Pamela Fryman To Direct 4 Pilots As Networks Bet On Multi-Cam Comedies

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Pamela Fryman, the veteran multi-camera comedy director who’s always in demand for pilots, has been tapped to helm and executive produce four of them this broadcast pilot season.

Fryman already had been booked for CBS’ multi-camera/hybrid History of Them, from Gloria Calderon Kellett and Sony Pictures TV. She now has added three more multi-camera pilots to her plate: NBC’s Abby’s from writer Josh Malmuth, producer Mike Schur and Universal TV, and Friends-in-Law, from writer Brian Gallivan, producer Tom Werner and Warner Bros. TV; as well as ABC’s Most Likely To, from writer Diablo Cody, WBTV and Berlanti Prods.

Fryman is coming off directing Amazon’s first multi-camera comedy pilot Making Friends, created by her frequent collaborators, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas. She served as director/executive producer for the entire run on their previous series, CBS’ How I Met Your Mother.

Fryman also directed the pilot and continues to helm multiple episodes of Kellett’s One Day at a Time reboot at Netflix, which led to the duo’s collaboration on History of Them. Fryman also is director/executive producer on the freshman CBS multi-camera comedy series 9JKL after directing the pilot last season.

While the biggest new comedy series this season has been single-camera, CBS’ Young Sheldon, the broadcast networks aggressively pursued multi-camera comedies during pitch season, with comedy buys skewing toward multi-cam sitcoms heavier than in recent years. The trend has carried into nets’ pilot picks so far.

All five CBS comedy pilots to date, plus the Murphy Brown revival, are multi-camera. Four of NBC’s five comedy pilots are multi-camera. ABC and Fox, which currently have no multi-camera series on the air, have gone 50-50, with half of their 4 comedy pilots each so far being multi-camera. That includes ABC’s straight-to-series Kenya Barris/Alec Baldwin sitcom.

Abby’s is set at an unlicensed bar in San Diego where the regulars enthusiastically enforce a unique set of rules that give them a sense of community and allow them to avoid the frustrating behavior found at other establishments.

Friends-in-Law centers on Brian and Jake who are polar opposites who must quickly figure out how to coexist when their respective best friends decide to get married.

Most Likely To: In high school, Liz Cooney had everything and Markie McQueen had nothing. Twenty years later, they’re reunited under the same roof as single moms and unlikely housemates.

Fryman is repped by ICM Partners.