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Exclusive: ABC is finalizing a script deal for a comedy that will star Mark Consuelos and be executive produced by Consuelos and his wife, Live With Kelly & Michael host Kelly Ripa, through their Milojo Prods. Peter Murrieta will write the project based on an idea by Aaron Kaplan of Kapital Entertainment. Murrieta and Kaplan will executive produce with Consuelos and Ripa. The half-hour, produced by ABC Studios, centers on a blue-collar handyman from Queens (Consuelos) who enters the moneyed world of the Upper West Side, where he and his son become part of a non-traditional family unit. ABC Studios is producing. This is the second time ABC and ABC Studios are developing a comedy starring Consuelos and executive produced by him, Ripa and Kaplan. Two years ago, the network bought Port Love, a workplace comedy written by Jeffrey Hodes and Nastaran Dibai. All My Children alum Consuelos, repped by CAA,...

Updated: CBS has bought a multi-camera comedy from brothers Tim and Michael Hobert. The project, produced by Warner Bros Television, is about a newly married man who happens to be from a big family… he just doesn’t know it yet. It stems from Hoberts’ real-life experiences. Tim and Mike Hobert come from a large family — they are the middle and the youngest of five brothers. The two will co-write, with Tim Hobert executive producing and Mike Hobert co-executive producing. Last year, the two sold another semi-autobiographical comedy through Warner Bros TV, which was based on their experience working together. (Mike started off as an assistant for his 12-years-older writer-producer brother.) UTA-repped Tim Hobert, former executive producer/showrunner on the Fox comedy series ‘Til Death, serves as co-executive producer on the ABC/Wbtv comedy The Middle. Meanwhile, ABC has bought a comedy from Nastaran Dibai (Retired At 35, According To Jim). Inspired by personal experience,...

Comedy writer Jeffrey Hodes has died suddenly from cancer treatment-related complications. He was in his 40s. Hodes had cancer but was in remission and was getting ready for a bone marrow transplant. He went in yesterday for a blood transfusion in preparation for the transplant when he started having breathing problems. An Mri revealed blood in his brain and, after a day in intensive care, he was taken off life support this afternoon. For his entire career, Hodes worked with Nastaran Dibai, who was his wife and writing partner. Hodes is survived by Dibai and their young daughter. Hodes and Dibai worked together on such comedy series as According to Jim, 3rd Rock From the Sun and The Nanny and the Kelly Ripa-starring Hope & Faith. Last year, Hodes and Dibai developed a comedy project for ABC with Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos. “Jeffrey Hodes was a brilliant comedy writer,...

Kelly Ripa may soon be pulling double duty on TV again. The Live with Regis and Kelly (TV) co-host has entered into a script deal with ABC to develop Port Love, a comedy focusing on the backstage drama of a television series, a network rep confirms. Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos will co-write, executive produce and star in the series. Jeffrey Hodes and Nastaran Dibai, with whom Ripa worked with on Hope & Faith (TV), will co-write.

Celebrity couple Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are set to team up for a scripted comedy for ABC. The former "All My Children" co-stars will co-write, executive produce, and star in the new project.

According to TV Guide, Kelly has entered into a script deal with the alphabet network to develop "Port Love," a comedy which focuses on the backstage drama of a TV series.

She and Mark won't just star in it, they will also executive produce and co-write the script along with Jeffrey Hodes and Nastaran Dibai.

This isn't the first time Kelly pulled double duty on TV. She was still in "All My Children" when she replaced Kathy Lee Gifford in "Live…" She also starred in "Hope & Faith" from 2003 to 2006.

ABC is reportedly developing a new comedy with actress and television host Kelly Ripa. TV Guide claims that Ripa has entered into a script deal with the network to develop new project Port Love. She will co-write the series with husband Mark Consuelos, and will also executive produce and star. Writers Jeffrey Hodes and Nastaran Dibai will also contribute to the script. Port (more)...

Exclusive: Kelly Ripa is ready for more daytime-primetime double duty with Port Love, a new comedy project at ABC. Ripa and her husband, actor Mark Consuelos, will co-write the story for the single-camera project, with Consuelos set to star and Ripa to recur. Both will executive produce through their production company Milojo Prods. Port Love, from ABC Studios, is a workplace comedy set at a formerly popular network series and revolves around the cast and crew who have more backstage drama in their lives than in the actual show they're working on. Jeffrey Hodes and Nastaran Dibai (According to Jim) will co-write the story with Ripa and Consuelos. Hodes and Dibai will write the script and will executive produce with the 2 actors and Aaron Kaplan of Kapital Entertainment. Ripa and Consuelos' producing partner Albert Bianchini also is expected to produce the project, which has received script commitment. In February, Ripa...

It’s no secret we love TV. We watch it, talk about it, review it and generally spend a lot of time with it. So, it should come as no surprise we’re very interested in what new shows may potentially be coming to the networks in the near future.

