or


[09/05/05 - 12:00 AM]
NBC Continues to Build Midseason Comedy Roster
By Brian Ford Sullivan (TFC)

LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- NBC continued to build up its unusually active midseason development slate over the weekend as the network had greenlighted the Greg Grunberg-led comedy pilot "Grand Union."

Grunberg ("Alias," "The Catch") stars as Tom McBride, a blue-collar family man who manages a local Long Island neighborhood grocery store in the project, which previously ran under the title "Father of the McBrides." Also cast in "Union" is Beth Lacke ("ER") as Grunberg's wife, Pat.

David Israel and Jim O'Doherty ("The Tracy Morgan Show," "Grounded for Life") are behind the project, which comes from NBC Universal Television and executive producer Tom Werner. It's believed Werner will produce through his Warner Bros. Television-based Werner-Gold-Miller banner along with Eric Gold and Jimmy Miller.

As for Grunberg, his involvement stems from an overall development deal the actor recently signed with the network.

Meanwhile, casting has begun on the Peacock's Tina Fey-led comedy pilot, a semi-autobiographical look at Fey's tenure on "Saturday Night Live."

Among the details revealed in the casting notice: Fey will play Lisa Lemon, the head writer of "Friday Night Bits" (the show-within-a-show), while the characters include Jack Donaghy (NBC's new VP of development), Pete Hornberger (Lisa's long-time producer and friend), Toofer (a Harvard-type staff writer), Frank (a heavy-set, working-class staff writer who butts heads with Toofer), Josh (an adorable young cast member known for his flawless impressions), Sarie (a Paris Hilton-esque assistant), Kenneth (a chirpy Clay Aiken-type NBC page) and Jonathan (Jack's nerdy assistant).

Lorne Michaels, David Miner and Joann Alfano serve as the executive producers of the NBC Universal Television/Broadway Video-based project along with Frey, who wrote the pilot script.

"Union" and the Fey project join the Peacock's already busy comedy development roster for midseason, which also includes the previously shot pilots "Filmore Middle" and "Lies and the Wives We Tell Them To" as well as the cast-contingent "I Love Faron Hitchman," "Bearaboo 2010" and untitled Mike Markowitz project.

Already on tap for midseason are the new comedies "Four Kings" and "Thick and Thin," not to mention the fifth season of "Scrubs."





  [september 2005]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
    


· 30 ROCK (NBC)
· ALIAS (ABC)
· BARABOO 2010 (NBC)
· CATCH, THE (ABC)
· ER (NBC)
· FOUR KINGS (NBC)
· GRAND UNION (NBC)
· GROUNDED FOR LIFE (WB)
· I LOVE FARON HITCHMAN (NBC)
· LIES AND THE WIVES WE TELL THEM TO (NBC)
· SCRUBS (ABC)
· TEACHERS (NBC)
· THICK & THIN (NBC)
· TRACY MORGAN SHOW, THE (NBC)
· UNTITLED MIKE MARKOWITZ PROJECT (NBC)





[03/17/26 - 12:02 PM]
Hudson Williams, Jennifer Grey, Terry Chen, Elizabeth Adams, Hannah Galway, and William Mapother Join the Cast of "The Altruists"
The Netflix series tells the story of Sam Bankman-Fried (Anthony Boyle) and Caroline Ellison (Julia Garner), two hyper-smart, ambitious young idealists who tried to remake the global financial system in the blink of an eye...before they were accused of stealing $8 billion.

[03/17/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of March 9 - "One Piece" Season 2 Sets Sail for No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
Proving that demand for prehistoric beasts will never go extinct, docuseries "The Dinosaurs" landed at No. 2 on the English TV list with 9.6 million views.

[03/17/26 - 12:01 PM]
Next on Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN - April 2026
New series include "Dear Killer Nannies," "Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair," "The Testaments," and "Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord."

[03/17/26 - 10:05 AM]
Chloe Bennet, Max Greenfield, Charlie Hall, Kumail Nanjiani, and Jarrad Paul Join Season 4 of "The White Lotus"
More arrivals await.

[03/17/26 - 10:01 AM]
"Stranger Things: Tales from '85" Coming to Select Theaters on April 18
The screenings of the first two episodes of the new series will take place on April 18 at 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM local time, in 34 theaters in the U.S. in partnership with AMC Theatres.

[03/17/26 - 09:31 AM]
Netflix Announces New True-Crime Documentary "The Crash" Premiering May 15
Gareth Johnson directed the film, produced by RAW (an All3Media company).

[03/17/26 - 09:01 AM]
Video: Sweet Niblets! Official Trailer Drops for "Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special"
The special will be released on Disney+ and Hulu on Tuesday, March 24 - 20 years to the day that the original series debuted on Disney Channel.

[03/17/26 - 08:24 AM]
Hulu Renews Hit Drama Series "Paradise," from Dan Fogelman and Starring Sterling K. Brown, for a Third Season
The show continues to resonate with audiences worldwide, amassing over 30M hours for S2 and nearly 12 billion minutes streamed globally across its first two seasons.

[03/17/26 - 08:01 AM]
"The Chi" Signs Off: First Look at the Eighth and Final Season on Paramount+
Production on the new season began in January, kicking off the road to the show's highly anticipated farewell.

[03/17/26 - 07:01 AM]
BritBox Announces Additional Casting, Start of Production for Season Three of Jimmy McGovern's Award-Winning Drama Series "Time"
The three-part drama will be led by David Tennant as Prison Officer Bailey with Siobhan Finneran reprising her role as Marie-Louise, a prison chaplain.

[03/17/26 - 07:01 AM]
Apple TV Announces "My Brother the Minotaur," Premiering April 24
A thrilling mix of folklore, mystery and adventure about a young minotaur - half boy, half bull - found and raised in the human world.

[03/17/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Ghost War" - Official Teaser - Prime Video
Jack Ryan returns in a major movie event. Stream "Ghost War" - May 20 on Prime Video.

[03/17/26 - 06:45 AM]
Video: Paramount+ Reveals Trailer & Key Art for Men's College Basketball Docuseries, "Made for March"
The docuseries chronicles two of college basketball's most renowned programs - Kansas Jayhawks and Michigan Wolverines--this season in their bid for a national championship.

[03/17/26 - 06:31 AM]
Video: "Love on the Spectrum U.S." - Season 4 Official Trailer - Netflix
New and familiar faces star in this heartfelt documentary series that follows singles on the autism spectrum as they search for true love.

[03/17/26 - 06:01 AM]
New Four-Part Series "Shared Planet" Premieres Wednesdays, April 29-May 20, 2026 on PBS and PBS.org
In an age of serious environmental challenges, this four-part global series offers a look at an alternative and more hopeful future.