Nine’s comedy lineup: Hot In Cleveland, Shit My Dad Says, Mike & Molly, Mr Sunshine and Episodes
Nine has flagged US comedy as the key to success for the coming year.
In a release today, the network has pointed to the five comedies which will be fast-tracked from the US.
They range from former Star Trek star William Shatner in the Twitter-inspired Shit My Dad Says through to ex Friends star Matt Le Blanc in which he plays himself in an ironic comedy about what happens when a good British TV show is Americanised.
The five:
HOT IN CLEVELAND
Betty White – Golden Girls
Jane Leeves – Frasier
Wendie Malick – Just Shoot Me!
Valerie Bertinelli – Café Americian
Hot in Cleveland stars Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick and Jane Leeves as three past-their-prime entertainment industry veterans from Los Angeles. Their lives are changed when their Paris-bound plane lands in Cleveland, Ohio, where they find a welcoming community that is less shallow, youth-obsessed and weight-conscious than LA. One of them leases a home in Cleveland with a sassy caretaker played by Betty White.
SHIT MY DAD SAYS
William Shatner – Boston Legal
Will Sasso – MADtv
Nicole Sullivan – Rita Rocks
Shit My Dad Says is a sitcom based on the real Twitter feed of the same name. It was created by Justin Halpern using the actual quotes from his father Sam.
MIKE & MOLLY – From Chuck Lorre, creator of Two and Half Men and Big Bang Theory
Bill Gardell – My Name is Earl
Melissa McCarthy – Gilmore Girls
Mike & Molly comes from the incredibly successful executive producer Chuck Lorre, who is also behind Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory. Set in Chicago, it follows the lives of two overweight people who struggle to lose weight and fall in love.
MR SUNSHINE
Matthew Perry – Friends
Allison Janney – The West Wing
Mr Sunshine stars Matthew Perry as Ben Donovan, a sports stadium manager who goes through a mid-life crisis when he turns 40 while dealing with the unusual demands of his job and his unpredictable boss.
EPISODES – From David Crane, creator of Friends
Matt LeBlanc – Friends
Tasmin Greig – Love Soup
Stephen Mangan – Green Wing
Episodes, starring Matt LeBlanc, centres on a British husband-and-wife comedy team who are lured by Hollywood to produce a new version of their hit series for an American audience. Initially thrilled by the prospect, they soon realise what the American execs have in store for their precious show – including replacing the erudite British lead character with the quintessential comedy star Matt LeBlanc – and begin to sink deeper into the quicksand that is the TV business. Before long it is clear that not just the couple’s show is at stake, perhaps their marriage is too.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Betty White
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comedy
Episodes
Hot in Cleveland
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Mike & Molly
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Shit My Dad Says
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Mr Sunshine looks a winner. Will give Episodes a go. Mike and Molly, yeah ok. Sh*t my Dad Says looks terrible. Hot in Cleveland.. hmm hard to say.
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What is with the Married With Children laugh-track on Shit My Dad Says? Boston Legal didn’t need no damn robot audience to be funny. Denny Crane!
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If Episodes starred Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as the writing team and Steve Carrell as the comedy actor they’d be in business, otherwise I’m out.
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Mat Le Blanc playing Mat Le Blanc. Simply Genius!
With perhaps the positive exception of Mr Sunshine, Nine is going to be struggling for ratings with that bunch of rubbish.
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