Fox Buys Musical Family Comedy From Peter Knight & Jason Winer

20th Century Fox TV helped reinvent the family comedy genre with the docu-style Modern Family, now the studio is looking to add the next twist to the family sitcom genre: music. The studio has sold to Fox The Sound Of The Sumners, from writer Peter Knight, which has Jason Winer — who directed the Modern Family pilot — attached to executive produce. He also might direct, subject to availability. The single-camera comedy, from 20th TV and Winer’s studio-based Small Dog banner, is described as a truly honest exploration of a contemporary family featuring a unique musical element that involves an irreverent and buzzworthy use of original music and songs. Knight is writing the script and will executive produce with Small Dog’s Winer and Renate Radford. The project has received a script commitment with a significant penalty. Knight likes mixing up genres — he previously created the comedy/fantasy series Krod Mandooon And The Flaming Sword Of Fire and co-created the horror/teen drama/comedy Big Wolf On Campus. Fox and 20th TV have experience with musical comedy series: The musical high school dramedy Glee, which was a breakout when it launched, will finish its run this season. ABC has musical fairytale comedy series Galavant, from ABC Studios, on the schedule this coming season. Knight is with CAA and Mosaic, Winer with ICM Partners and Mosaic.