Comedy Central also inks first-look TV deal with Broad City creators Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson
Comedy Central today announced a comprehensive development deal with Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson with a “first look” at content created and/or developed for television by Glazer and Jacobson, both together and independently. The deal with the multitalented creators, stars, directors and showrunners of the hit series Broad City, which will return for its fifth and final season in early 2019, also extends across all of parent company Viacom’s television networks. Three projects already in development at Comedy Central under the new deal include Mall Town USA, Platinum Status, and Young Professionals.
“Broad City’s Abbi and Ilana may appear to be aimless and full of hair-brained schemes, but Abbi and Ilana IRL have proven to be stellar creator / writer / performer / director / producers. Their supreme focus on telling new stories, in new worlds, with new talent is nearly scary,” said Kent Alterman, President of Comedy Central.
“Broad City’ has been our baby and first love for almost ten years, since we started as a web series. It’s been a phenomenal experience, and we’ve put ourselves into it completely. Broad City’s always had a spontaneous pace and feeling, and ending after season five honors that spirit. We are very excited to bring new voices and points of view to Comedy Central and continue our collaboration together in new ways,” said Glazer and Jacobson.
Mall Town USA is an animated comedy that follows the afterschool misadventures of a 13-year-old girl navigating the complexities of life in the classic microcosm of American culture that is The Mall. Mall Town USA is written and created by Gabe Liedman (Broad City, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and executive produced by Jacobson and Glazer.
Set in the hipster-heavy east side of Los Angeles, Platinum Status tells the story of professional back-up singer Noah (Eliot Glazer), a gay guy who’s always felt left out of the “community.” And after he’s dumped by his boyfriend of ten years, Noah rebounds in the least likely way: by hooking up with a girl. With help from his friends Kevin and Mimi and guidance from his kinda-sorta-girlfriend Alexa, Noah tries to evolve both in the bedroom and the recording studio. Eliot Glazer will write and executive produce and Ilana Glazer will also executive produce along with Principato Young’s Peter Principato and Brian Steinberg and Electric Avenue’s Will Arnett and Marc Forman.
At age twenty-four, David Litt became one of the youngest White House speechwriters in history. Described as the “comic muse for the president,” Litt served as the lead writer for many of President Obama’s most memorable comedic moments, and his recent memoir, Thanks, Obama, is a New York Times best seller. Inspired by Litt’s coming-of-age in our nation’s capital, Young Professionals follows five housemates growing up – personally, politically, and professionally – in the hopelessly absurd world of Washington, D.C. Young Professionals is written by and executive produced by Litt, with Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer also serving as executive producers.
Glazer and Jacobson have earned universal praise from fans and critics alike thanks to their dynamic relationship which, combined with impeccable comedic timing and chemistry, has led the series for which they are best known, Broad City, to such accolades as a 2016 Writers Guild Award nomination for “Best Comedy Series,” multiple nominations for “Best Comedy Series” by the Broadcast Television Journalists Association and back-to-back Emmy(R) Award nominations for “Outstanding Short Form Comedy Or Drama Series” for their digital offshoot, Hack into Broad City. Created by, written by, executive produced by and starring Glazer and Jacobson, Broad City follows best friends, Abbi and Ilana, as they navigate life in New York, capturing their hookups, relationships, crappy jobs and, ultimately, their badass friendship.
