NBC has handed a series order to Mike O’Malley’s family comedy.
Jon Cryer, Donald Faison and Abigail Spencer star in the untitled series, which Deadline understands is being lined up for next broadcast season.
The series follows Jim and Julia, who, after an amicable divorce decide to continue to raise their kids at the family home while taking turns on who gets to stay with them. Navigating the waters of divorce and child-sharing gets more complicated for Jim when the owner of his favorite sports teams enters the picture and wins Julia’s heart.
Two and a Half Men alum Cryer, who also exec produces, stars as Jim, a good-natured, sarcastic yet sincere corporate compliance officer who gets along famously with everyone including Julia, with whom he shares a close bond characterized by lots of laughter and warm feelings.
Mad Men alumna Spencer, who recently recurred on Grey’s Anatomy and starred in NBC’s Timeless, plays Julia, the successful owner of her own crisis management firm.
Scrubs star Faison, who starred in NBC’s Emergence, plays Julia’s new fiancé, Trey, owner of the Boston Celtics and a proud MIT grad.
Finn Sweeney (American Crime Story) and Sofia Capanna (Bucktown) also star as the children.
Mike O’Malley, who created Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse and is showrunner of the network’s wrestling drama Heels, exec produces alongside Cryer, The Conners EP Tom Werner, who owns the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC, Boston Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck and his wife, Emilia Fazzalari and George Geyer.
Lionsgate Television and Universal Television produce.
The project was one of six NBC pilots for off-cycle consideration alongside comedies Lopez v Lopez, which was picked up to series in May, and Hungry, the Ariel Winter-fronted, Demi Lovato-exec produced project that didn’t get picked up.
On the drama side, Found starring Shanola Hampton, was previously picked up to series, Unbroken, starring Scott Bakula and Blank Slate, were passed on. The Irrational is still in consideration.
Finally, Deadline understands that Mike Daniels’ adaptation of Dutch drama series Adam & Eva was just passed on.