TV Land Picks Up Two More Comedy Pilots

EXCLUSIVE: TV Land has greenlighted two more comedy pilots from sitcom veterans:  Happily Divorced, written/executive produced by The Nanny co-creators, actress Fran Drescher and Peter Marc Jacobsen, and Rip City, written/exec produced by Lizzy McGuire and Less Than Perfect creator Terri Minsky and executive produced by Michael Hanel and Mindy Schultheis (Reba, TV Land’s upcoming Retired at 35). The two half-hours join the recently ordered comedy pilot Ex Men, from former Fraiser executive producer Mark Reisman.

Happily Divorced is based on Drescher’s real life. In addition to co-writing/exec producing, the former Nanny actress could potentially star in the project, about a woman who re-enters the dating world after finding out that her husband is gay. It focuses on how she juggles her relationship with her current boyfriend and ex-husband post-divorce. Drescher and Jacobsen are also executive producing Drescher’s syndicated talk show, which is making a trial run on the Fox stations. Rip City is a multi-camera office comedy which takes place at Rip City Cola, a regional beverage manufacturer and distributor. When a young, Ivy League-educated young female takes over as the boss, the entire office, particularly a confident man in his 50s, is shaken and unsure of what happens next. “TV Land had such a huge success with Hot in Cleveland and we have really found that sitcoms are what our audience loves and responds to,” said TV Land president Larry W. Jones. “We want to focus on programming that speaks to relatable life stage issues for our viewers in their 40s.”

With 3 orders, TV Land’s second pilot season is already ahead of the cable network’s maiden scripted development cycle, which yielded 2 pilots, Hot in Cleveland and Retired at 35. Both were eventually picked up to series, and Cleveland launched in the summer as the highest-rated comedy series on cable. The hit sitcom returns with 20 new original episodes on Jan. 19 at 10 PM, followed by the premiere of  Retired at 35, starring George Segal and Jessica Walter, at 10:30 PM.