Fortunately, we don’t have to do a lot of work to find out, and you have to do even less, because the guys and gals at EW have gathered together lists of all of the 2010-2011 season pilot orders for ABC, CBS and NBC. Wasn’t that nice of them? Yes, yes it was.

Just between these three networks (we’ll bring you Fox and the others, including cable, later), 31 dramas and 29 comedies are being considered. What shows will make it to the Fall schedule is still anyone’s guess, and we’ll have to wait until May to find out,...

The jury's still out on the future of some ABC series (we're looking at you, FlashForward and V), but the network is already hard at work on a contingency plan: It's developing 11 new dramas for fall, including fresh projects from uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Grey's Anatomy honcho Shonda Rhimes. And there's good news coming out of the network's laugh department: the success of Wednesday night series Cougar Town, The Middle, and Modern Family has prompted ABC to continue spending big bucks on more comedies -- thus its decision to order 12 half-hour pilots this year. Here are the network's fall pilots,...

Producer-Director Barry Sonnenfeld (Pushing Daisies) is set to direct and executive produce the pilot of Funny in Farsi. The single-camera comedy is being developed for ABC about growing up Iranian American in 1970s Newport Beach, based on Firoozeh Dumas’ memoir of the same name.

According to THR, ABC ordered a pilot script last season, but the director they had in mind pulled out and the project got shelved. The pilot has been adapted from the book by Jeffrey Hodes and Nastaran Dibai (who worked together on the three-camera According to Jim), and Sonnenfeld is helming the show in conjunction with another show, likely a drama, both in a deal with ABC.

Barry Sonnenfeld is taking up Persian at ABC.

The network has handed out a pilot order to the single-camera comedy "Funny in Farsi," with Sonnenfeld on board to direct and executive produce.

Based on Firoozeh Dumas' memoir, the ABC Studios-produced "Farsi" is inspired by the Iranian-born author's experiences growing up in Newport Beach, Calif., during the 1970s. Dumas was 7 when her dad, an engineer, moved her family from Iran to the U.S.

The book was adapted by Jeffrey Hodes and Nastaran Dibai ("According to Jim"), who penned the pilot script.

"Farsi" is the first pilot script to which Sonnenfeld has responded strongly since ABC's "Pushing Daisies," which he directed, winning an Emmy for his work.

Sonnenfeld first spotted "Farsi" last season when ABC gave it a director-contingent pilot order in February, but the network shelved it after the helmer was not available to direct.

The Wme-repped Sonnenfeld since...

A trio of pilots -- CBS' drama "Confessions of a Contractor" and two ABC comedies, single-camera "Funny in Farsi" and "Planet Lucy" -- have been pushed.

The projects, all three of which are based on books, were picked up with contingencies (cast-contingent for "Contractor" and "Lucy" and director-contingent for "Farsi").

They were put on hold after the contingencies could not be met by the networks' Friday deadlines. 

The 20th TV-produced "Confessions of a Contractor," based on Richard Murphy's book, is an insider's look at the sexy and provocative world of L.A. seen through the eyes of a successful contractor. Murphy penned the script and is exec producing with Shawn Ryan and Jeff Okin.

"Funny in Farsi," from ABC Studios, is based on a memoir by Firoozeh Dumas about an Iranian-born girl's experiences growing up in Newport Beach in the 1970s. It was written by Jeffrey Hodes and Nastaran Dibai.

ABC is saying Salam to "Funny in Farsi," a comedy pilot based on a memoir by Firoozeh Dumas.

The network has handed out a director-contingent order to the project, inspired by Iranian-born Firoozeh's experiences growing up in Newport Beach in the 1970s. Dumas was 7 when her dad, an engineer, moved her family from Iran to the U.S.

The book was adapted to the small screen by Jeffrey Hodes and Nastaran Dibai ("According to Jim"), who penned the pilot script.

In pilot directing news, Charles McDougall, who helmed the pilot for "Desperate Housewives," will tackle another female-driven project, CBS' cast-contingent drama "The Good Wife," about a politician's wife who pursues her original career as a defense attorney.

Lifetime has given a full-season pickup to "Rita Rocks."

The network has ordered seven additional episodes of the comedy series from Media Rights Capital, bringing the first-season order to 20.

"Rita," starring Nicole Sullivan as a wife and mother who forms a garage band, premiered Oct. 20, airing as a strip for a week before moving into its regular time slot at 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays. The series, which marks Lifetime's first original comedy in 10 years, is averaging 956,000 viewers per first-run episode.

" 'Rita Rocks' was developed as a companion to Lifetime's most popular comedy, 'Reba,' and 'Rita Rocks' has either built on or held the 'Reba' audience for five of the first six original episodes," Lifetime executive vp entertainment JoAnn Alfano said. "Having a nearly 100% audience retention rate is unheard of when launching a new comedy, but 'Rita Rocks' has achieved that feat."

"Rita" also stars Richard Ruccolo,...