Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone Get TV Land Pilot About Comedy
TV Land is expanding its roster of original comedies. Shortly after The Jim Gaffigan Show premiered on the network, they announced they are developing a pilot with megastar Melissa McCarthy and her husband, director Ben Falcone.
Friends with Melissa is a single-camera comedy that is based on the real lives of the couple’s good friends Larry Dorf, Rachel Ramiras, and Hugh Davidson, who will serve as the show’s writers. The three previously wrote on The Mike Tyson Mysteries. McCarthy and Falcone are executive producing the series.
The show focuses on the three friends “who watched as their friends from The Groundlings [McCarthy and Falcone] went on to star in blockbuster comedies and win Oscars, while they toiled away writing for children’s television.” McCarthy will not be a regular cast member, but she will appear in the pilot episode.
“We are continuing to build our stable of innovative, engaging and challenging comedies, which is exactly what Melissa, Ben and these writers have brought us,” said Keith Cox, Executive Vice President of Development and Original Programming for TV Land. “With this script being from a
group of alums from The Groundlings, we’re excited to know they’ll have an endless amount of creativity and interesting experiences to pull from.”
McCarthy and Falcone have teamed up on multiple comedies. Recently, the two wrapped production on Michelle Darnell, which Falcone directed and the pair co-wrote. In the film, McCarthy stars as a female financial executive who is sent to jail for insider trading.
