Departing SNL Writers Score Comedy Central Series Pickup

It was just announced last month that Saturday Night Live head writing team of Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider would be stepping away from the show, and today, less than a month later comes the news that their next project has a home at Comedy Central. The Other Two is a half-hour scripted series that will star Drew Tarver and Helene Yorke, and will feature Molly Shannon, and Ken Marino. Kelly and Schneider created, wrote and executive produce the series.

Lorne Michaels Broadway Video will produce the series along with Kelly and Schneider. Michaels will also be on board as an EP.

The series stars Drew Tarver (Bajillion Dollar Propertie$) as a 29-year-old aspiring actor wondering why he can’t get better auditions than “Man At Party Who Smells Fart,” and Heléne Yorke (Masters of Sex, High Maintenance) as his 30-year-old sister, and former professional child dancer, Brooke, who aspires to be anything other than what she is right now. As the two siblings work towards finding themselves, they must also confront the dueling emotions of envy and pride brought on by the overnight internet fame of their younger brother, 12-year-old Chase, played by real-life muscal.ly sensation Case Walker. The Other Two will also feature Molly Shannon, who plays the siblings’ Hollywood-ready mother, and Ken Marino (Party Down), as ChaseDream’s newly-hired manager.

Comedy Central President Kent Alterman said they are excited to bring their first scripted show about family to the network, “mostly because we did research and discovered that nearly 100% of our audience comes from them. Plus, hearing Chris and Sarah’s names called out so much at the Emmys didn’t hurt.” Said Kelly and Schneider, “We are so excited to make this show with Comedy Central, our incredible cast, and our joint biological father Lorne Michaels, who will be making a cameo in at least one episode, and is finding that out right now.”

Promoted last year to co-head writers, Kelly and Schneider had been writers for Saturday Night Live since 2011. Kelly is no stranger to Comedy Central, he’s already written for Broad City. He also wrote and directed the feature film, Other People, which earned 2017 Indie Spirit Award nominations for best first feature and best screenplay (and earned a Spirit Award for star Molly Shannon). Schneider has written for the Netflix series Master of None and, prior to her time at Saturday Night Live, was a writer and actress for CollegeHumor Originals.

The Other Two is created by, written by and executive produced by Kelly and Schneider. Kelly, who directed the pilot, will also direct episodes for the series. In addition to Lorne Michaels, Andrew Singer from Broadway Video will serve as an executive producer. Broadway Video’s Hilary Marx will be a co-executive producer with Kaylani Esparza serving as co-producer. The series will be also be executive produced by Tony Hernandez of Jax Media. Sarah Babineau, Ari Pearce and Samantha Schles are the Executives in Charge of Production for Comedy Central.

 

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