen Campo co-exec produces. Bondesen and Fabrik have experience adapting European formats for the U.S., most notably with the AMC drama The Killing, which is coming back for Season 3 next month. USA’s Burn Notice will kick off its seventh season also in June. Read More »

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Mercedes Masohn Exits ABC Pilot ‘Mixology’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Saturday March 9, 2013 @ 1:06pm PSTTags: ABC, Jon Lucas, Larry Charles, Mixology, Scott Moore
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Actress Mercedes Masohn is leaving ABC’s comedy pilot Mixology. The project, written by feature scribes Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (The Hangover) in their pilot debut, and directed by Larry Charles, is an ambitious high-concept effort featuring 10 lead characters.  Set in the world of a sexy Manhattan bar, Mixology chronicles the exploits of singles, five guys and five girls, in search of love — all over the course of one night. Masohn was to play one of them, Maya. She was one of the first actors cast in the project more than a month ago while Charles’ deal was still being finalized and Nina Wass was just joining as non-writing executive producer. Nine other regulars have been cast since Masohn came on board and Lucas and Moore, with input from Charles and Wass, have tweaked some elements of the pilot, including the Maya character. “Masohn is an incredible talent with comedy chops and has been very accommodating and understanding with us, and we plan to be working with her again soon,” the Mixology producers said in a statement.  Read More »

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Pam Fryman To Helm Second Pilot; Larry Charles, Mike Fresco Also On Directing Duty

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday February 7, 2013 @ 3:11pm PSTTags: Larry Charles
Nellie Andreeva

It’s been a busy last couple of weeks for veteran multicamera director Pam Fryman. She just closed a deal to direct the ABC comedy pilot Divorce: A Love Story. Fryman already is working on what is considered the hottest multi-camera comedy pilot this season, Chuck Lorre’s Mom starring Anna Faris and Allison Janney at CBS. Additionally, she made a deal for the ninth and final season of CBS’ How I Met Your Mother, on which she has served as director/executive producer since the pilot. Based on an Israeli format from Reshet, Divorce revolves around a recently divorced couple. Mike Sikowitz and Daniel Lappin wrote the script; Sony TV is producing. Fryman is with ICM Partners.

Larry Charles, director/executive producer of another long-running comedy series, Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO, has signed on to direct ABC’s high-concept single-camera comedy Mixology, from writers Jon Lucas and Scott Moore and ABC Studios. Set in the world of a sexy Manhattan bar, Mixology chronicles the exploits of singles, five guys and five girls, in search of love — all over the course of one night. WME-repped Charles, who has directed Sacha Baron Cohen’s movies Borat, Bruno and The Dictator, recently helmed an episode of New Girl. Read More »

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Sacha Baron Cohen Gets Into ‘Dictator’ Mode

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday June 9, 2011 @ 11:56am PDTTags: Alec Berg, Anna Faris, David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer, Larry Charles, Sacha Baron Cohen, Scott Rudin, The Dictator
Mike Fleming

Paramount Pictures has released an early image of Sacha Baron Cohen as The Dictator, the comedy in which he plays the dual roles of a ruthless dictator who heads to the U.S. for a meeting at the United Nations … Read More »

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Anna Faris In Talks To Star With Sacha Baron Cohen In ‘The Dictator’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday May 2, 2011 @ 5:23pm PDTTags: Alec Berg, Anna Faris, David Mandel, Larry Charles, Sacha Baron Cohen, Scott Rudin
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Anna Faris has been offered and is in negotiations for the female lead in The Dictator, the Paramount Pictures comedy that has Sacha Baron Cohen starring in dual roles. Baron Cohen’s Borat and Bruno director Larry Charles is helming, … Read More »

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Paramount Sets Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘The Dictator’ For May 11, 2012 Release

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday January 20, 2011 @ 7:00am PSTTags: Larry Charles, Paramount Pictures, Sacha Baron Cohen, Scott Rudin, The Dictator
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures has set a May 11, 2012 worldwide release date for the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy The Dictator. The studio has reunited Baron Cohen with his Borat and Bruno director Larry Charles. Baron Cohen is producing with Scott … Read More »

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Ana Ortiz To Star In Fox Comedy Pilot ‘Outnumbered’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday November 5, 2010 @ 4:57pm PDTTags: Ana Ortiz, Fox Pilot Outnumbered, Fox Pilots, Larry Charles, Outnumbered, Outnumbered Casting, Outnumbered Pilot, TV, TV Deals
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Ugly Betty alumna Ana Ortiz is set as the female lead of Fox’s off-cycle comedy pilot Outnumbered, which is being directed by Larry Charles. Inspired by the BBC sitcom, Outnumbered revolves around one set of parents who are … Read More »

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Larry Charles And Mark Piznarski Get Pilot Directing Gigs

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday October 18, 2010 @ 8:25am PDTTags: Fox Pilots, Larry Charles, Larry Charles Outnumbered, Mark Piznarski, Outnumbered Pilot, The Lying Game, The Lying Game Pilot, TV, TV Directors, TV Pilots
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Borat and Bruno helmer Larry Charles has been tapped to direct Fox’s off-cycle comedy pilot Outnumbered. Meanwhile, Mark Piznarski, who directed the pilot for Gossip Girl, is set to direct another drama pilot based on an Alloy book series, ABC Family’s The Lying Game.

Outnumbered, an U.S. version … Read More »

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Larry Charles To Direct Jim Carrey Comedy

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday July 19, 2010 @ 6:50pm PDTTags: Jason Blumenthal, Jason Reitman, Larry Charles, Movie Casting, Steve Tisch, The Three Stooges, Todd Black
Mike Fleming

larrycharlesEXCLUSIVE: Larry Charles, who steered Sacha Baron Cohen through audacious comic turns in Bruno and Borat, is now ready to do the same for Jim Carrey. Charles has signed on to direct Pierre Pierre, a comedy that has Carrey playing the … Read More »

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