NBC orders Tina Fey, Ellie Kemper comedy into series

PanARMENIAN.Net - Tina Fey is back in business at NBC. The 30 Rock creator, along with her producing partner Robert Carlock, has been granted a 13-episode straight-to-series order for a comedy starring The Office’s Ellie Kemper. The single-camera effort, which is set to debut in the fall of 2014, will center on a woman (Kemper) who escapes from a doomsday cult and starts life over in New York City, The Hollywood Reporter said.

The news caps off a particularly strong couple of months for Fey, who recently won an Emmy for co-writing the 30 Rock finale and, weeks later, was tapped to return as co-host of the Golden Globes. The eight-time Emmy winner and Saturday Night Live vet has been active as a producer this season, having garnered a series commitment for a women’s-college-themed comedy at Fox after a multinetwork bidding war broke out. Additionally, she and Carlock are reteaming with 30 Rock writer-producer Colleen McGuinness for a workplace comedy in which a woman reconnects with her estranged father and finds a new home and family on Fire Island. The latter is set up at NBC.

The move marks a reunion for Kemper, too, who spent several seasons at NBC as a co-star on the Greg Daniels comedy The Office. Her profile rose still more thanks to her comedic turn in breakout hit Bridesmaids, which generated nearly $170 million at the domestic box office when it bowed in 2011. Since The Office wrapped, Kemper has found herself at the top of casting wish lists.

For his part, Carlock served as an executive producer on 30 Rock for all seven seasons, picking up three Emmys in the process. Prior to the Fey half-hour, he was a writer on SNL and Friends, among other series.

While both noteworthy and significant, the straight-to-series strategy is becoming an increasingly popular way for broadcast networks to secure big projects as competition for original scripted series intensifies. In addition to Fey and Carlock's college comedy, Fox is moving forward with both fantastical drama Hieroglyph and Batman prequel Gotham as series. CBS recently announced that it, too, would bypass the pilot stage with a 13-episode order for Vince Gilligan's cop drama Battle Creek, which House's David Shore is attached to run.