January 14, 2013 - 17:26 AMT
“About A Boy,” “Joe, Joe & Jane” get pilot orders at NBC

NBC has handed pilot orders to About A Boy, a single-camera comedy from Friday Night Lights and Parenthood developer/executive producer Jason Katims, Joe, Joe & Jane, a multi-camera comedy from writers-executive producers Joe Port and Joe Wiseman, Deadline reported.

Based on the Nick Hornby book and the 2002 movie, About A Boy hails from Katims’ True Jack Prods; Universal TV; and Working Title and Tribeca Prods, the companies that produced the Hugh Grant-starring feature. Written and executive produced by Emmy-winner Katims, About A Boy follows the relationship between a bachelor man-child and the young boy who moves in next door with his kooky single mother.

Joe & Joe & Jane already had a hefty pilot production commitment as NBC landed the project in October in a very competitive situation. Loosely based on the relationship between Port, Wiseman and Wiseman’s wife, Joe, Joe & Jane centers on a conflict-avoidant children’s book author caught in an ongoing tug of war between two needy, flawed people: his wife and his co-author/ best friend. It’s not about a couple, it’s about a trouple. 20th TV, where Port and Wiseman are under a deal, is producing. This marks a third consecutive half-hour pilot order for UTA-repped Port and Wiseman, following another semi-autobiographical comedy, Rebounding, last year and Family Album in 2011. Both were single-camera and set up at Fox.