Joe Port/Joe Wiseman Relationship Comedy Gets Pilot Production Commitment At NBC

In a very competitive situation, NBC has landed Joe & Joe & Jane, a multi-camera comedy from writers-executive producers Joe Port and Joe Wiseman, with a pilot production commitment. I hear the 20th Century Fox TV-produced project also has a series penalty behind it to rank as one of the biggest comedy sales this season.

Loosely based on the relationship between Port, Wiseman and Wiseman’s wife, Joe & Joe & Jane centers on a conflict-avoidant children’s book author caught in an ongoing tug of war between two needy, flawed people: his wife and his co-author/ best friend. It’s not about a couple, it’s about a trouple.

Last season, another Port/Wiseman comedy with semi-autobiographical roots, spec Rebounding, which was inspired by Port’s real-life experiences, was picked up to pilot by Fox with Steve Levitan executive producing, Jason Winer directing and Will Forte starring. The year before, the duo also had a strong pilot contender at Fox with Family Album, which like Rebounding, was single-camera. Last season, Port and Wiseman, who are under an overall deal at 20th TV, served as executive produced the studio’s Fox comedy New Girl.

This marks Port Wiseman’s return to multi-camera comedy and to NBC. The UTA-repped duo met while they were both assistants on the 1999 UPN animated comedy Dilbert and went on to work on such series as NBC’s multi-camera Just Shoot Me and single-camera The Office and have fielded a number of pilots, including NBC’s multi-camera The IT Crowd.